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Cycling in Waterloo Region
Lol, my winter bike maintenance is, "park bike", it's the main reason I have a winter bike Tongue.

I'll lube the chain with wet lube every 1-2 weeks though.

It all depends on whether you want to ride a winter beater or not.
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(12-10-2018, 02:14 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: At work and at home? What is your process regarding chain and drivetrain each ride? Looking for habits to form.

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(12-10-2018, 11:24 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Seeking advice:

My winter beater needs new forks.  It has suspension forks, with like, about an inch of travel, they do move, but I'm not sure if I'm getting any real damping from them.  The real problem is they're quite lose, so regardless, they need replacing.

I'm trying to decide what to replace them with.  This is mostly a winter beater/cruiser bike, I'm hoping to get something with a longer stem to raise the handlebars even more.  That aside, I don't know if I care for suspension, the city has plenty of bumps and curbs, but I'd rather a tighter put together feel (the current ones are obviously floppy as anything), but I've never ridden a really good suspension fork, is it worth it?  Or should I just stick with a cheaper rigid fork (I've also hear that a good rigid fork will provide some damping).

Thoughts?  Experiences?

Grab a new or used rigid carbon fork and call it a day. The ride won't be much different (if your current fork only has 20-30mm of travel) and you'll save a TON of weight.
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(12-10-2018, 11:24 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Seeking advice:

My winter beater needs new forks.  It has suspension forks, with like, about an inch of travel, they do move, but I'm not sure if I'm getting any real damping from them.  The real problem is they're quite lose, so regardless, they need replacing.

I'm trying to decide what to replace them with.  This is mostly a winter beater/cruiser bike, I'm hoping to get something with a longer stem to raise the handlebars even more.  That aside, I don't know if I care for suspension, the city has plenty of bumps and curbs, but I'd rather a tighter put together feel (the current ones are obviously floppy as anything), but I've never ridden a really good suspension fork, is it worth it?  Or should I just stick with a cheaper rigid fork (I've also hear that a good rigid fork will provide some damping).

Thoughts?  Experiences?

Good suspension forks are great, but the really good ones are really expensive and likely aren't worth it for the money for your purpose

If you get a good steel rigid fork that will provide some give.  Stay away from aluminium, ouch.
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(12-10-2018, 02:17 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Lol, my winter bike maintenance is, "park bike", it's the main reason I have a winter bike Tongue.

I'll lube the chain with wet lube every 1-2 weeks though.

It all depends on whether you want to ride a winter beater or not.

My criteria for a working winter bike is that the wheels turn when I pedal and the brakes work when I need them to. Comfort is not a priority for me.

Maintenance is oiling the chain when it starts to sound nasty, and fixing stuff when it breaks.
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Do you guys ride your winter bike all winter? Or only on nasty days?

One reason I want my winter bike to be serviceable is most of the days of the winter are reasonably nice to ride on, and I don't want such an uncomfortable bike on those days.
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(12-10-2018, 04:42 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Do you guys ride your winter bike all winter?  Or only on nasty days?

One reason I want my winter bike to be serviceable is most of the days of the winter are reasonably nice to ride on, and I don't want such an uncomfortable bike on those days.

Winter bike all the time. I don't really do any maintenance. If it's really nice and not salty sometimes I take my summer bike out, but usually not.
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(12-10-2018, 03:13 PM)Canard Wrote:
(12-10-2018, 02:14 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: At work and at home? What is your process regarding chain and drivetrain each ride? Looking for habits to form.


That's how you make a bike last a lifetime! I do that a few times a year for my nice weather bikes but the commuter that lives outside rarely sees such love.
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(12-10-2018, 04:42 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Do you guys ride your winter bike all winter?  Or only on nasty days?

One reason I want my winter bike to be serviceable is most of the days of the winter are reasonably nice to ride on, and I don't want such an uncomfortable bike on those days.

I should say that my winter outdoor biking is limited to commuting, which is about 5 km each way, but, yes, I have biked the majority of the last three winters.
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(12-10-2018, 04:42 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: One reason I want my winter bike to be serviceable is most of the days of the winter are reasonably nice to ride on, and I don't want such an uncomfortable bike on those days.

It might be worth visiting a bike shop, talking to the folks there and asking if they have any bikes with forks without suspension so you can get a feel for what the suspension is actually bringing to the table for you. 

I moved away from suspension in my forks a couple of years back but also switched from a commuter hybrid to a road-style cyclocross so lost suspension, cushioned seat and a lot of other commuter niceties so my experience isn't the same at all, but I'm fairly confident that I'm not missing anything from the front suspension. The difference in seat and the difference in ride after moving from wider, knobbier, softer tires to thin hard ones is very noticeable butI don't feel it in my arms or hands at all.
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Thanks Canard, that was just what I was looking for. Will probably pick up that chain cleaner, and figure out what degreaser and lube to buy.
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I used to use a chain cleaner, but apparently they can be counter-productive and actually drive dirt deeper into the rollers. The convenience is great, though. Now, I just wipe down the chain with a rag soaked with some degreaser, and then periodically remove the chain and clean with a degreaser and toothbrush. I do this more for my cx bike in the fall, as much as once a week depending on conditions, less for my road bike in the summer, maybe as little as once a month.
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I never loved the chain cleaners too.

As a bike mechanic I'd always use the rag/degreaser method for a quick clean. Taking it off is the best clean you can get, but obviously not convenient.
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I'm trying to figure out what the best daily and less frequent (weekly? bi-weekly?) winter maintenance program is.
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And they said that roll curbs would be enough...

https://twitter.com/grescoe/status/1072855651213344768
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