The first real winter commute has happened. Yeah last week I had a 15F day, but that was dry.
Today it was 30 and it had rained/snowed all last night. In fact I had a cold ride home last night, 33F and raining and snowing. I was actually comfortable wearing:
– Showers Pass Elite 2.0 Jacket and Hood
– Trek Winter Cycling Cap
– LS Hind running tech tee.
– Pearl light weight tights.
– Mountain Hardwear Gore Tex Pac Lite pants
– OR Goretex mitt shells
– Fleece gloves
– Shimano Winter Shoes.
It was pouring rain and I got home dry so that says a lot.
Now this morning the roads were a mix of slush and ice.
The bike stayed upright the whole time thanks to the Kenda Klondikes. The beggining of the ride was fun, I dropped down in to Frick Park and road the crunchy snow on the double track up a hill(falls ravine trail) and warmed up nicely.
The streets were not too bad. Plenty of salt made most of the ice not an issue.
I really have to tip my hat to Bianchi for them making such a useful bike as the Castro Valley. This thing is truly the definition of an “all-rounder”.
On this dark crappy morning I turn on all my blinky lights, the seat post, rear rack, helmet, reflective vest, blinky eos on the front of the helmet, Lumotech IQ Fly headlight, and a planet bike blinky band on my upper arm. I think You need to keep a light higher in the front for drivers to see you when their windows are fogged up and poorly scraped. That and they are checking a text message while drinking coffee.
I wore almost the same gear as yesterday:
– Castelli Softshell Jacket
– LS Hind Tech Tee shirt
– Trek Winter Cycling cap
– Patagonia Fleece Neck Gator
– Pearl lightweight tights
– Mountain Hardwear Gore Tec Pac Lite pants
– Shimano Winter boots
– Craft Lobster claw gloves.
Since I live in a city, it takes twice as long to drive on a snowy day as ride to work.
I hope you've got time to answer a couple questions about your Castro Valley… Looks like you swapped out the fork & the crankset. 1 1/8" & square taper, correct? Did the factory fork come with braze-ons for a lowrider front rack? Is the factory headlight worth anything? Assuming not, once I get rid of the light how much of a drag is the hub that'll be doing nothing? Thanks!
Hey Dan – The fork is a replacement. The headset is 1 1/8".
The cranks however were original at the time, they were square taper.
The original fork came with low rider mounts.
The headlight is good, its not great. When the light is off, there is no drag. When it is on, I have to say the drag was never noticeable. I only noticed it when the light was on, and my hands were off the bars while riding on a flats. Otherwise it is imperceptible effort wise.
I replaced the light with a Lumotec Fly. That light was CRAZY bright, really nice to have.
-Joe