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Will you keep riding MTB or sell them?
I'd probably sell the MTB and stick to road/gravel.
Stock up on bearings and embrace it.
Ridden all winter, I've done 2 wheel bearings and a BB, 6 frame bearings, to be honest, it's not a lot.
Just accept the mud and if that's how it is, accept the wet feet.
I'd rather give up than ride road/gravel exclusively
Nice and dry on the west coast of Scotland.........
As above, just embrace. It’s just a cold easterly in March; nothing particularly unusual. In like a lion, out like a lamb…
It'll soon dry up and we'll have fast dusty trails again.
The problem is under your wheels, not in the air. When living in the south downs I loathed winter riding with the clagging mud. I could never understand how others enjoyed winter gloop until I appreciated gloop is not all born equal. Now I live in lovely well draining loam and rarely see mud.
So just move somewhere nicer 😉
Could be worse, could live here 🤔
I’ll just fly around the world to go biking and to go on numerous holidays, you know, to keep adding to the problem that’s causing this **** weather.
Keep riding MTB, bad weather doesn't bother me (excluding snow, that can do one). I do sometimes get a bit concerned that I might trash the trails but a lot of what I ride gets ridden by MXers and famers quads, compared to those I'm not doing much damage...
In about 6 weeks time they’ll be a hosepipe ban and a thread about Avon skin so soft and midges whilst people complain about the heat.
Last few years have been warmer and drier in the NE. It was a few years before that when we had snow on the ground until May. I certainly did a stage race over easter in snow. It will get better eventually. Not done it this year but a trip to warmer climates around the end of March is always a morale boost. Except that year we went to Majorca and it snowed!
Riding in winter is less pleasant than riding in summer shocker
🤦
Call me soft, I don't care - I'm with the OP. I hate riding in mud on the reg. Hate it. I probably manage twice a winter, with sufficient time between each ride to forget how grim it is.
Then in summer if it arrives I'm out 4 times a week.
we never used to have wet winters, like ever
definitely sell your bikes
I'm riding more road in crap weather, I don't mind rain or some mud but slogging for hours through SE gloop gets old quickly, particularly uphill..
I know some on here thrive on mud..me less so. Prefer to be out rather than on the turbo..
1) The term 'new normal' makes me want to puke
2) It's only just march
3) Yes I'll keep riding MTB
It's only just turned as muddy as a winter should be.
1 mtb ride since October - even that one was utterly minging. Stuck to the road ever since. Its been the shittiest winter i can remember. And thats saying something. Just farking awful.
Im not intending to moan about mud. Just curious what people into the sport will do if its like this all the time.
New normal? Pffft, every winter is the worst winter ever, until the next winter then everybody's memory resets.I t's been wet granted, but pretty mild all things considered.
Sell the MTB because it's raining? Nope.
Do something else when it's raining? Maybe.
like this
Maybe I'm missing something.....is it different this year? The UK is not a big place, but I think we've had different experiences. Where are you?
do if its like this all the time.
when has the weather been like anything all the time? The only thing we can expect is that it’ll be more varied
1 mtb ride since October – even that one was utterly minging. Stuck to the road ever since. Its been the shittiest winter i can remember. And thats saying something. Just farking awful.
If I've just counted right, I've done around 40. All MTB, Derbyshire Dales, Peak.
The odd one has been particularly grotty, the majority have been fine considering the time of year
I live in the Lancashire hills and there’s a very good reason they put lots of reservoirs here.
Nothing’s changed and we really do take the positives and make the most of those 4 days a year when it isn’t lashing down horizontally 😃
It’s only mud. You’re not going to dissolve
You’re not going to dissolve
My drivetrain might tho.
It goes with the territory. If you ride through the winter round here then you ride a hardtail, order brake pads in bulk and budget for a complete new drivechain come the spring
We have various winter routes too, where we’ll stay on the hardpack and off the moors. Still infinitely preferable to riding on the road
Do something else when it’s raining? Maybe.
I was determined to ride this morning but after a miserable hour out with the dogs first thing, another ride in the rain wasn’t so appealing!
I decided to go for a run instead and it’s nowhere near as bad as riding in it. Can’t say why, maybe it’s just a wet me verses wet muddy me plus wet muddy bike to deal with. I just needed my endorphins.
Rigid singlespeed....all the fun, a lot less of the hassle!
I live in the cotswolds, winter just means walking through deep mud, it lost it's attraction a decade ago. There are a very few places where it isn't that bad. I have an 18 month old mtb and noticed there Is still some of the floro grease Shimano uses on the rear mech. So crap has the weather been and so little use the bike has got.
It's not the mud that's that bad, it's the 2 feet of water on top of it!
I've been off of bikes for a while due to a bad back and at the start of this year I was determined to get back into it but the weather's beaten me, it's the worst I've seen my local trails in 30+ years. I know where the dry-ish trails are in the winter but not anymore, it's all bad, had enough now, just want some dry weather as my fitness is already useless and I'm not going on the local roads, I've seen what people drive like on them.
It looks a tad moist today but I got four rides in on local trails last week and it was pretty much dry everywhere. I’ve not had to clean my bike in weeks, but we do live near a spot that seems to have remained bizarrely dry recently, even compared some sloppy trails 10 miles away or so. 🙂
It is pretty crap. Bought a new Spesh Epic Evo over a month ago and haven't turned a pedal yet. Don't really fancy it's maiden ride in slop. Sadly that new bike excitement has evaporated and I'm almost questioning my logic of dropping a few grand on it. But it will stop raining and it won't be long before it's dry and dusty. But for the time being I'm sticking to the gravel bike and nothing more than light off road stuff.
