Hard Times

[foxyrider]

Can you get 25c snow tyres? - that's why we're talking gritting - not everyone has the option to use them. I usually do but i've got a mechanical on that bike atm.

[horizon]

Can you get 25c snow tyres? - that's why we're talking gritting - not everyone has the option to use them. I usually do but i've got a mechanical on that bike atm.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/schw ... prod118113

I thought I had seen these at 30 but yes, you are right, you would need to go to at least 32 (the pressure might not work with studs). But using an old tourer or cross bike doesn't seem a bad idea in winter.

[Tangled Metal]

I'm guessing peak district has money issues like Cumbria. I live just south of the Cumbrian border. You can tell where it is in a bad winter by the way the clear roads of Lancashire become deep snow in a clear line at the Cumbrian border.

[MikeF]

Grit/sharp sand hasn't been used on roads for around 50years. Rock salt is used. I suspect we tend to use the word "grit", to hide the environmental issue of dumping thousands of tons of salt all over the country.

[Tangled Metal]

I believe I'm some places they've even moved on from rock salt to other chemicals. Can't remember where I read that unfortunately.

[LollyKat]

I thought they used a mix of grit and salt? Here in the west of Scotland what looks like sharp sand can persist for weeks in the road edges.

[awavey]

down south they started to use a salt coated with molasses mix, which seems to end up as brown sludge near the gutters,and can be slippier I think than the ice sometimes,certainly on that first push off traction pull away from a stop.

[foxyrider]

A few years ago around the city (Sheffield) they started putting the salt down wet which seemed to work pretty well as it covered the ground more effectively.

However since the roads were contracted out Amey have gone back to dry salting. I guess the equipment is cheaper and as far as they are concerned it doesn't matter how well the salting actually works, they get paid the same.

[Pastychomper]

down south they started to use a salt coated with molasses mix, which seems to end up as brown sludge near the gutters,and can be slippier I think than the ice sometimes,certainly on that first push off traction pull away from a stop.

Most of the farmers round here give their stock salt licks with a high molasses content, especially in winter. If they started spreading stuff like that on the roads, the snow would soon be replaced by a layer of sheep enjoying their "ice cream"!

[feefee8]

down south they started to use a salt coated with molasses mix, which seems to end up as brown sludge near the gutters,and can be slippier I think than the ice sometimes,certainly on that first push off traction pull away from a stop.

Most of the farmers round here give their stock salt licks with a high molasses content, especially in winter. If they started spreading stuff like that on the roads, the snow would soon be replaced by a layer of sheep enjoying their "ice cream"!

One of the reasons there are hundreds of deer by the road in Scotland in winter! They do indeed lick the road.

[mjr]

I was watching this video ofthe schwalbe winters on glare ice. Very impressive especially the ease of his turn mid point. Looks like pretty good coating of ice too. Makes me feel nauseus to watch as i'm expecting a fall!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ihyyAlASyo0

Yep, that was like today in Norfolk. I was being cautious but the closest I came to falling was walking back to the parked bike

Has anyone managed to find the limits of grip on Schwalbe winters and how would you describe its locations?
EDIT: Asked and answered last year at viewtopic.php?p=1071635#p1071635

[Si]

My marathon-winters struggled a bit today. It was because we had crunchy frozen snow...it was thick enough that the studs couldnt get down to the hard stuff to grip, and the snow wasnt solid enough to give grip to the knobbles on the tryes.. Its a bit of a strange feeling to be actively hunting the slick ice so that you can get grip.

[old_windbag]

I was being cautious but the closest I came to falling was walking back to the parked bike

I bailed out when going down an ice covered hill once. I was so relieved to have got off in the circumstances as I walked down the hill with the bike then 200yds later was lying flat on top of the bike in the verge. But you always have to check in case someone has seen you , what a clown.

I bought some shoe spikes a few years ago, I could have done with them today( haven't used them yet ). I feel sorry for the elderly in conditions of ice under foot, fresh snow is fine but ice glaze is lethal and it now has rain on top of it. I've encountered very very few salted footpaths today, in rural areas the norm but in a major city, I was rather surprised.

I've seen quite a few cyclist today riding on sheet ice and without any sign of studded tyres, rather them than me.

[MikeF]

I thought they used a mix of grit and salt? Here in the west of Scotland what looks like sharp sand can persist for weeks in the road edges.

Well maybe they still do in some rural areas, but generally it's rock salt, with maybe molasses to make it stick. There is not normally a residue of any sort in urban areas or even in semi rural areas.