I recently landed in a small town that gets a decent amount of snow in the winter, and commute on my bike with thin road tires. I’m thinking I want a fat bike with some nice thick tires to deal with the snow days, but local used options are limited and new bikes are fairly pricey. I have a bit more options in the used departed if I can go with more standard mountain bike. Are regular mountain bikes a viable option for commuting in snow? We had a very weak winter this last year with 7 inches all season but from some locals I’ve spoken too they said it can get up to 6 or 7 inches a month and only main thoroughfars are plowed, if amount of snow makes a difference in what sort of bike would be most suitable.
Appreciate any advice from those of you who ride in the snow regularly.
For the snow get as wide as tires your frame allows and then ride with a bit lower air pressure than normal so you have more surface area on ice. Studded tires can also help but i just used all-seasons year-round and only fell over a few times ;)
Personally i would avoid getting a new bike unless you can bring the bike into work+home with you to keep eyes on it. I just don’t see the point in spending more money just to make your bike a more attractive target to opportunists. Also could always just wait and see if a new bike is really warranted
I’m on 25c now and don’t think I can go much wider, which is why I’m leaning towards a mountain bike with snow appropriate tires. Bike is stored inside both at home and at work, but I’ll still probably go used for better value. Thanks for the advice.