# Safe to ride mountain bike in the snow? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 24, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221 "2013-01-24T15:01:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@F.Pu-du-he-pa-as](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.Pu-du-he-pa-as)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/1 "2013-01-24T15:01:26Z")
It’s in the 20’s, and there’s about an inch to an inch and a half of snow on the ground. Do you think it would be safe for me to go ride my mountain bike on that on a paved trail? I’ve almost never had snow before, so I have no idea how this works. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/2 "2013-01-24T15:20:44Z")
If you have mountain bike tires, IE not smooth, you should be okay. I’m sure somebody with more experience will also chime in. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/3 "2013-01-24T16:02:08Z")
Really depends on the snow - it’s ice that’s the real problem on the trails in winter. So if there are a lot of icy patches it can be risky - you can crash on ice with zero warning, so there’s no chance of rescuing things, particularly if the front goes. Riding on pavement as well means a hard landing, you would be better out on the real trails from this point of view. On the a more positive note, MTBing out in the snow is awesome and very beautiful if you get out into the hills. So if it is an inch and a half of snowy snow then I’d say you’re good to go. Just take it easy. We’ve had a lot of snow in the UK this last week, but I’ve only gotten out for a night ride. A fair bit of ice around so had to take things really cautious but still great to be out riding in the snow. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/4 "2013-01-25T00:06:40Z")
I never ride in the snow, just because of the risk of hidden ice patches. If you’re confident there isn’t any ice, though, the snow itself shouldn’t be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/5 "2013-01-25T00:28:16Z")
What they said about ice. I used to ride my mountain bike in college, and would ride in winter, but with extra caution - and it didn’t hurt that we had a lot of bike trails around campus. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/6 "2013-01-25T03:22:08Z")
You can buy studded MTB tires, they are quite effective. They are also heavy and expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/7 "2013-01-25T13:04:37Z")
People here ride all year round. Like others said, you can get tires that make going in the snow easier. Of course, if you really want to ride in the snow a lot, you get a [snow bike](http://surlybikes.com/bikes/pugsley), which is the New Cool Thing in mountain biking, at least in areas where it snows. My town is going nuts with them; we have some huge number of miles of groomed snow bike trails nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/8 "2013-01-25T14:15:25Z")
People here in Minneapolis ride fixies in the winter. Mountain bikes are no problem. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/9 "2013-01-25T14:41:34Z")
I doubt you’ll kill yourself. It’s hard to get that much speed up in the snow. Fall down and go boom? Yeah, fairly good chance of that. Definitely definitely wear a helmet. But snow-riding is fun. On the bright side, if you bundle up like Randy Parker, all that padding softens crash-landings. You do want big knobby tires. If you’ve got some old tires you don’t mind ruining, you can make your own studded tires. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-to-ride-mountain-bike-in-the-snow/648221/10 "2013-01-25T14:55:36Z")
You could use this kit to turn your bike into a [halftrack](http://www.gizmag.com/go/6633/).