Angela's Bike Blog

Our regional news site OMROEP BRABANT surprises with an article about ‘Bike Spikes’  a non-skid chain for bicycle tires. The designer is Cesar van Rongen, who lives in the province of Brabant. The prototype of the chain looks like this:

Apparently the bicycle tire industry is very interested and this product might be available in bicycle shops in the Netherlands next year.

I like the idea of a new thing designed for bicycling, but I must admit that I have mixed feelings. Maybe it is better to admit that I have some worries. I’ll try to explain what these are, keeping in mind that the picture shows a bicycle that is typical for daily use; not a sports bicycle or mountain bike.

There has been snow over the last couple of days here in the Netherlands. And indeed, there is also snow on the roads and cycle tracks. Mayor roads and cycle tracks are cleared of this snow and sprinkled with salt or sand, so people can cycle on them and the surface does not become slippery. The roads that do not have a priority in the snow clearing route become an icy stretch, as during the day the temperature is just above zero (especially when the sun shines on the surface) and it drops again below zero in the evening. When cycling in these circumstances, you go to the mayor route as quickly as possible; you might even take a detour for it as it is quicker to be on the mayor road as soon as possible. Now suppose I buy these Bike Spikes next year and I put them on my tires when it snows. Will I be able to cycle on the cleared / salted tracks?

A quick internet search told me that the Bike Spikes are not the first of its kind. I found SlipNot Bicycle Tire Chains in the US and their website has some interesting observations about cycling in the snow. Not only from the point of view of sports cyclists, but about bicycle commuting as well. Although the chains do work, the advice is to look at the full picture before buying the chains.

“Commuting by bike (…) comes with many more problems beyond traction.

- Clothing. (…) many don’t prepare for the wet conditions like road spray or bike spray.

- Fenders. My commuter bike has fenders but my test bike only had a lame rear fender. Road spray from my front tire was a disaster.

- Glasses. Forget trying to wear them.

- Gears. Hahahaha. Who needs them, if the air temperature is below freezing then you are going to end up with 1 gear by the time you reach your end destination.”

Let alone my worries of having to put the spikes on the tyres. Will I be handy enough to do this quickly? And do I have to take them off when I park my bicycle at the supermarket? Or when on the next day the snow has all disappeared and we’re back to temperatures above zero?

To me it looks like this type of equipment is typically suitable for sports cycling and does not help the cyclists in cities and towns that just want to go from A to B.

Or did I not see some of the hidden advantages?