The Pinkbike Podcast: Episode 87 - How To Love Riding When it's Cold and Wet

 Pinkbike really should do a piece on the burgeoning fatbiking scene in the Northeast U.S. There is a trail grooming machine called a snow-dog, and it allows places to groom pretty much any singletrack for fatbiking. It's amazing what you can go up and down.

It turns fatbiking from a boring XC endeavor, to foot-out-flat-out hooligan racing down steep and terrifying trails. If your NE correspondent needs a tour of the best places, let me know!

Unfortunately in the Northeast U.S., mountain bike trails are mostly closed until the snow. Our shoulder seasons; mud season, AKA spring; and stick season, AKA fall, don't allow for trail riding, as the trails are too fragile.

I ride fatbikes all winter (usually in the dark with lights) when there is snow on the trails, and backcountry ski for big adventures on the weekends. The fatbiking is getting better and better, and hopefully more trail system adopt groomers.

 Jesus @henryquinney that was an epic storytime. As much fun as it was - it sounds like you were actually pretty close to the edge

 WTF - Henry trippin' his Buckinham Balls off - and we don't get an entire podcast dedicated to that? COME ON Pinkbike, let's do this...

 @henryquinney you seemed curious about fat bike riding. As someone who fat biked regularly for 6 year in AK. I can assure you that your story about hanging out all night with a fun guy; is basically what most fat bike rides are like. Warm warm warm.

 @brianpark, in one of the podcasts it would be cool to hear more about some of the 3D printed parts you've experimented with. I just recently got into 3D printing. Making parts or accessories for my bike sounds fun. Any good success or failure stories?

Anyone else have any cool 3D printed parts on their bike?
www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=232919

 Canada Capital region has some killer winter riding. Some of the best and spookiest conditions are when the ground has frozen but no snow fall yet, hard pack makes for some high speeds.... then ice! Would love to see a Pinkbike trip showcasing Vallee des bras du nord yurt fatbike experience

 I'm with Kaz AND Levy on gloves and shoes falling apart. I can get 5 rides out of gloves before super glueing the seams back together. And I can blow out a pair of five tens sitting on the couch. I will say I switched to ride concepts middies this season and they are lasting well so far

 Carbon bars with silicone grips and carbon brake levers allow me to ride much thinner gloves, even well below freezing (0F-32F / -18C-0C). The rest of my body doesn't have too much trouble staying warm. Actually, sweating no matter how cold it is my main problem.

Oh, and my Louis Garneau Klondike shoes are amazing!

And count me in on the 29+ HARDTAIL for slop riding.

 I love having a cozy change of clothes in the car for after the ride. Huge morale boost if your drive is any longer than like 30 mins. And my go-to winter garb is a smartwool 250 baselayer on top, a lightweight wool buff, and wool socks.

 I rode through 20 years of winters on the Colorado Front Range before moving to the PNW. IMO the worst is when wind chilled components are cold enough to freeze water but the ground is warm enough to keep things sloppy. It's a special hell where everyone ends up riding single speed as your cassette freezes over everywhere except the gear your chain is on, fenders or not.

 Question for the podcast: when did aluminum rims become so freaking expensive. I’m old enough to remember when the 18 in a Sun CR18 apparently designated the width and the price. The fanciest Mavic rim you could buy with machined brake tracks and a ceramic coating was $70. Now Al rims are ~$150 and they don’t have brake tracks and usually don’t even have eyelets anymore. Way more than inflation and it can’t be the extra $0.17 of Al for a wider rim. Did carbon help normalize higher rim prices?

 I think we need to get @henryquinney on a field trip to Alberta this winter to try some fat bikes and some real cold (but a bit more dry)!

 Never double-down on mushrooms! Whoever had them should have been much more careful with folks who hadn't tried them before. Glad you survived Harry, seemed like it could've gone either way. There's not too much to learn from poisoning yourself.

