Several of 1000 Uses for Old Bicycle Tubes

Step 11 Bike Armour

I'm a veteran, with a messed up pair of knees and a bad back, so my bicycle is a vital form of transport for me. We have no pets, so I treat it like my pet. It's my main fitness device, and as the infantry guys out there know, it beats walking with a zillion pounds of crap on your back.
I've used zip-ties (Available at any good hardware store or electicians shop) aka 'zap straps', to attach pieces of sliced inner tube to parts of my bikes frame, to heep them from being scratched by road crap. The chainstays, bottom tube, and where the top tube meats the seatpost tube and the headset are all good spots for this, especially if you put your bike on a rack; these handy bits will prevent rack bite on your cables. Be careful though; don't zap strap over top of cables which will bugger up brakes or shifting. AACCKK!
I also like a piece on the suspension seat post, to keep rain / snow off the post. You can also put a 3 inch slice on the headset, where the forks meet the handlebars, to protect the headset nut assembly from moisture. See Many Pictures!!
Yes, I cycle in the winter. I will cycle down to -20°C, which is -4°F. It can be challenging.
(Who wants to see a studded bike tire Instructable?)

Comments

[xsmurf]

I sure would like to see that instructables. Seen and have been told a couple of how to's, but none seem to match the real thing. I'm just too cheap to buy a pair, specially since it sorts of require another set of wheels for city commuting... after a few days they've cleared all of the snow and the studs become a disadvantage. Mind you I'm sure it would have been great to get to work the next morning after one of the half dozen foot+ falls. Anyway, why stop at -20°C? We haven't really seen any lower this year here, but I did for a ride on one of those days just to test it out... it's not that bad.... you just don't wanna stop too much ;)

[xenobiologista]

The irony is, sometimes when it's super cold it's safer to ride because the ice on the ground is rock hard - as opposed to when the temp's right around zero C and you keep slipping on the melty bits.

[xsmurf]

So by now I'm in my second winter riding... Funny you mentioned that, we just had some freezing rain, so little you could barely see it on the road. I think it's the most slippery thing I've ever seen. Saw three cars miss their stops and one rear end a parked car on my way. And then I wiped out trying to avoid a ped that decided to cross (with his kid) from between two parked cars. Then met up with 3 other experienced cyclists. Out of us 4 only one hadn't wiped out, but he also came close. This year however we've seen constant < -20°C for a about a week or two. It can be a little intense when coupled with 30kmh winds (that's ~-35*C with windchill, not include your own "wind"). But really I see as many cyclists on the road as the day it started to snow. How winter treating you?

[qparker]

Up here in Alaska it's already been down to -35 below (F*)

[xsmurf]

Yep we've reached the point where °C and °F meet up before ;) -40, I don't really see you're point...

[xenobiologista]

Oh man I wish I had seen this at the beginning of the winter. My Diamondback Apex is covered in grit.