Bloomfield Winter Whip

Since today was my first commute in the snow this season (a light snow but still snow on the ground!) I figured it was the right time to show you a different look that my Bloomfield takes on for riding out the long, sometimes difficult winters in Montréal. The summer build is unchanged, but the flexibility of the Bloomfield means it's pretty easy to swap parts for different seasons.

For context, the winter conditions in Montréal are, outside of some outlier days, between 0°C and -15°C, ignoring wind chill since you've always got some extra wind on a bike. Precipitation is mostly snow, with some freezing rain days. Road conditions vary between: dry but filthy and salty; slushy; loose snow; packed snow; and black ice (sometimes with bonus snow on top). Bike paths are mostly well-cleared these days, particularly the REV arterials, but local streets are often treacherous and motorists extremely vicious, moreso than in Spring and Summer. The Sun tends to be up when I go to work, but sets well before the end of the workday, so a strong light is a must.

On to the parts swaps! The big difference is the wheel size. The Bloomfield V1 was designed from the start to be able to use larger 700C wheels (narrow tire summer styles) or the smaller 650B size (wider tire and room in the frame for fenders). Going from a 700 x 32C slick tire to a studded 650 x 38B winter tire makes for a smaller total diameter and you can juuuuust about squeeze in some metal fenders. You've usually got to use different sidepull brakes for the different wheel sizes, but if you don't care too much about braking power on the front, it turns out old Mafac Racers just need to have their pads moved to the extremes of their adjustment range.

OK, so that rear hub... I'm one of the reluctant Sturmey-Archer apologists at C&L, and this is the third winter bike I've built with an internally-geared hub (8-speed Sturmey and Shimano Nexus-3 if you're curious - the former is retired for being ridiculous and the latter is still going on a buddy's beater bike). The S2C is weird even by IGH standards, but when I found out I could get it in a coaster-brake, 120mm spaced version, a perverse part of my mind wouldn't let me use anything else. It's a 2-speed which is convenient around town, and shifts by moving the pedals backward a fraction of a turn.

It's also got a coaster brake, which you brake by pushing backward on the pedals slightly more than to shift... Yes, that means you shift every time you brake. If you're coming to a stop from high gear, that means you'll be starting in low gear. Pretty clever stuff but very weird. I'm seeing how many winters it can survive, I opened it up and greased it to my own winter standards before initial setup. I've found that at -10°C and below, if you give the bike time to sit around and equalize to the ambient temperature, you can't shift anymore until it's moved and warmed up for a few km - but the braking still works perfectly.

I normally try to steer people away from coaster brakes since most are made for light use or children, meaning they're not designed to stop a full-grown person who's really moving. This is a beefy one though, and works well enough that I don't often have to use my front brake! That's convenient since when braking on the front you have more power but lose some control, both potentially problematic on slippery surfaces.

The chain is also one I only use in the winter, partly because I'd need to resize my summer chain for the larger cog, partly because my summer chain's pretty nice and I don't want it sitting in brine all season. The chain's rust-coloured because of the rust from storage - it's suspended in the chain oil and will come off when I clean it. Happily the chainline works great with the same crank and bottom bracket.

Instead of drop handlebars, I've got this nice cozy and relaxed North Road-style handlebar, which I keep with its bell and stem in my storage once summer's over. It's a quick swap since my brake lever is hinged and comes off easily. These handlebars are way easier to use with big huge mittens than road bars would be.

The Soma front mini-rack supports a bag, I actually leave it on for the summer now too, it's just too convenient, and Bassi forks are designed with this rack's dimensions in mind so it's the easiest one to fit. Its small size and thoughtful shapes make it look like a natural part of the bike, particularly when I remove the light for the winter.

The front wheel's built with a dynamo hub. It's even more important in winter for reliability, since batteries don't keep their charge nearly as well when it's very cold. The light is the Kasai Trail Beam - being seen clearly is more important in a snow storm so a shaped beam is less useful than this one which just throws its light everywhere.

Fenders are completely indispensable for winter riding, maybe even more so than the studded tires that are on this bike. There's almost always some moisture on the ground, and with road salt it becomes a brine. Having that thrown up all over me and the bike every day for months would make all the parts wear much, much faster. These are aluminium ones from Tanaka (Merry Sales), a 650 x 45B model. As you can see the fender line is awful, but with track dropouts I have to be able to move the wheel back to remove it. The front has a flap to protect my boots and bottom bracket, which I cut from leather scraps. The front fender's stays aren't cut because I didn't need to and didn't care, no other reason.

The last little detail is the big ol' Blue Lug reflector on the saddle, a Peace Sports special collaboration. Isaac who runs Peace (and is like me a folder/minivelo enthusiast) is chums with Riv Bike's James and we had a little bike hang and chat when I visited San Francisco this fall. Thanks again for the reflector Isaac!

Happy riding even in the dark months! Remember to always keep your stick on the ice, and have fun out there.