2 weeks ago
Maybe I’m missing something…..is it different this year?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/weather-rain-flood-met-office-b2473794.html
Sodden Britain in the grips of wettest winter in 130 years
The period between July and December last year is the wettest on record since 1890
Not been exactly dry since that was written in Jan, has it.
Wet winters aren’t new. But, this one is a particularly wet one. More winters like this expected though. Just be prepared.
Bike has just had new bearings, pads, chain, cassette, chainring. Still running 10 spd to make the wet winter destruction/replacement of drivetrains more affordable.
Big proper front mudguards and trousers will get you through to the dry trails of… er… May?
If this weather is the new normal…
Depends where in the UK you are.
Play with the layers on this map to find out.
Some places are wetter, some drier. The overheating stats for anyone south east is frightening. Wind, varies. Storms? We're all going to get more
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/0295557a52b5446595fc4ba6a97161bb/page/Page
Personally i think we'll have drier summers and wetter winters, think the last year has been a weird one as summer wasn't great, but can see October to April being depressing.
I don't tend to enjoy mud or wet rides, you get wet, muddy, bikes creaking and squealing, you ram it in the car, try and get something half dry on and get back, to then wash and clean your bike for an hour or so, when all you want is a shower and a meal.
I hate it. I used to ride through it, but now I live in an area with heavy clay - no chance. Just won't ride MTB if its like this all the time.
Double post.
Maybe I’m missing something…..is it different this year?
Yes. I can count on one hand how many dry days we've had since October. Its been the wettest winter in 130 years according to recent reports. The temperature has been fine and I've never really been bothered about the cold anyway. Its just the constant water on everything thats made local trails unridable. A few gravel paths are ok but I cant even walk on the rest.
My winter bike is called Zwift. Spent years riding in the mud and one day after a couple of punctures in the rain had enough.
I tend to stick to trail centres more during the winter months, slogging through mud gets rather tedious.
Rain is fine, it wont kill you.
Yes. I can count on one hand how many dry days we’ve had since October. Its been the wettest winter in 130 years according to recent reports.
Again, depends on where you are in the UK. I've had a mild and not too dry winter.
https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1743302766280217049?t=r2bYrtVAWgYGZFNg0Yho0w&s=19
Yes. I can count on one hand how many dry days we’ve had since October.
It probably feels that way, but I'd wager it's not as bad as that
Yes, it's been wet and it's severely hampering things at work. Every other day I'm saying to myself, will it ever stop raining. But....
Live in Derbyshire - so middle of the country and one of the wetter areas on that map.
Been through my ride photo's from October (tend not to take many when it's raining) and there have been a fair few rides where it has rained - however, there were around 20 or so rides where the conditions looked acceptable, it definitely wasn't raining and around half a dozen with blue skies showing through
Rigid fixie.
Half the brake pad wear, far fewer bearings, no suspension wear.
Probably not a “skills compensator” though.
Yes. I can count on one hand how many dry days we’ve had since October. Its been the wettest winter in 130 years according to recent reports. The temperature has been fine and I’ve never really been bothered about the cold anyway. Its just the constant water on everything thats made local trails unridable. A few gravel paths are ok but I cant even walk on the rest.
As per Matt's image above, it depends where you live in the UK. My instincts are correct and I've had a bang average winter in terms of rainfall. Though not enough of it fell as snow for my liking.
Things that have helped make winter riding less unpleasant
Massive mudguards front and rear
Race face defy fire trousers- mostly water proof and toasty
Seal skins gloves
Having a daughter born in November so every ride , no matter how horrible, feels like a treat
2h rides not all day in the peak. I'm Still mostly warmish and dryish at the end.
I love a good mid winter 25 miles bog fest in the peaks, extra points for side ways rain/ sleet/ snow. These are not happing much with a tiny one.
I’m with the OP too, ****in hate mtbing in the wet, every pedal stroke and wheel revolution just sounds like pennies being drained from my bank account.
Also can’t be arsed sorting out wet and muddy kit and and I hate the Cannock chase grinding paste getting everywhere.
if it carried on indefinitely I wouldn’t quit, but I’d probably get rid of the full suss and run a hardtail with big permanent mudguards. And a gravel bike.
It's an El Niño year,suck it up Adapt or Die 😉
https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/el-nino-expected-last-least-until-april-2024
That Met office chart is pretty skewed by late autumn. Looking at SEPA data for my local station (2 miles away) October was twice its historical average and November was one and a half times. December was slightly drier than average and Jan/Feb were bang on average. Kind of backs up how it feels, in that it’s not been that wet but winter seems to have gone on forever. Very few hard frost or snow days. On the Scottish east coast, it’s been more persistent easterly winds that’s made riding a pain.
Top stuff tall_martin👍
Was visiting my parents in dunstable yesterday
nearly didnt make it back home, flooding was nuts, the area had over 100mm rain in about 6 hours, the average for the whole of September is about 50mm!!
https://twitter.com/ChrisKimberley/status/1838140336469577818
Yep.
I miss the still, warm evenings which used to draw me out in Summer.
And the crisp, cold mornings which used to draw me out in Winter.
Now that it's constantly windy and usually wet as well, every ride feels like one I have to force myself to begin and endure. A lot of the pleasure of riding came from that sense of just enjoying the world for its own sake and being out in it. Adding miles to the spreadsheet* was just a by-product.
Makes me quite depressed to think about it.
I'm still trying to motivate and force myself to go out but it's definitely getting harder, and less fun. I'm considering picking up a cheap road bike for the Winter months, it's got that bad.
* I've never maintained a spreadsheet, but Strava's just a fancy spreadsheet, so you know what I mean.