i wholeheartedly agree.

i hit minneapolis on dec 21 of 95, and was on a single speed univega pedaling around the shitties. definitely teaches you a few things about keeping warm while keeping the bulk down. did that for five years in all kinds of nasty nasty weather.

the biggest thing is deflecting the wind...if you can do that, staying warm is a little easier.

The first year we lived in Duluth, I was biking over to UMD (a flat mile or so) every day to flail helplessly at my thesis, and more importantly, play basketball 3 times a week at lunchtime. When in early December we had a solid week with highs in the negative digits, I became quite enthralled, as people had warned me that it was January that I ought to look out for. So I was expecting "To Build A Fire"-type cold eventually; in the meantime, I wore a ridiculous collection of Gore-Tex and various underlayers and found myself wishing I had a snow-tire or two. I recall finding the sound of below-zero snow under my tires kind of annoying.

Check out this link: www.ktrakcycle.com.

Biked down to -15F last winter (was quite warm). It is too bad that the hill turns so many people off to biking around here. After a couple weeks of riding, it becomes quite easy (especially if you ride a geared bike).

Also, IMO the 'car culture' that is targeted towards today's youth (fast and ferious type stuff) has really reduced the number of younger people who ride regularly. I rarely see teens riding around the East end, but see them trying to be street racer's in their pimp'd out Cavaliers and Civics all the time.

My sis and I were discussing what appears to be an increase in winter bike riding around duluth. Bike/rock on!!!

"Only bad clothing" -- true that.

These are my secret weapons against cold feet (and I spend a LOT of time outside -- 12 hours outside waxing skis at Soldier Hollow/Midway, Utah this weekend).

+ NEOS Overboots -- Basically galoshes, but they work really well. If you want to ride to work in your loafers and stay warm, get these.

+ Koflach ice-climbing boots -- Hella expensive, but if you want to stand around in the cold for multiple hours and still feel your toes, this is the way to go. Not that good for riding a bike though ...

*Drools over the Koflachs (climber here)

I have found that a cheap set of waterproof hiking boots with thick wool socks will keep your toes warm for hours. They are small enough to fit pedals/clips/straps. I tried biking with my rigid-sole ice climbing boots and had a little difficulty.

Also, cheap wool gloves with the flip-fingers will keep you warm in milder conditions (I wore them for one leg of the East end to Park Point and back trip during the March storm of last year, they kept my fingers warmer than my fancy snowboard gloves).

i collected a lot of my gear over time...a pair of windstopper fleece tights, fleece fleece...wool wool...Gore Tex works great but doesn't breathe at all...a Gore windstopper vest is awesome.

Shimano SPD hiker-type shoes with integrated Shimano "Death Grip" clipless pedals...a half size large to accommodate an extra layer of sock...

hotfingers gloves worked great, especially with a pair of capilene liners...

and Ragstock in Dinkytown was my mecca...the funky orange swiss camo pants with all the snaps and gathers and the waterproof knees...riding goggles, shooting mittens for working my rapidfire shifters.

After the Univega, I graduated to an aluminum Schwinn Homegrown hardtail frame, and built a pretty impressive mule. Spinergy carbon fiber rear wheel, Bontrager front rim, Conti Wild Gripper tires, Manitou Spyder coil over air fork...fast as hell and very very light. good set of wild grippers underinflated by about 5 pounds float over snow quite well.

When i worked in Canal Park, I'd bike to work along the lakewalk, and on snowy mornings, I figured I was the only idiot on a bike that day. But sure enough, there were always 1 or 2 sets of bike tracks in the snow before me.

Brian: Careful riding the boardwalk on frosty mornings ... I got seriously beat up on the transition from asphalt to wood right behind Fitger's on because of a momentary lapse of concentration.

Zra: CF rear rim on a beater? I hope you got a good deal ... I'm living in Durango a.k.a. mountain bike center of the world and am amazed at what ends up as townie bike frames and components ...

Ian: I have a 10.5 pair of the Koflachs I'll unload cheap/possibly free if you have a good enough reason to have them. The letter jay CORK at RipsawNews dot com

hmm...not a beater...a mule. I put several thousand miles on it doing everything from racing the 24 Hours of Afton to working music festivals to commuting to work to many a night of urban assault upon the TC campus...and yeah, a bill got me the rim...not necessarily for anything other than looks, but because it was available...and Spinergy had already discontinued making that particular model.