Cable-tie snow chains.

... somewhere on the web I saw this technique of banding bicycle tires with cable ties / zip ties, to provide extra friction and control-ability in snow and ice.   I believe the practice started in the Pacific Northwest, but I'm not positive.  

I decided to try this out on the rear wheel of my Felt3, starting Christmas Eve. When I got back home after a short 5 mile circuit, I noticed I was short a few cable ties.   Well today I commuted by bike, and ended up picking up most of the cable-ties I shed on Christmas Eve.  Don't want to litter, and all that.   By the time I was at work, I had shed all but three or four out of 30 something.

Upon examination of the broken cable ties, they had failed not at the zip-locking mechanism, but had snapped clean in the center of their bands, where they were being overridden by the tire itself.

Seems that while cable ties might stand up to the somewhat warmer winters of the PacNW,  the plastic becomes embrittled quickly in the 10F and below temperatures of the north-central midwest.  Ping!

I haven't really noticed a degradation in performance without the ties. The bike handles about as well as you'd expect on stretches of compressed snow or compacted ice sheet. Which is to say, marginal. :)

Snow Bike Lantern

snowy woods

This was actually my first time riding in the snow, but it was quite fine. I've been a little lazy in getting up early enough to commute by bike into work. I decided to course the trails on Christmas Eve. Temperatures was around 11F or so.  Merino thermals, denim overalls,  key shirt, wool sweater, amana wool scarf, wool earflap cap, wool gloves, and the waxed pointer chore coat.  Hiking boots, wool socks.  Stayed plenty warm.   

The Felt Cafe3 makes a pretty good snow bike. Nexus 3 IGH with coaster brake, keeps the drivetrain closed up and simple, no packing snow into derailleurs.  The other plus, is the aluminum frame sidesteps corrosion concerns.    One nice thing about living on the frigid plains, is that when we do get snow, it is dry and powdery, while you do get thick drifts, it generally is only lightly covering regular flat surfaces, and consequently does not get too deep.  With close fitting fenders, V brakes, and tight fits at the seat and chain-stays, this bike would not well tolerate a thick wet lake-effect snow.   Aluminum also makes it easy to portage over deep drifts. Cyclo-cross style.   This would be awkward with the Flying Pigeon, or all but impossible with the Kruisframe. 

Once I got off the streets and onto the trail, I turned off all the blinkies, Cygolight, and lit my dietz kerosine lantern. This is one of the cold-blast models and produces a suprising amount of light. It is easy to grip both the lamp and the handlebars with enough 'give' to prevent the lamp from being overly-jostled. 

I then cycled the upper length of the trail, making the rounds, lighting the snowy woods, and the crunch of snow underneath the tires.  Very fun!   Hopefully everyone is having a good holiday season! 

Persistence of Pigeon

Just sort of touching base, but I continue to ride my PA-02 Flying Pigeon more than my other bicycles, and the more I do, the more I am aware of  how oddly "right" it feels.  I was considering putting on a three speed IGH hub in the back, but now I'm not so sure. According to Sheldon Brown's Gear inch calculator, I'm running around 56" and basically I climb on the bike and go.  My daily commute features a few gradual hills, and one steep 20% grade climb 50 feet up onto a former railroad embankment.   I'm not out of the seat for this.

Sunflowers from the backyard - back in September. Actually this is kind of neat:   They were last planted three years ago.  Now the chipmunks have them coming up all over the place. 

Admittedly I top out at a pokey 13mph, at a comfortable spin, but on the miles of crushed limestone trails, and suburban back streets this speed feels entirely fine.  The responsiveness of the single speed drive train is terrific. Or, maybe it just feels natural?   In comparison, the Nexus Inter 3 on my Felt Cafe, and Nexus 8 on my Workcycles/Azor Kruisframe feel lethargic, disconnected and full of friction.

When I got the Pigeon, I repacked the wheel bearings out of curiosity of the process when I was assembling, it, and waiting for other parts to arrive. I also later upgraded to the 20 tooth 3 pawl BMX freewheel.  Now the wheel is tight in the stays and on the bearings, no slop - but I can spin it with one stroke by hand, and it keeps going for almost a minute Neither of my IGH bikes can do this.

There is some sort of mystic British Raleigh Perfection here even when executed as a Chinese knockoff.

Not that the Pigeon is entirely trouble free - Yesterday evening, before my ride home I checked the crank tightness, and found that the cotter on one was  a bit loose and notchy. (I had dismissed it as the slightly crummy MKS 3000 pedals)   I rode it home carefully and then hammered the cotter in with a few good whacks, seating it further and tightened the cotter nut. Problem solved.  Also, I finally found 5mm hex head screws to replace the nearly stripped originals for the rod-brake clips at the local hardware store.

So I'm thinking about simplifying the Kruisframe a good bit, maybe try the very efficient SRAM automatix 2 speed hub on it, strip the bike down a little bit.

It is interesting, how perceptions change with experience.  I was thinking about getting a 10 speed-ish road bike next year, possibly to do Ragbrai with, and then a few months later, I was thinking about just 3 speeding it with a front derailleur and Paul Melvin tensioner...     now I'm realizing that I can just go all day on a single speed.