 With dirtbikes using O-ring chains, you can notice the loss in power on smaller displacement bikes. The trade off is a longer lasting chain. O-ring chains on mountain bikes would be a terrible idea.

 Got the notification for this episode, walked outside, rain turned to frost last night, 25F out, so everything was frozen, had to work the ratcheting mechanism on my T2 a few times to get it to hold my front wheel. The episode so far has aligned well with my experience for the day.

 I just bought a raw Planet-X Jack Flash 25th Anniversary frame, which is a remake dirt jumper with a derailleur hanger. I plan to use it as my Ray's bike / trail hardtail. I was thinking about getting a custom frame built that has similar geometry and the price was too good to pass up. There are some weird compromises that I didn't think about. It is designed for cantilever brakes but it does have IS mounts but no cable mounts on the seat stays. The cable mounts that it does have are the kind that alternate between an outer housing and bare cable. So unless I want to zip tie fully housed cables to my frame I'll be using cable actuated disc brakes. This is not a big deal for the purposes of this bike but the cable actuated disc brakes that I have found are either: 1) cheap off brand stuff on Amazon or 2) expensive options like TRP cable actuated hydraulics or Sypres or Paul components.

I am just not the kind of person who can spend more on brakes than the frame. My ADD does not allow it because there is a hierarchy of how much you get to spend on each part relative to the frame. Fork is only thing allowed to be more expensive than frame and only when you get a smoking deal on the frame.

I am also not the kind of person that wants to use brakes that I cannot trust.

I like the Avid BB5s on my single speed, are those still made? Are there gravel or road bike brakes that are decent at a good price that I could get?

 So which one of Henry's colleagues let him walk off into the woods alone on what sounds like a massive dose for his first time ever indulging? Look out for your friends.

 Carbon fiber brake levers are the best thing ever in the cold, I wish more companies offered them if only for this purpose. Merino wool gloves + socks also help to stay warm when wet.
Also, some cheap insulative footbeds are heaps better when using SPD cleats.

 A nice upgrade for winter riding has been enduro style hand guards. Keeps the wind off my hands and really extends the weather and temperature range that I can ride with normal gloves on. Then of course there are poagies for when it gets really cold, however that's fat biking territory and I too have sworn off fat biking, I'd rather nordic ski.

 An episode on night riding would be cool since it’s daylight savings this weekend. I saw a cougar on my night ride tonight and would love to hear other crazy stories about night rides.

 Last winter I took a cold ride and both my gear shift cable AND my dropper post cable froze up. AND the water in my camelbak tube froze. I was wrapped up warm, and pedaling, so the weather was fine for riding. Why made it unenjoyable was being stuck in one gear with my saddle too low for the entire ride.

 You're welcome to visit Cyprus, we're the most South island of Europe and hence the coldest it gets is 0C on the highest peaks. And since everything is just an hours' drive, you can ski, mountain bike and surf on the same day!

 I think Levy might be a bit mistaken in regards to helmets when he said mountain bikers don't care how they look. I see plenty on the trails and in the PB comment sections that tear up if someone even mentions riding in lycra.

 @mikelevy always welcome in Sedona. Border is open right? Cars are waiting...
What I have learned over the years is that if I need to bundle up as much as going skiing, it s probably not worth getting out! And I ll chill home do stretches or hangout with my cat in the warmth!

 Gentlemen- my current ride (Pivot Mach 4 v2) uses 27.5 wheels, a 130mm fork, and has a head angle of 69.2. I love the bike in all respects, but would love more stability in the rough stuff. If you all had to guess, what would "happen" to the handling if I installed this: www.pinkbike.com/news/wolf-tooth-releases-new-geoshift-2-performance-angle-headset.html I live in Ventura County (SoCal), and ride a variety of tight and twisty ups and downs, to fast and relatively technical trails. I'd prefer not to buy another bike, and would like to extend the life of this 2018 rig. I understand you all can't necessarily predict with complete accuracy, but any thoughts would help: I don't need more bikes; I just would like to embrace the current trend of a bit slacker head angle found on the "downcountry" (sorry Levy) rigs. Thanks in advance.

