Re: Inside for awhile

On 1/19/2025 9:49 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 1/19/2025 8:41 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:

Well in Central Illinois is now 3 degrees a bit warmer than my north neighbor Andrew but still too cold to ride anywhere. Hell it is too cold to go anywhere too unless emergency. I see Minot ND is going to -55 windchill tomorrow night.
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Do you you think the bike manufactures can build a bike that you can ride and stay warm in that environment? They keep going for fast a light and want warm and usable daily.
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Let see......a generator heater that works off the hub and keeps the now enclosed cockpit warm. Then you have some wires leading to the feet for heat. A glove that plugs into the hub to keep the hands warm.
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Someone here for sure this is Rec.bicyles.tec after all.

 Let's see: A bike to stay warm below zero? The first step is, as you say, an enclosed cockpit. I don't have any experience riding such a thing, but I wonder if that plus warm clothing might be all you need. For a while, many decades ago, I had a Zzipper fairing on my bike when commuting in cold weather, and it seemed to help. And IIRC, the fully enclosed and streamlined bikes used for speed record attempts have some problem with riders overheating.
 Human muscles, metabolism etc. are only about 25% efficient at producing power. That means for every 100 Watts you output in pedaling, you're delivering 300 Watts heating to your body. If you're inside an enclosed fairing and you use enough insulated clothing to keep that heat from being lost, I think you'd be fine. I'm including feet and hands, which would not have the wind chill if they were inside a fairing enclosure.
 But I can envision other problems. When it's intensely cold, seeing where you're going through a windshield could be a challenge. Enclosing an upright bicyclist would probably lead to big problems from crosswinds due to the huge lateral area, and you'd have some problem with that even if you reduced lateral area with a recumbent posture. So to prevent wind toppling you, you might need a trike instead of a bike. That leads to further complications, like finding three clear paths instead of one through snow, ice or whatever.
 Sorry, I can think of no practical way to ride very far when it's very cold. My record was -4 Fahrenheit, but it was just a brief and uncomfortable utility ride. I don't plan on trying it again.
 

I commuted as low as -25F more than once. It can be done.
For example, snowmobile suits are used at equal or lower temperatures than most cycling, with more relative wind speed, commonly:
https://snowmobiles.org/carhartt-snowmobile-suit/
IMHO fairings or enclosures are not the best approach, especially where wind is significant. (maybe for tricycles but not two wheelers).
--
Andrew Muzi
am@yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971