Winter cruiser recommendations

[Bicycle808]

Trial-by-frost... if your first winter is really rough, most of the rest will seem easy by comparison. Starting out on a really easy winter might've led you into a false sense of security

 

[Bicycle808]

In the end I think it'll all work out, though, because I have found a very promising balloon tire Rollfast on CL. Thanks for all the help guys!

Pics, please...

 

[mikeeebikey]

Oh, I should have mentioned, throw the mtb bars and stem away!
The reach is what is getting you guys, and
for snow, you want your weight back.
I run alot of rise on small frames, short stems on the bigger frames.
I have grown fond of "mary," and "sparrow," style bars.
Glad you found a Rolly polly, they do ride rather well!
Post pictures of them tires with.studs!

 

[mornview]

I'll definitely post pics once I have the bike. Right now I need to sell the aforementioned MTB. Every household has their bike threshold, I suppose, and we're at ours. Need to get rid of this one before buying a new one.

us56456712, did you find that adjusting you gear ratio helped any in slush? I'm not going off road or anything, not planning on going through too high of snow (though I'm bound to be stuck in the middle of a few snow falls). My only real problem this last winter was slush; it made it impossible to ride some days. I was using a 46/18 ratio ... never gave me any problems outside of slush.

 

[Bicycle808]

What size is the early 90s Spesh?

 

[mornview]

What size is the early 90s Spesh?

Seat tube: 18"
Top tube: 20.5"
Standover: 29"

It's just crazy; those measurements are just a hair shy of the dimensions of my beloved diamond-frame cruisers, but I can't find any way to get comfortable on the bike.

 

[mornview]

No gearing seems to help me with skinny 2.1 - 2.3 tires in deep slush or snow more that 3 inches. I even tried 30 x 36 with a 36 tooth front sprocket modified to become a rear sprocket. I really could go through deep snow and slush but I couldn't go fast enough to get good gyroscopic effect and kept going off into the snow bank. I went about 6 miles for a test after about 3 inches of snow. I was able to go through where the plow had thrown up snow, but just barely. It took way too much cranking on the two mile flat straightaway. I tossed it.

The snow gets pushed around by car tires, gets deep in places and rutted and mixed with sand and salt and becomes heavy, which makes it hard, but not impossible to ride in with my gearing. The low gear helps, but not enough to matter. You can push through slush with low gearing, but it is so had that you can't keep it up, and it is impossible to keep in a straight line as the heavy ruts and ridges dictate where you are going. It would probably help in shallow slush. The low gearing I use (30 x 22) is to compensate for the extreme weight of the bike and tires and the big hills we have that lead away from Lake Superior. It also allows me go slow while still peddling over ice. If the snow bike trails are hard enough then the low gearing allows me to ride on a lot of it with out pushing, but it is seldom hard enough for skinny tires. Slush is not usually a problem for us until spring as they keep the bike trails plowed, except after a big storm. In the summer I use 46 or 48 X 22 or 23. This works perfect for our hills for me, as I can ride up almost all our hills.
What I learned from my experience would be to try a lighter cruiser than my tank Wally World Huffy and to use commercial ice tires that are a lot lighter than my homemade jobs. I would like to try 1.75 because of the weight savings and see if that made it easier to ride on our ice covered bike path (we have about 20 miles of paved bike path that are plowed in the winter, a little more in the summer). The bike path is asphalt so after plowing the remaining snow melts and freezes and we always have a lot of bare ice on it. Sounds like you have a different weather situation than I do. I am retired and ride for the enjoyment while you have to ride each day for work. You could try 46 X 23 if you have a modern coaster hub. All you would need is a new $10 chain or some extra links. The rear gear change on these modern hubs is easy. You use two small screwdrivers to pry off the "C" spring and the old gear lifts right off. Drop the new one on and hold one end of the "C in the grove and stretch the other end of the "C" with needle nose pliers and in it goes. The most this conversion would cost you is $20 and I think it would help some. My low gearing probably would not work any better than that for your situation.

I'm glad you think removing/reinstalling snaprings on coaster hubs is easy. I try to avoid it unless if I have to (admittedly, I am getting better with practice).

And yeah, I've definitely heard that the U.P. region gets hit worse than we do in the winter ... I'm sure it's a beautiful area, but I don't think I'd want to switch places with you .

 

[Bicycle808]

Mornview, I know what you mean about similar measurements being way different in terms of handling/feel. A lot has to do with geometry, such as head- and seat-tube angles, BB drop, etc... I have a deep respect for 80s and 90s mtb geometry, but of course it's not for everyone.... If your Spesh was a 20" seat-tube, I'd be PMing you about your asking price....

As for the snapring: They're not too difficult, really, but they can be a PTA. I've bloodied my knuckles on those before, but it's been quit a while. Still I've been considering upgrading mine to these:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-1-3-8-in-Steel-External-Retaining-Ring-79678/202210091

And then install/remove them with this:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Irwin-6-...l1-3-_-NA-_-202959148-_-N#product_description

Seems like a waste of money, but it'd make things easier at the co-op, plus those snap-rings come in 10packs for $4.50...