How-To: Ensure consistent shifting all winter long

Jan 17, 2008 By Joel Lee Posted in The Archives Tagged with Commute by Bike

One word: Friction!

I just posted an article about friction shifting over on Blue Collar Mountain Biking, another Crooked Cog Network site. If you are commuting through snowy, slushy, or just plain cold weather, it might help you out.

You can check it out here.

0 thoughts on “How-To: Ensure consistent shifting all winter long”

Badgerland says:

January 17, 2008 at 9:48 am

Single speeds and fixed gear bikes also do VERY well in these bad conditions. The nice thing about a fixie is that you have some engine braking by putting some resistance on the pedals as you spin. This would not be a great time to change over however as there are other things you need to be comfortable with on a fixed gear bike before attempting slushy, wet conditions.

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Quinn says:

January 17, 2008 at 12:04 pm

the day I go fixed through that crap is the day I get my own padded room!

I prefer the 1x_, a bit of versatility, yet a lot less maintenence and $

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doug says:

January 17, 2008 at 12:44 pm

hell yes. last winter, i used a 1981 Bianchi Limited throughout winter. I bought it used with most of the original parts, including the sweet Suntour Cyclone group. worked perfectly even though i was riding 14-20 miles a day, every day, in the rain. eventually all the old stuff started breaking (hey it was all 27 years old!) but the DT shifters still work fine. when i replaced the beautiful long-cage cyclone with a cheapo Shimano Alivio, everything still worked fin.

my new bike, a 92 Bridgestone RB-1 is rolling rivendell silver bar-ends and boy do i love it. i’m pretty sure i can shift just as quickly as those new-fangled brake shifters/

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How-To: Ensure consistent shifting all winter long

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