Simple and affordable ways to ride a bike through winter with stuff you already own

Fat-biking has inspired a whole industry of winter-specific gear and clothing to make your cold rides more comfortable. And much of this stuff is great. If you can afford it, you should use it. But the bike industry also has a tendency to make cycling more technical and complicated than it needs to be. For practical, everyday, happy urban cycling and bike commuting, I've found you don't need a whole lot of specialized gear. So in this video, I'm offering you some alternatives to winter-cycling-specific gear so that you can enjoy year-round riding more simply and affordably, or at least make do until you can afford that specialized gear. 0:00 Introduction 0:35 Use a studded tire, not a fat bike 1:48 Use a tuque (beanie), not a winter-specific bike helmet 3:53 Use regular winter boots, not clip-in winter cycling shoes 5:39 Use thermal underwear, not winter cycling kit 7:19 Use mittens, not pogies 8:42 Bonus tip #cycling #bike #commuting My winter bike: https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/continuumonyx?avad=291725_e337a7f15 Looking for good merino wool base layers? https://bit.ly/3xXkbEd Buy my book Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling: https://rmbooks.com/book/frostbike/ I don’t really do proper product reviews, but here are some products that I’ve tried on this channel that I like. (Of course you don’t need anything fancy to ride a bike, other than a bike, but these are Amazon affiliate links, and I get paid a small commission if you buy them 😉) • Cliq Smart Bike Light (nice rear brake light): https://amzn.to/39lfqwo • RedShift Acrlight Smart LED Pedals (clever lights for your pedals): https://amzn.to/3NL1Npg • Aftershokz Titanium bone-conducting headphones (if you want to listen while you ride): https://amzn.to/3e9Tofa • JBL CLip 4 Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker (for your party-pace group rides): https://amzn.to/3pcMLPm • Crane Bicycle Bell (the ding is sublime): https://amzn.to/3OwfZCu • Bicycle Cargo Net (why did it take so long for me to buy one of these?): https://amzn.to/31s1Ovu • Vaude Cover II Rain Poncho (for higher-end, try Cleverhood or People’s Poncho): https://amzn.to/3jLkift • Kryptonite U-Lock (your bike is going to get stolen eventually, sigh, but at least make it hard): https://amzn.to/3tPWcGi • Peak Design phone case (the one I use, paired with the Peak Design phone mount): https://amzn.to/3HGM0FU Follow me! Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombabin TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tom_babin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombabin