Riding a bike in winter might seem a little daunting to new riders, however with the right clothing and a few accessories it really shouldn’t. Get the right ride clothing and a few tweaks to your bike to help face whatever winter can throw at you with confidence.
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes”
Billy Connolley
Lights
Step away from the darkness with decent quality lights. Lighting up dark roads, trails and pathways is essential for winter bike riding. In addition, darker, grimmer days, combined with later morning sunrises and earlier afternoon sunsets, are all bad for bike rider safety on busy roads. Low cost, light-weight rechargable flashing LED lights are a popular option for daytime riding lights, perfect for gloomy days.
Mudguards
As well as keeping your bike and yourself cleaner, mudguards will also keep anyone who rides with you cleaner too. With options for all bikes, including race bikes and MTB’s, mudguards let your bike know that you care.
Clothing / Shoes
Keeping your extremities warm is important as the temperatures drop. Tingling toes, ears and fingers are not fun. Covering up and keeping them toasty is well worth the effort. Building clothing layers is a great way to combat extreme cold, starting with a good quality base layer.
Winter Tyres
Extra puncture protection and grip make heavier duty tyres for winter well worthwhile. Swapping a punctured inner tube, in the cold and rain, is not on anyones ‘fun-things-to-do’ list. Minimise the chances with puncture protected tyres or tubeless tyres with a healthy glug of sealant.
Maintenance
Keeping your bike clean and lubricated is harder in winter as the road grime and filthy weather increases. During winter it is more important to keep it running well – cleaner bikes are easier to maintain and keep reliable for longer.
