Tips on winter commuting/riding in the dark

[Audax1]

Hello,

I'm contemplating doing the 18mile commute by bike, would be a great opportunity to get the milage in during winter and do like using the bike to travel from a-b with purpose, as well as for leisure. The journey would be along a mix of unlit country lanes, and about 5 miles on dark, unlit, and fairly narrow roads.
Thinking to get some dynamo lights, and also high viz plus a helmet. Am aware that these are not ideal for cycling, does anyone have any advice, suggestions, or tips, please from experience?

Thanks,

[Joe.B]

In my last job I would often work in Barrow-in-Furness but stay in a hotel 12 miles way and commute in by bike. 

If on country lanes good lights are must and in my opinion a hub dyno setup is best, (though some will differ). For me the other essential would be tyres that perform well on wet, icy roads. Can’t really recommend a particular tyre without first knowing wheel size and clearance though.

Other than that it really helps if you have the ability to shower at work and somewhere to dry out your kit. Even with a radiator to dry out your stuff I’d still recommend carrying a second set of gloves and socks, that way you’ll always have a dry set for the return journey.

[quixoticgeek]

Hello,

I'm contemplating doing the 18mile commute by bike, would be a great opportunity to get the milage in during winter and do like using the bike to travel from a-b with purpose, as well as for leisure. The journey would be along a mix of unlit country lanes, and about 5 miles on dark, unlit, and fairly narrow roads.
Thinking to get some dynamo lights, and also high viz plus a helmet. Am aware that these are not ideal for cycling, does anyone have any advice, suggestions, or tips, please from experience?

Thanks,

Good lights for seeing with. I like my Edelux II dynamo light, gives good illumination, even on dark country lanes. Helmet and hivis very much optional.

Beyond that. Good quality waterproof jacket (I like my Paramo Quito), good gloves (see the other thread about gloves), are very much worth the investment.

You may also want my flat resistant tyres, Schwalbe Marathon's are a popular choice for commuting.

J

[Karla]

Dynamos: SON are the premium product but are very expensive.  Shutter Precision and Shimano also make high quality dynohubs, both are about £100.  Of the two, SP are prettier.

Rear lights: you can run them off the dynamo if you like but this seems to be a less popular option.  Several sites are currently doing discounts on the Moon Nebula which is my favourite rear light.

If you're going to leave your bike locked up outside, get battery lights rather than a dynamo so you can remove them and lessen the value of stealable bike.

You want everything to be simple, easy and quick.  Getting dressed in seventeen thin layers might be easy enough for a weekend club run but it's no fun at all and is a complete time suck when you have to do it four times a day, five days a week. 

You don't want your tyres to be so heavy that they slow you down - if you're doing this much utility cycling, the time saved starts to add up.  Then again, you want something that can cope with the worst conditions you can throw at it - 23mm rubber ain't much fun when it's icy out.  How heavy a tyre you fit will probably depend on how much it matters if you're 15 minutes late to work once every several months.

Bags: let the bike carry the weight, obvs.  Don't get anything that takes ages to attach to the bike - you want everything to be simple, remember.

Chickening out options: can you work out some routes that lead you past a station halfway? 

Food: have a snack ready to eat when you get in or you'll crash and lie on the sofa rather than making your evening meal, and then you really will get hungry!

[aidan.f]

As others have posted 'KISS' keep it simple, consider a lowish fixed gear/single speed. Much reduced maintenance costs and increased reliability

[Lightning Phil]

First week you try it, don’t go for every day of the week.  Day before take in a change for clothes for whilst at work, plus towel / wash kit. Day after you’ve ridden in take the spare clothes home. This way you are just doing the commute without needing to carry fresh clothes in or used clothes home.

When I started cycle commuting I did it Tue - Thu and drove on Mon , Fri and swapped clothes and towels over on those days. Once I’d decided I was going to keep at it and worked out the logistics; I moved to commuting by bike full time.

Try and use the stuff you have in your early forays by bike. Don’t spend large amounts on cycle commuting specific stuff before you decide you like it and it’s workable.

If you get wet on way home it’s no big deal. If you get wet on way in you need somewhere you can dry your kit as best as possible. Is there somewhere suitable for that without getting up colleagues noses?

