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Riding during off season.


NewbieWheeler

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Office.

Be advised the smooth granite or marble floor is treacherous if your tire got wet.

Also, and rather more fun; all carpets seem to have fibers that lay in one direction, and hence push your wheel around quite strongly. Quite fun!

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I'm considering getting another tire for my MSuperX and installing studs.  I ride my bike all winter with studded tires so I may try the EUC once in a while when it's not too cold.  On the bike I'll ride down to -25 celcius but I doubt I could handle that cold on the wheel as you're not generating any heat.  But down to -10 it should be fine I think.  I believe  @yegwheel rides all winter.

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2 hours ago, Xoltri said:

Well, I found studs and the tool at https://bikestud.com/ and a tire at https://goo.gl/JMaq2X (Aliexpress).  I'll detail the process when it all arrives on how to install the studs.

Now you have me thinking about how this winter might be actually be fun... I might pick up one of these on my way home today just because it is cheap and to do a bit of proof of concept on changing the tire out for something a bit more grippy.

Edited by yegwheel
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1 minute ago, yegwheel said:

Now you have me thinking about how this winter might be actually be fun... I might pick up one of these on my way home to day just because it is cheap and to do a bit of proof of concept on changing the tire out for something a bit more grippy.

Wow that's cheap!  So many more options at that size.  It was hard to find the 18x3 tire for the MSuperX, not a lot of options.

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6 minutes ago, Xoltri said:

Wow that's cheap!  So many more options at that size.  It was hard to find the 18x3 tire for the MSuperX, not a lot of options.

You could always use the KS as your winter wheel. This is the one I really want, but I thought I'd play around with the cheap one first to see how it goes.

Edited by yegwheel
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3 minutes ago, yegwheel said:

You could always use the KS as your winter wheel. This is the one I really want, but I thought I'd play around with the cheap one first to see how it goes.

I guess, but I can't go back to it after riding the MSuperX.  It's so much better. 

It will take a bit to get used to the different handling with a different tire as well.  I noticed a big change on my KS16 when I replaced the old tire.  I had put on the exact same tire, with the exception that it was new, and it felt way different.

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I'm planning on trying to restore the ACM for use in the winter. It has a bit of a bent rim and the shell is coming apart from its last attempt at self-destruction, so it will take a bit of work to get it going. If that  doesn't work then the ACM2 it will be. 

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Xoltri, I'm amazed how confident you are on ice, and admit I don't understand it.  On our driveway,  my mother hit some ice and skidded all the way down, off the asphalt and into a tree.  I've tried walking, with infinite care, and slipped on the asphalt in countless places when I've hit black ice, which is everywhere around here during winter.

Why do you find an EUC immune to slipping even though ... to me anyway ... it doesn't even seem to be possible to be immune to slipping?

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11 minutes ago, Dingfelder said:

Xoltri, I'm amazed how confident you are on ice, and admit I don't understand it.  On our driveway,  my mother hit some ice and skidded all the way down, off the asphalt and into a tree.  I've tried walking, with infinite care, and slipped on the asphalt in countless places when I've hit black ice, which is everywhere around here during winter.

Why do you find an EUC immune to slipping even though ... to me anyway ... it doesn't even seem to be possible to be immune to slipping?

Well you still have to be careful.  The studs aren't perfect on ice, but they do help a lot.  I did wipe out twice this past winter on my bike, it was a bad year for freeze / thaw cycles, and we even had some freezing rain that was terrible.  One wipeout was when there was ice under a fresh dusting of snow.  The other was when I tried to go up a soft curb.  But nothing major - didn't get injured.

For the most part though even in the winter it's dry pavement.  Sometimes we have some fresh snow which is easy to ride through if it's not too deep.  It's also cleared pretty fast on my route.  Otherwise it's packed snow which the studs work amazingly well on.  The key when riding in these conditions is to to be very steady.  No sharp quick turns.  On my bike I'll sometimes hover one of my feet above the ground if it is a really sketchy section, but I find as @yegwheel has said that the traction on your wheels is often better than your shoes.

This is all experience from my bike.  The EUC experience will have to wait for this winter - I've never tried it before.  I think the biggest challenge may be staying warm.

Edited by Xoltri
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Before you go too far you might want to check your tire clearance. I noticed the other day while looking at the InMotion V10 water sealing fix that the tire is very close to the shell. Other wheels might be very different. Just a heads up. 

You might tape a small nut or coin to the tire and see if it gets knocked off when you spin the tire.

 

Edited by RockyTop
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  • 2 weeks later...

One thing to remember when winter-wheeling is that being bundled up for the cold weather and travelling at lower speeds on slippery surfaces means falls aren't painful, just embarrassing. In the summer one would like kind of silly with three inches of padding/insulation covering tip to toe; in the winter you're just another stranger trying to beat the cold. 

Edited by yegwheel
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In winter keep the air pressure correct and a bit lower than normal. Ride slow as hell over ice, like walking speed. When there isn't ice you can go 10-15km/h maybe. Still beats walking.

Bring your charger too on long routes because the cold will reduce your battery capacity a lot.

When doing turns on slippery surfaces you don't lean your body as much. The more slippery the less you lean. You slow down, put the euc at an angle and ride the turn slow. That way you have maximum pressure by your own weight.

Don't confuse euc with poor traction. Having your full body weight on one 16" tire is quite a lot. It's like a bus or other heavy vehicle. They can drive faster than small vehicles in winter because of that weight on the wheels. You just can't lean.

/a

Edited by alcatraz
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3 hours ago, alcatraz said:

Don't confuse euc with poor traction. Having your full body weight on one 16" tire is quite a lot. It's like a bus or other heavy vehicle. They can drive faster than small vehicles in winter because of that weight on the wheels. You just can't lean.

 

Interesting stuff, thanks for the contributions so far, folks.  I'd love to not have to put away a wheel because of the season.

From what you are saying, it sounds like the sheer concentration of weight in a tiny point of contact helps steady things.  I've always been somehow surprised, though maybe I shouldn't be, that no matter how carefully I try walking down our hill, with shoes with great traction, I can still go flying and come to a painful conclusion.  I am careful and have decent balance by normal standards too, but it hasn't seemed to matter.  This has been a matter of some frustration for me.

 

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I plan on posting a few videos this year just to show how it all works for me. I may be a pretty heavy guy by EUC standards (240+), and it may be that was a factor in keeping me upright. I'd be curious to know if lighter guys have a tougher time with it.

Edited by yegwheel
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12 hours ago, yegwheel said:

I plan on posting a few videos this year just to show how it all works for me. I may be a pretty heavy guy by EUC standards (240+), and it may be that was a factor in keeping me upright. I'd be curious to know if lighter guys have a tougher time with it.

How many kilometers is your ride?  Mine is about 12km.  

Also I'll have to post an update to my video above.  I did some testing on the studs and it looks like they can work themselves loose.  As a fix I modified a nail and with my drill I can insert the head into each hole to make a proper pocket for the studs.  Makes them much more secure and easier to insert, and it's a quick process.

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Mine is anout half that, 6-7 km depending on which route I take. Luckily I have bike paths for about half of it. The most difficult section is about three blocks of residential streets which become very umeven and rutty when they haven't been cleared for a while.

Edited by yegwheel
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