Rain is no problem, just get a proper jacket and rain pants. They’ll last you years.
Ice can be a problem, but you can get studded tires if you’re really regularly riding on ice.
Severe cold? I’ve biked in -20 weather, and with proper gear it’s not bad. You’re working hard and you heat up pretty quickly. The tricky things are your fingers and toes. Your fingers need enough freedom to operate the brakes and so on, so you can’t just use huge and bulky gloves. If you’re using clip-in pedals, your choice of footwear is a bit limited.
The real issue with winter biking isn’t the cold or the ice, it’s the lack of proper cycling infrastructure. Biking on a road next to a bus is hard enough in summer. In winter where there’s uncleared snow, slush and ice, it sucks. In places with proper winter cycling infrastructure it’s no problem.
Imagine how hard it would be to drive a car in winter if cities didn’t send out snowplows to clear the roads. That’s what it’s like for cyclists now in most (but not all) places.
Rain is no problem, just get a proper jacket and rain pants. They’ll last you years.
Ice can be a problem, but you can get studded tires if you’re really regularly riding on ice.
Severe cold? I’ve biked in -20 weather, and with proper gear it’s not bad. You’re working hard and you heat up pretty quickly. The tricky things are your fingers and toes. Your fingers need enough freedom to operate the brakes and so on, so you can’t just use huge and bulky gloves. If you’re using clip-in pedals, your choice of footwear is a bit limited.
The real issue with winter biking isn’t the cold or the ice, it’s the lack of proper cycling infrastructure. Biking on a road next to a bus is hard enough in summer. In winter where there’s uncleared snow, slush and ice, it sucks. In places with proper winter cycling infrastructure it’s no problem.
Imagine how hard it would be to drive a car in winter if cities didn’t send out snowplows to clear the roads. That’s what it’s like for cyclists now in most (but not all) places.