Tips on the commute bit

Try and avoid crossing bridges when it’s close to zero if you can.  The surface on top of a bridge is a lot cooler than surrounding road due to the cold air beneath as well as above. You may get black ice on a bridge when rest of roads are fine.

Learn where the lanes take drainage. These will most often be where the ice forms when it’s cold.  You might not be able to see in the dark but you’ll know where best to position assuming full width doesn’t take drainage.

Cold and dry is fine for cycling.

Be very wary when it has been raining at a few degrees above zero then temp drops. It’s a recipe for an ice rink.

If you get AAA rear lights like Cateye Omni 3 or 5 they should last till mid to late January assuming 1.5 hour commute each way, 5 days a week.

Watch out for badgers if any badger setts along your commute. They are a bit like rabbits in headlights but much bigger.

Does your work ever require you to work late? Would that be a problem if on bike in terms of how late you’d get home.

I remember one commute my chain broke and it was so cold my hands froze. I ended up in a pub to warm up.  Consider what you will do if you get a mechanical in middle of nowhere.  Carry spare warm layers for those moments plus an emergency bag should you get stranded for an appreciable time.  You cool rapidly if you stop for any length this time of year.

Try and adjust layers once you’ve warmed up. It feels bloody cold in the dark when you set off on a commute.  Often after 5-10 mins you’ll reach an operating temperature.  Trick is to avoid sweating as that’ll rapidly cool you at any point effort eases from that hill you just came up. Plus that sweat with make you clothes wet and clammy for the ride home.

[Si S]

A headtorch in the toolkit, puncture repair by bike light in the cold is a first class PITA, especially if its your dynamo wheel

[Pickled Onion]

All excellent tips above.

I do a similar distance (slightly shorter, more country lanes) year round.

Lights: A good hub dynamo setup is expensive but soon pays for itself with that kind of distance. Battery lights are very good these days, but I still like the convenience of not worrying about charging. You also need a backup. Two rear lights (eg. one constant, one flashing) is good because you might not notice a failure. Carry a head torch, not only will it get you home in the event of a light failure, mending a puncture by the light from your phone is a pain in the arse.

Hi-Vis: Can be useful, but a Sam Brown belt or gilet can be an irritation. Consider some on the bike, eg 3M tape round a third of the rims is amazingly effective, it is in direct line of dipped headlights and produces a flashing line from many angles. Some people put a line of tape on the cranks for a similar effect.

Helmet: much the same arguments as in daylight, but you will find you get more space from drivers in the dark. If sliding on ice is your worry here, you're more likely to hit the ground with your hips or ribs than your head.

Tyres: rubber gets hard (= slippery) at low temperatures. Tyres with soft rubber designed for the cold will keep you upright. I rate the Michelin power all season (previously known as Pro Grip). A lot of tyres with "4 season" in their names are definitely not suitable for cold roads. If you're really hard core, then studded tyres will grip on sheet ice but you only need them a few days of the winter and are not much fun to ride when it's not icy.

Clothing: Wot Karla said. A long sleeve merino base under a winter jersey is fine down to about 5C, any lower then a windproof jersey with the same merino base. Carry a light waterproof in case it rains, which is a lot less often than most people imagine. And good gloves. A wool hat and buff are great as they are easy to take off when you get too hot.

Overall: with the right gear, riding in the dark mornings and evenings is fantastic.

[Hot Flatus]

Get a thermometer with an outside sensor.

Something like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wireless-Indoor-outdoor-Thermometer-humidity-Monitor-/253247114112?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

It takes the guesswork out of what to wear and you'll know if you need to be mindful of ice

[Ham]

Good lights are those which let you see the road and be seen, but do not blind oncoming traffic. The Road.cc comparison engine is a good place to start. I would also advocate multiple lights, for resilience as PO says but also at different levels. Hub/wheelstay level, pannier/seat level and head level. 

[Lightning Phil]

Or just put a cheap old school thermometer outside .  Then put bike out after waking up and check temperature before having a cuppa tea.

[grams]

Reflective tape is much more visible in the dark than any type of hi-viz.

If you're going to leave your bike locked up outside, get battery lights rather than a dynamo so you can remove them and lessen the value of stealable bike.

In my experience dynamo lights (or bolted-on lights in general) are invisible to bike thieves and ne'er do wells.

Whereas odds on battery lights you forget to take off will be gone when you get back.

