Temperature Safety Tips
Clothing/Layering
- Check the forecast. Sounds silly, but knowing what’s ahead as far as weather is concerned will help you dress appropriately.
- Dress in layers, especially when the mornings are cool (or downright COLD) and the afternoons warm up. We’ve seen 40 degree temperature variations over a normal ride!
- Pack your rain gear. While rain gear is designed to protect you from rain, it can also act as another layer of protection and warmth.
- Keep your hands and feet warm and dry!
Tires
- Every 10 degrees in temperature change results in about a 1 pound change in your tire’s pressure. When it cools down, you will lose pressure; when it heats up, you will actually gain pressure. Even checking your pressure one afternoon and coming out the next morning can result in a 3-5 lb loss.
- Also, your tires lose pressure over time. Every 30 days, you can expect to see, in average temperatures, a loss of about 1-2 lbs in your tires.
- Underinflated tires result in poor handling as well as excessive damage to the tires themselves.
- Overinflated tires result in hard rides and decreases the tire’s ability to withstand road impacts.
Batteries
- The ideal temperature for your batteries operation is 80 degrees F.
- Cold weather affects the chemical reactions in your battery causing a “sluggish” performance. That’s why we look for batteries with a high Cold Cranking Amp (CCA) output.
- You also lose about 0.5-1.0% of the batteries overall charge every day they sit “idle” (not being used). If you have advanced electronics like alarms or accessories, they will drain even faster. If you have a trickle charger, put it on and keep it on if you ride your bike less than once per week.