Roger DeBrito got out with his family to shoot video of them riding their e-bikes on a winter day. Here we go!
Roger is a CyclingSavvy instructor and founder of Journeys from Home Montana, a program to develop independent mobility skills for children walking and bicycling. He is a long-time year-round cyclist. He describes his winter bicycling career, and his family’s e-bikes:
Born in Minnesota, and winter commuting in Montana since 1976, I have taken my share of “falls” in the winter. It takes a very skilled and conscientious cyclist to ride in winter. Studs are a must in my book. The new fat, soft tired bikes do very well also. We have 5 E-bikes in our stable.
One Extra-cycle, front-wheel conversion. The extra length of the wheelbase helps in winter. The front-wheel drive is awesome, pulling instead of pushing.
Two Mid-Drive fat tire hunting bikes. I pull sleds with these! Great on snow and in the snowmobile ski tracks. Not so good on hard-pack snow and ice. The drive system, even in low, jumps and is difficult to control. Most e-bikes do not have a walk/creep mode that works on ice and hard-pack snow.
One Terra Trike (tandem) 10 feet long, with a rear wheel conversion. Sitting four inches off of the ground and having three wheels under me is my most confident vehicle on ice and packed snow.
One 16″ kid’s e-bike, is fun because you can drag your feet on the ice.
One thing to note, that I have experienced, is that when riding an e-bike on the road for commuting, the wind chill becomes more of an issue due to the generally higher average speeds, combined with less physical effort. When I commute 15 miles on my road bike, compared to my e-bike (upright Dutch-style bicycle posture), I have to wear an additional layer and use bar mitts, that I don’t really need on the road bike. And being out in near or below-freezing temperatures for about an hour, proper layering and winter gear is super important. If I don’t get it right (which sometimes I don’t), it gets fairly painful before I arrive at the office.
One thing to note, that I have experienced, is that when riding an e-bike on the road for commuting, the wind chill becomes more of an issue due to the generally higher average speeds, combined with less physical effort. When I commute 15 miles on my road bike, compared to my e-bike (upright Dutch-style bicycle posture), I have to wear an additional layer and use bar mitts, that I don’t really need on the road bike. And being out in near or below-freezing temperatures for about an hour, proper layering and winter gear is super important. If I don’t get it right (which sometimes I don’t), it gets fairly painful before I arrive at the office.