[Karla]

... but if your bike does get nicked, as happens to us all eventually, a SON plus light will be a £250 larger hole in your pocket.

[Frank9755]

Most things covered above but you really do not want to be fixing punctures in the cold / dark so you might want to use tubeless tyres. 

Good advice about layers, and generally avoiding faffing around.  A good soft shell jacket is the key item.  I've got a Gore one that I love, always wear it when cold.

I wouldn't bother with dynamos, unless you have one already or you love spending your free time doing electronics and soldering stuff.  They are really faffy and people spend ages talking about them and messing around with them.  No idea why - battery lights have improved so much in a generation so there isn't really any benefit.  Cheap spare lights from eBay cost a couple of pounds and weigh nothing - if you take a set then you don't even need to stress about charging your main light batteries.  Or you could just remember. But two lights at each end is a good idea for winter riding anyway.

If your route is flat or rolling, fixed is a good idea - will make you feel really good and save a bunch of time changing chains / other maintenance.

I use reflective tape for bikes that go out in the dark a lot. 

Good advice about maybe not starting off with 5 days per week.  It's a big physical effort so best to work up to it if you can.  And I wouldn't ride if there was a chance of ice.

[Hot Flatus]

I wouldn't bother with dynamos, unless you have one already or you love spending your free time doing electronics and soldering stuff.  They are really faffy and people spend ages talking about them and messing around with them. 
.

That hasn't been my experience at all, I have to say. I wouldn't, however, bother with rear dynamo lights.

On my setups (of which I have 2) I have a Shimano and an SP dyno running B&M lights. No soldering, zero faff. I don't think I've done anything to them since installing them.  It's just really good to have lots of light and not have to think about charging (except for the rear)

The B&M top end lights have a really good throw, but if you go for the distance then the near field isn't always enough. I have a battery light that gets put on to illuminate near field when descending or on pot-holed roads. I think it is a good idea to have two lights front and rear anyway.

Or just put a cheap old school thermometer outside .  Then put bike out after waking up and check temperature before having a cuppa tea.

That sounds like a faff. I roll out of bed, go into ensuite, and can see the temp as I unleash a stream of pee. Don't need to go outside. I have breakfast, get dressed appropriately, then leave.

What is this weirdness about "putting bike outside" then going back in for a drink?

[aidan.f]

On battery rear lights...
USB rechargeables do have a limited life.
Catye Primary cell lights nowadays have a regulator. That means full brightness until the fattery is blat (good) and then straight off. (bad). I regularly check the battery voltage with a meter. Despite what others may say about no load checks a new battery cell is 1.6 Volts once it measures 1.1 V it's for the recycling box. The lamps will work down to about 0.9 V.
I have just lost the sliding cover from a Cateye TL-LD 650 Rather annoying as I usually secure them with PVC tape.
Completed my ride using the other two lamps I had fitted. 

[grams]

I wouldn't bother with dynamos, unless you have one already or you love spending your free time doing electronics and soldering stuff.  They are really faffy and people spend ages talking about them and messing around with them.

You do all that faff once and then until the end of time you get on your bike and you always have lights.

Or you could choose to faff with battery lights before and after every single ride.

[rogerzilla]

Marathon Plus or Durano Plus tyres.
Dynamo headlight (rear can be battery, and needs to be if you want a flasher).
Overshoes.
Fixed gear, singlespeed or hub gear.  Cleaning cassettes and mechs is no fun when the evenings are dark and cold.
Pick the safest route, which may not be the quickest.  Pedestrians and other cyclists on psyclepaths, where there are No Rulez, can be more dangerous than car traffic on a slow road.
I don't wear a helmet so I have a wide choice of appropriate headgear: cap, waterproof cap, warm waterproof cap, beanie, Buff, etc.  It all depends on the weather.
If parked cars are iced up, the road MAY be iced up (cars will ice up first).  Stick to salted routes.  That means no psyclepaths.
If you have no alternative but to cycle, have an old MTB on standby with studded tyres.  They work.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The only weak point of dynamo set ups IME is wiring. Once you've got that sorted out – it needs to have enough slack around the head tube to not pull out as the wheel turns and also needs to be protected against abrasion, but be tight enough to the frame everywhere that it doesn't get caught on anything – then they are maintenance free.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Unlit country lanes have two hazards:
- ice in bits shaded by trees and hedges - it is often invisible and persists until late in the day.
- arseholes using the country lane back route to try to avoid traffic. Usually caning it at warp nine and taking up full width of road on corners.

