Get Your Bike Ready for Winter

With a little time left for winters, it’s high time to be ready with your bike preparations. You just need to change some bike components and add other essential elements to be all set for winters. This won’t take much time of yours, but if you still avoid it, then riding is going to be too difficult during the winter season.

Upgrade your wheels

The carbon and alloy wheels will not work during the winter season as during the cold weather a lot of grit is being kicked out to the wheels which drastically affect the brakes. So, get rid of carbon or alloy wheels and upgrade it to better wheels for smooth riding. However, if your bike has disc brakes, then there’s no need of switching your wheels as you can ride with same wheels throughout the year without any difficulty.

Change your bike’s tires

When you are changing your wheels, you also need to upgrade your tires. Upgrade your tires to rougher and beefier tires as these tires are perfect for long miles. Continental Gatorskin and Vittoria Pave tires are the favorites among the riders as these tires are tough, hard and perfect for wet or icy conditions.

Greasing is important

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• Greasing is important not only in winters but in all the other seasons too, as it improves the performance of the bike which certainly makes riding easier. However, during winters you really need to grease five major areas of the bike i.e. lower headset bearing, bottom bracket, seat post, cleat bolts and cage bolts. During winters, you need to make sure these five areas are greased at regular intervals as it will boost the performance of the bike which will make riding a lot simpler during the cold season.
• However, you do not need to grease all the components of the bike because most of the bike components are made up of carbon parts. So, check out the parts of your bike and if they are made up of carbon then do not grease it.

Be ready with repair supplies

During winters, you require a lot of repair supplies as your bike will witness many part failures. So, it’s better to be ready with the repair supplies so that you can deal with a difficult condition anytime. Get a large bag and collect patch kit, 2 tire boots, multitool, frame pump, tubes and other major repair supplies. Carrying plenty of repair supplies will always be helpful during the cold and wet conditions.

Lights

• During winters, it gets’s dark earlier as compared to other seasons. Moreover, you witness bad weather conditions during this season which lead to more shaded Lights can be really helpful in such conditions as you can handle darkness with ease. Lights will also play a significant role in fog as it will show you the path.
• So, roll with a bright tail light to deal with the dangerous conditions during this season. Also, carry a backup of LED lights along with you because if the lamps fail during the dark, then it will become very hard to ride. So, roll with a brighter light and a backup to deal with the dark and bad conditions during winters.

Mudguards

• Mudguards will be helpful for you as well as for your fellow riders. Mudguards will protect you from the cold and dirty water kicked up by the tires during the rainfall and will also make sure the water is not kicked to the other riders. The tires also remain wet even after it stops raining. So, roll with mudguards to help you and your fellow riders from the dirty water kicked up your tires.
• So, get ready with these preparations to make riding easy during the winters. To buy new components, consider online stores as they allow huge discounts on items which will certainly help you to get your bike ready without spending a lot of money.

Apart from upgrading components, you also need to maintain your bike during the winter season. So, regularly clean your bike to lower the risk of corrosion and ensure comfortable riding for a long run.