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Cars do just fine in snowy places. I don’t see a reason why bikes shouldn’t. Just throw in the same effort that you do to keep car lanes open, and you’ll be fin

Cars do just fine in snowy places. I don’t see a reason why bikes shouldn’t. Just throw in the same effort that you do to keep car lanes open, and you’ll be fine. You can even put on pegged tires if the bikelanes tend to stay icy (like they do in Reykjavík), however be prepared to spend like 5x the effort when riding on pegged tires.

analog31 8y ago
Studded tires aren't all that bad. Mine go on in December, and just came off last week. My normally 20 minute commute takes about 30 minutes during the winter, and I suspect it's not just the tires, but also the cold air and heavy clothing. I also spend a few more minutes gearing up before leaving the house.
ip26 8y ago
I bike all winter and even I'll admit two wheel vehicles are not as stable on ice & slush as three or more.
- ken 8y ago
  But it's easier to change to winter tires, and you never have to scrape the windows. There's pros and cons to both. I've done many cold winters with a bicycle, and with a car, and there's no clear winner. For me it comes down to how far I'm going, what I need to carry with me, the quality of the roads and drivers, whether there's a bus route, and availability of bicycle storage versus car parking. I've never found traction to be a serious issue. If it's bad enough to avoid the bike, it's bad enough to avoid the car, too, and I'll walk or take the (chained) bus.
- frabbit 8y ago
  I too bike all winter (on 4.6" studded tires), but I am not worried about falling: it is falling and having some dolt who cannot stop run over me that worries me. Still, the feeling of well-being that comes from moderate exercise and the joy of seeing the world in another way makes up for it. Most drivers are smart enough and courteous enough that I would recommend it to anyone.
gotocake 8y ago
Cars do just fine in snowy places. I don’t see a reason why bikes shouldn’t. Stability, slippage, being exposed to freezing cold and wet, the lack of an engine assist, no heat, two fewer wheels, and did I mention cold? Just throw in the same effort that you do to keep car lanes open, and you’ll be fine. Open for a car and open for a bike are different. You can drive through some snow, slush and ice, but I hate biking on ice and slush. In addition to the safety factor, it a miserable experience. It’s also not unheard of for roads to get too bad for cars, never mind bikes. All in all I’m sort of disappointed that the reaction to raising obvious drawbacks is weapons-grade denial. Trying to sell people on a less safe, less comfortable, less reliable, means of transportation by throwing infrastructure projects at it is a problem, and why so many people are sick and tired of bike evangelists. Never mind the fact that a lot of people have disabilities that prevent that kind of hard work, have families and long commutes (please don’t throw another infrastructure project at that), are too old or infirm to bike through a Colorado summer, never mind winter, and so on. It’s really a form of quiet elitism dressed up as environmentalism and social consciousness at worst, and a lack of understanding of just how huge the US is at best. Bikes probably do make more sense if a majority of your population lives in one or two cities, otherwise it just doesn’t.
- chillwaves 8y ago
  > less safe, less reliable Doesn't seem true where I live. Maybe you have a study to support this claim?\ > Bikes probably do make more sense if a majority of your population lives in one or two cities, otherwise it just doesn’t. Cities in general seem to be conducive to bikes. Not sure why the whole country needs to live in just one or two cities or how that could logically follow.
  - gotocake 8y ago
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2016/05/12/how-safe-is-bike-commuting-perhaps-less-than-you-think/?noredirect=on https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2016/05/12/how-saf... Nationwide, you’re more than twice as likely to die while riding a bike than riding in a car, per trip, according to a 2007 study led by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist Laurie Beck. Bike riding is also about 500 times more fatal than riding in a bus. Though Beck didn’t run numbers on subway and commuter rail systems, they may be the safest form of transportation of all. Despite a series of well-publicized accidents and maintenance issues, Metrorail and Metrobus reported just two injuries per million riders in 2015.
avip 8y ago
cars "do just fine" in snow iff drivers are snow-aware and have the experience. Drive in Vancouver in a snowy week. And they do have an order of magnitude more wheels.

analog31 8y ago

Studded tires aren't all that bad. Mine go on in December, and just came off last week. My normally 20 minute commute takes about 30 minutes during the winter, and I suspect it's not just the tires, but also the cold air and heavy clothing. I also spend a few more minutes gearing up before leaving the house.

ip26 8y ago

I bike all winter and even I'll admit two wheel vehicles are not as stable on ice & slush as three or more.

ken 8y ago
But it's easier to change to winter tires, and you never have to scrape the windows. There's pros and cons to both. I've done many cold winters with a bicycle, and with a car, and there's no clear winner. For me it comes down to how far I'm going, what I need to carry with me, the quality of the roads and drivers, whether there's a bus route, and availability of bicycle storage versus car parking. I've never found traction to be a serious issue. If it's bad enough to avoid the bike, it's bad enough to avoid the car, too, and I'll walk or take the (chained) bus.
frabbit 8y ago
I too bike all winter (on 4.6" studded tires), but I am not worried about falling: it is falling and having some dolt who cannot stop run over me that worries me. Still, the feeling of well-being that comes from moderate exercise and the joy of seeing the world in another way makes up for it. Most drivers are smart enough and courteous enough that I would recommend it to anyone.

gotocake 8y ago

Cars do just fine in snowy places. I don’t see a reason why bikes shouldn’t. Stability, slippage, being exposed to freezing cold and wet, the lack of an engine assist, no heat, two fewer wheels, and did I mention cold? Just throw in the same effort that you do to keep car lanes open, and you’ll be fine. Open for a car and open for a bike are different. You can drive through some snow, slush and ice, but I hate biking on ice and slush. In addition to the safety factor, it a miserable experience. It’s also not unheard of for roads to get too bad for cars, never mind bikes. All in all I’m sort of disappointed that the reaction to raising obvious drawbacks is weapons-grade denial. Trying to sell people on a less safe, less comfortable, less reliable, means of transportation by throwing infrastructure projects at it is a problem, and why so many people are sick and tired of bike evangelists. Never mind the fact that a lot of people have disabilities that prevent that kind of hard work, have families and long commutes (please don’t throw another infrastructure project at that), are too old or infirm to bike through a Colorado summer, never mind winter, and so on. It’s really a form of quiet elitism dressed up as environmentalism and social consciousness at worst, and a lack of understanding of just how huge the US is at best. Bikes probably do make more sense if a majority of your population lives in one or two cities, otherwise it just doesn’t.

chillwaves 8y ago
> less safe, less reliable Doesn't seem true where I live. Maybe you have a study to support this claim?\ > Bikes probably do make more sense if a majority of your population lives in one or two cities, otherwise it just doesn’t. Cities in general seem to be conducive to bikes. Not sure why the whole country needs to live in just one or two cities or how that could logically follow.
- gotocake 8y ago
  https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2016/05/12/how-safe-is-bike-commuting-perhaps-less-than-you-think/?noredirect=on https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2016/05/12/how-saf... Nationwide, you’re more than twice as likely to die while riding a bike than riding in a car, per trip, according to a 2007 study led by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist Laurie Beck. Bike riding is also about 500 times more fatal than riding in a bus. Though Beck didn’t run numbers on subway and commuter rail systems, they may be the safest form of transportation of all. Despite a series of well-publicized accidents and maintenance issues, Metrorail and Metrobus reported just two injuries per million riders in 2015.

avip 8y ago

cars "do just fine" in snow iff drivers are snow-aware and have the experience. Drive in Vancouver in a snowy week. And they do have an order of magnitude more wheels.