this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025
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If it weren't for weather I wouldn't have a car. Sure, 90 minutes by ebike is a serious time commitment, but I'd save so much money a year it makes sense as a part time job.
But fuck riding a bike on ice for two months lol
I haven't had a car for two years now. Well technically i had the car i use for my job, but i never use that in my free time. While public transportation is pretty good here, i still live close to nowhere and i have to get to the next bus stop. Ebikes are fantastic but they do have their limits. Gettig groceries on a nice sunday morning, i can go on a 90min trip without any roads and no cars and a view that would blow most people's mind. But a rainy Thursday evening in the cold, there are just days that i'm not in the mood for that.
For the rainy days you could get a quality rain jacket. Works pretty well. We got rainproof backpacks too.
Studded tires make this a non issue.
Does it really? I'd think they would help, but actually a non-issue? I'm skeptical.
Also getting sprayed by a passing ~~asshole~~ car showering me with slush+sand+road salt doesn't sound great either.
Personal experience, yes. I’ve biked trails in all conditions and only had any trouble on one of them. It had snowed a bunch, thawed, froze again, and then rained. I could still generally bike around and never fell, but didn’t have enough traction for the short steep climbs found on trails.
My commute is pretty hilly, doesn't sound like I'd have a good time on ice.
Some people in this community are nuts. They expect people to bike 15-20 miles though snowy mountains carrying a weeks worth of breakfast, lunch, and dinners.
I often choose to ride my bike in the winter on super icy (side roads, no traffic) it's fun for recreational purposes if you're into that. On a commute or something else, i really wouldn't recommend.
But it cold and I don't want to bundle up like that kid from A Christmas Story.
"I can't put my arms down!!"
Physically impossible in the north outside of cities and even then not often possible. What with snow and all. And it is 6 months here.
Yeah I lived a car-free life when I lived in Seattle, working on Magnolia Hill, living on Capitol Hill. That was doable year round. The midwestern flyover states I grew up and live in, tho, no it's not workable. In the North there's snow for months, in the South we have monsoon season where it rains for weeks, in the summer heat index gets above 110 regularly and these people don't plant shade trees. Plus nearest grocery stores are miles away (I live downtown in a capital city).
Even though I work a few blocks from my home, I can't live car free here without significant ride-sharing expenses (the bus system is a joke and only runs part of the day, grocery shopping would eat an entire day of my week that way), if I did that I couldn't go on roadtrips on weekends either, unless I rented a car - and all that is more expensive than my (20k, not 40k) car.
But I do love this community and it's coastal approach to shaming people who rely on cars... take the tram or train, lmao
I do not use my car for weeks at a time, but I need one in the country especially, also in the city when there.
Studded tires are illegal on public roads where I live (i'm pretty confident it applies to bikes too), but i do fine with fat tires. My chain slips if its actively snowing though and for some reason my bolts loosen rather quickly in winter.
Ice ? Canadians do bike in winter too.
Ice isn't the worst IMO, it's the sloshy zero degree sludge, ice cold rain and biting wind.
Do they do it for 20+ miles? In the dark?
Maybe they do.
I don't want to die.
you don't want to die? that doesn't sound like weather is what matters to you, that sounds like safety from traffic is what matters.
and if you're talking about slipping on ice, uh.. studded tyres exist.
It's a pretty hilly commute. Besides the ever present threat of being murdered in traffic (and this is a rural area, so traffic actually is a lesser concern), I have to contend with going up and down half a dozen steep slopes.
On ice in the dark.
I might just wreck my bike and freeze to death.
studded tyres make biking on ice feel like biking on asphalt, and you can buy very good rechargable LED lamps. I had a teacher who biked ~20km in the winter, through rural areas and during the dark since it becomes night at 17:00.
I have lights and ride in the dark already.
But we're talking 11pm, if I get in a bad accident on a dark farm-to-market road I'll just die. No one will see or hear me.
Also 20km is only 12.4 miles.
And I outright don't believe riding on a steep icy hill with studs is like riding on asphalt. I'm sure it's doable, I just don't believe it's easy or safe.
I ride a bike in winter, though admittedly it’s in a city where frequent plowing and ambient heat make it less of an issue. Funny thing is, I bought my bike in December.
I wear thick winter gear, including gloves, socks, and mask. If I drove, I’d want that sort of gear as soon as I exit my car at the parking lot, so I’d rather just have that all on beforehand and be warm the whole way.
It’s also just not that snowy/icy around here anymore. You might get it for a few days but otherwise it’s just cold and dry.
90 Minutes????? Jesus christ
I do it about once a week. Plenty of time for audiobooks and podcasts!
That sucks, where I live I'm a 3 minute walk from two supermarkets, with like 4 more in a 15m radius.
I don't say this to brag, but that's why I reacted incredulously to your original comment, it just seems crazy to me.
Living in between supermarkets sonds like absolute hell to me.
why? Genuinely curious bc for me it's fine