I think I’m getting ahead of myself here but I am new to triathlons and am trying to come up with a good solution for riding through the Winter months. Generally we get snow here (Switzerland), and road biking isn’t possible until at least Feb/Mar (starting December). I thought maybe mountain biking would be a good substitute but as soon as the snow starts lying it kinda puts the kibosh on that. How about the Gym? the idea of spending hours on a bike machine isn’t appealing though. Has anybody trained through the winter months on one of those machines? are they any good?. Suggestions would be appreciated.
My weather here in Michigan is similar to yours in CH. I’ve been on a trainer for the last few years but this off-season I’m trying something new. I bought a used cyclocross bike. I’ll try riding outdoors further into the fall/winter. Only staying indoors when the temp is just too low to be fun. Otherwise…outdoors it is! Hope this gives you some new ideas.
I’ll second Doug’s suggestion. I got my 'cross bike last December and rode through the winter (Ontario, Canada). It was a lot of fun and I ended up putting more hours in than I had in previous years on the trainer. The outdoors was much more motivating than the dark, dreary basement and learning how to ride in the snow can be a lot of fun as well (kinda like biking on sand).
Dan
I am trying to put a fixed cyclecross bike together.Northern NY has snow to. I would rather ride in the cold then on any trainer. How is shifting efected by snow and sand and muck ? What size ,type tires are you running on your cyclecross bike ?
I use the computrainer during winter for indoor training. Was able to do pretty well on the bike at a Half IM using just the computrainer. Once it gets cold and sloppy out with snow here in chicago, use cyclocross bike and or mountain bike with knobby tires and slop around in the forest preserves on asphalt and get in riding miles outside then…stay pretty warm and the shoes being different allow me to slide around and hop off the bike toavoid falling. Lots of fun and seems to give me some good bike miles too and maintain that bike fitness level I built up.
I’ve got a standard spec’d Kona Jake (www.konaworld.com). Tires are Nokian Ravagozzi Cross 700x35c.
Shifting is affected when the slush gets on the chain and into the cassette but still works with a little effort. Expect to clean/lube the chain frequently (every ride). I haven’t had problems with anything freezing while riding (except for the water bottle), however, be sure to wipe everything off after so you don’t end up with ice on the cables. Also hard is clipping in/out when you get snow/ice packed in/around the cleat and pedal. Cheap components are a must - the snow, and slush will destroy them quickly (but should last the year).
Dan
This may should give you some ideas.
Not this year, but the previous year, I went out on my mountain bike about once a week all winter long. I’m up in Rhode Island, so a little bundling up was in order, and the snow was a little bit of a pain, but I got a great workout, got outside a little, and got some bike handling practice in to boot. Loved it. I did that in conjunction with my trainer because that just gets really boring.
For weekday rides it’s nice to have a trainer when daylight is in short supply. I rode a mt. bike with studded tires all winter around town when I lived in Montana and rarely drove. For the home trainer, a good stereo and some videos are key to not going insane. If I lived in switzerland I be doing a whole lot more skiing than spinning in the snowy months.
You’re in RI, where do you do your long rides? That city, i mean state, isn’t really big enough for long rides is it? 
How long do you want to go? I’ve ridden to Boston and back before.
HA HA! I recently moved to CT and i love how all the CT folks make fun of the size of RI. Truth be told, RI is much cooler than CT, but i guess that is just my opinion.
Hey are you doing the FirmMan?
Not this year. I’m more of a short course guy. That race can get really hot too.
Ah, I should be a short course guy (ex sprinter, with all fast twitch muscles) but for some reason i have a desire to go long course. (long meaning take a long time on long course
I am an ex-gymnast. Doesn’t get more quick twitch than that I guess. I did my first half last year at Ralph’s and it was enough to make me want to go right back to short course races.
THX doug, it looks like I’ll have to mix up the outdoor mountain biking plus gym stuff. Luckily the pool I go to has a full gym and if you buy a 3month pass you get free entry to said gym. So I figure I’ll probably do a few hours in there during the week after my swims.
It sounds like you have long winters. I would not spend a lot of time riding indoors until about February, otherwise you’ll be either bored or committed once spring comes. Let the snow be your friend, snowshoe and cross-country skiing are great off-season training. I’ve started doing a snowshoe race in February and it makes the end of triathlon season a lot less depressing.