 My coldest, wettest and most miserable ride occurred right after I listened to this podcast on the way to the trailhead. It rained on the climb and there was snow at the top. I had no jacket, no spare gloves, no beanie for my bald head. Needless to say, I was unprepared.

 How is did you manage to do a whole podcast about cold weather riding and not mention pogies/bar mitts. The are complete and total game changers you can wear very thin gloves and still have warm hands.
I have a few depending on ambient temperatures
50 to 38f (10 to 3c) wolf tooth
35 to 25 f (3 to -4 c) 45nrth cobrafist (locking mechanism doesn't work on alloy bars very well works fine on carbon)
25f to 10f (-4 to -12c) dogwood design pogies

Anything below that I add chemical hand warmers and that has been good to -1f (-18c) haven't biked in temps below that... Yet.

 I think my highlight brutal ride of last winter was on my old hardtail on the road but in an active snow storm. The snow plow drivers were kind enough to lift their wings and not plow me into the ditch as they went by at 80km/h but its a concerning site to hear them roar up behind up and look back to see that big plow and wing coming at ya. I got about 40k from home before my front derailluer (3x9 baby!) iced up so much from the slush I could thaw it out or get it working again. My bottles and camel bak hose freezing up was pretty common but only when riding in that active snow storm did a part of my bike stop working. It was a bit of a grind doing the climbs on the way back stuck in the 44T chain ring but made er, by the time I got back again the roads had a good 4" of snow on them.
Since the trails become fat bike only once the snow is down (they get groomed), this winter I have a road bike geared up for winter riding with Pzero 4S tires, full fenders + extensions and soon to come drop bar pogies. Might be a bit more of handful in the snow but should be good for those winter road miles.

 These are the cold weather biking experts. It's a whole other level.

bikepacking.com/event/2021-iditarod-trail-invitational

 best podcast ever!!!!! when will you do a podcast on tires? I know everyone has favs but what is a really good mud tire for winter or best tire combo? like to hear Kazimer and Levy's take on this....

 I will never love winter riding, I do love starting spring riding without feeling like a blob of stiffness with no lungs. Therefore I winter ride in spite of my dislike.

 Being Scottish i'm frankly shocked there is weather that's warm and dry 0_0

 Any chance you can quit the little "preview" at the beginning? We are going to hear it anyway, its just something I have to end skipping.

 electronic components that make you find a good suspension-setup helps more average riders then bike-journalists get upset about it.

 Nice try but you can’t get me to like freezing fingers, ears, and face!

 Glad you made it out alive Henry- hope you dare to join us again at next year's invitational.

 More stories of Henry getting profoundly zooted and riding it out in the woods, plz

 @mikelevy I have those ear covers. They are indeed goofy looking but great for keeping my ears warm without overheating the top of my head.

 Henry’s been in Canada like 5 minutes and he’s already saying “eh” after everything lol

 BEST PODCAST STORY YET!!

 Thanks Sarah for the tip with the socks. You just made my wife great Christmas and one less worry for me!

 Like going into the backcountry; be bold, start cold.

 In Greater Van riding in the rain is standard fare if you want to keep on the bike during fall / winter / spring. lol

 I did not have 'Henry tripping balls' on my podcast bingo this week.

 When you live in the south of France, you don't have this kind of problems. Fall and winter are the best season to ride.

 Build trails when the weather is miserable. Ride when it's marginal to primo.

 Riding in the snow and the cold is some of the most amazing riding there is.

 Wear more/correct clothing...

 Warner knows…All hail the egg!

 Late to the party, can I request a fat tire ebike fieldtest?

 Slip into something warm

 I loved that story

 No comment gold?!