You need a head torch. Sometime you'll have a mechanical, it is bound to be dark. Put a cheap head torch in your bag. Also put some latex gloves - if you have to fix something oily and dirty, you don't want to be putting those oily hands back in your gloves. Cleaning and drying decent winter gloves is a pain.
Instant repair patches. In very cold weather, patch glue doesn't set. The Park instant repair patches do (I've used them at -15C and they were fine). A spare innertube as well.

A buff or similar to pull up around your face. Breathing hard in sub-zero air is not good for lungs. I have a merino buff that is brilliant for this.

Definitely overshoes, preferably water resistant. Wet feet are really miserable when it is cold.

For the rest, it is just a ride.

[Lightning Phil]

That sounds like a faff. I roll out of bed, go into ensuite, and can see the temp as I unleash a stream of pee. Don't need to go outside. I have breakfast, get dressed appropriately, then leave.

What is this weirdness about "putting bike outside" then going back in for a drink?

You have to get bike out anyway.  It’s a quick check whilst putting bike out, both how it feels and what the thermometer is saying.  No faff at all.

[L CC]

I get my bike out and get on it and ride away?

It's a while since I regularly commuted but

-start easy- don't try and do it all every day from day 1
-don't be surprised if even if you take it easy, you don't feel like riding for fun at the weekend if you've commuted all week
-Dynamo lights don't have to be killer lasers. You can spend £30 and get a decent enough light- unless your commute has treacherous descents
-Spare rear battery lights and a head torch
-Marathon plus are bomb proof puncture resistant but a quite unpleasant ride in the wet. You need to weigh up which is more important to you
-I'm not a fan of layering (heresey!) I wear a really good jacket and bimble.
-I am a fan of good gloves. See bimbling above
-deodorising wipes can make up for a lack of a shower, but sweaty hair all day is unpleasant so I seldom wear a helmet for commuting (don't tell my mum)
-Hi Vis is over-rated. Retroreflectives on the bike (and pannier if you use one) will do a better job
-Carrying stuff on the bike is A LOT nicer than a rucksack
-weather apps will soon become your most-used feature on your phone
-more than one available bike is great for those days when you get the bike out and the tyre has flattened overnight
-low maintenance fixed/SS is awesome if your local terrain is benign. If your local terrain is not benign you will get very strong and very tired very quickly.
- Don't use flashing beams of death, unless you're on a busy road with few cyclists. Other cyclists/drivers/humans will thank you.

I used to love commuting in winter. There aren't these hills or idiots in East Angular though.

[tom_e]

For getting through the winter, I second fboab's point about start easy and bimble.  At some point in the winter I usually switch from using effort to get fit to using effort to regulate temperature without having to adjust clothing so much. 

The target is to keep at it - If in three months time you've commuted throughout [but maybe at low effort], that is a success.  If instead you charged in to get fit and then gave up in less than a month because it was too hard, that's a fail.

[Kim]

-I'm not a fan of layering (heresey!) I wear a really good jacket and bimble.

I'll second this (though YMMV regarding distance).  Layering makes sense if you're going to be out all day in variable conditions.  If you're cycling for transport, you don't want to spend hours getting changed.  A single layer of something you can sacrifice to sweat or saddles and a jacket is much less faff.

[L CC]

If you have no alternative but to cycle, have an old MTB on standby with studded tyres.  They work.

I have this but my commute is 14km.
Studs for 18miles each way? Forget it.

If you're going to leave your bike locked up outside, get battery lights rather than a dynamo so you can remove them and lessen the value of stealable bike.

In my experience dynamo lights (or bolted-on lights in general) are invisible to bike thieves and ne'er do wells.
Whereas odds on battery lights you forget to take off will be gone when you get back.

Though this is undoubtedly true, it depends a lot where you work. If you are the only cyclist in a company with 12 people and everyone knows it's your bike, you can leave it leaning by the door to the car park with a wallet stuffed with 20s hanging out your saddlebag and all is well. If you work in a slightly anonymous factory with 300 bikes in the rack outside and no one knows whose is whose some scrote will nick your tool pack /saddle / lights/ bar end tassels if they're not bolted down.