Around here, winter routinely hits -20C, and we can have heavy snow at short notice. Riding in weather like that means (a) studded tires (and extra $400), winter riding gear, and likely a place to shower at work. Also, the skill to ride on snow, which is non-trivial. Winterizing your bike is another story.
Around here, winter routinely hits -20C, and we can have heavy snow at short notice. Riding in weather like that means (a) studded tires (and extra $400), winter riding gear, and likely a place to shower at work. Also, the skill to ride on snow, which is non-trivial. Winterizing your bike is another story.
-30C (and colder!) is pretty much out.
-20 isn’t so bad. Neither is the winter gear, assuming you go outside at all during winter, as it’s the same gear as going out for a walk.
Studded tires are nice, but also not necessary if there’s proper bike infrastructure. Plowing bike lanes goes a long way.
You can get studded tires for $80-150 easy
The absolute cheapest trustworthy tires we could find here were from Amazon, at $140 per tire (cdn.). Most started at $200 and went up.