欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記 Halo Twin Rail on my bike in dry snow

Halo Twin Rail on my bike in dry snow

Today (January 15), I rode to work despite the snow. I woke up in the morning and looked out from the window and saw the snowfall on the ground. I was like a puppy eager to play with the snow.

People were plowing the pavement in front of their houses. Some people stared at me when I passed by them on my bike, probably saying in their mind, "What a f**king crazy man he is."

It was around minus 4 or 5 degrees Celsius (22 or 24 F). The snow was dry, light and powdery where it was still virgin. Scattered salt made snow wet, heavy and sticky. It was not cold enough to see ice on the road.

This is the cycling/jogging/dog-walking/horse-back-riding road along the Alzette river. There was a track made by a mountain bike, judged from the thick tread, before me. Gee, I was not the only crazy biker this morning!

After taking the picture above, I turned around and took this one.

If you observe the treads closely, you will notice this.

The thick tread made by a mountain bike is shallower than the tread made by my bike. As my tires are narrower (probably almost half in width), the tread made by mine is deeper. This fact is very significant. I will tell you "why" it is significant later on.

I could go on without any problems. Virgin snow is easy to handle as it is easily tamed. No tracks, no resistance.

Eventually I came to the residential area along the Alzette. People are using their cars to work. Cars are heavy but they are equipped with much much wider tires and they have also 4 tires to support the weight. Consequently, the treads made by cars are wider but shallower in a way.

When I ride on the treads made by the cars, my bike can easily lose steering. I chose to ride on the outer rim on the road where the snow is still intact.

I explain you "why" I lose steering on those compressed treads. Since the snow is dry, this compressed treads easily crumble. As my tires are very narrow (24mm), my tires breaks the tread surface and sink down to the asphalt. When this happens, my tires have no traction and no direction.

Here is another helping fact to grasp the idea that I am trying to explain. Fat bikes (bikes with very wide tires for riding on sand dunes or so) have wide tires to cope with sand. They need much wider tires.

I am waiting to ride on icy roads to give more detailed review on Halo Twin Rail. So far I can say this. I am very comfortable and confident on dry and wet snow. Its traction is excellent. I love it.

I arrived at my work place like this.

Front brake area

Rear brake area

BB area

Dynamo hub and light (Shimano LP-R600)

In the evening I rode home. It kept snowing almost all day. By the time I left for home, snow was up to 10cm or more (4 inches or more). The road along the Alzette was terrible. The majority of the road was not plowed nor salted. People walked there to walk the dogs or for something during the day. It was a bit warmer during the day.

As a result, cars' treads, shoes' tread and bikes' treads made the road bumpy. Yet the bumps were covered with new snow. I had to ride through this bumpy road.

I had to slow down but kept going. I never stopped. For a long time I was wobbling.

Halo Twin Rail's traction was excellent. Anytime the bike wobbled, I pedaled harder to keep the balance on the bike. The traction never failed. I was very impressed.

In Japanese:
朝起きたら、外は雪が積もってた。雪と遊びたい子犬のようにワクワクしながら飛び出した。気温はマイナス4度とか5度だった。新雪はパフパフの乾燥雪で、朝の時点で3cmとか4cmはあった。雪は一日中降り、夜帰る時点では10cmとかそれ以上つもった。

問題のHalo Twin Railのタイヤだが、トラクションが掛かること!!。つまり、漕げば漕ぐだけ進む。すばらしい。行きの道のサイクリング道は楽勝。僕の前にマウンテンバイクが一台走っただけだったので、雪に変な癖がなく、どこを走っても、スラロームしても均一なトラクションがかかるので、楽しく走行できた。

途中の激坂（17%になる）は除雪車が通過したようだ。ルクセンブルク市の除雪隊の好意に感謝。薄く残った雪があったのだが、ちゃんと上れた。力を入れると、多少スリップするのだが、それはタイヤスリップというより、残った雪がアスファルトからはがれることによるスリップだ。タイヤのグリップはすごい。

無事に仕事先に到着。問題無し。

問題は帰りの道。日中に犬の散歩やら、作業車やらが行き交ったため、轍（わだち）やら足跡が無数にできたわけです。日中は気温があがり（マイナス2度程度まで）、雪が緩みます（湿気を帯びる）。夕刻から気温が下がり、この轍やら足跡が固まります。雪はほぼ一日中降り続いたので、この上でこぼこにさらに雪が積もります。

このでこぼこの深い雪の中を走行するのは非常に困難。でもトラクションを失うことは無いので、体制が崩れたら、さらにペダルを踏むことで建て直しができます。つまり脚を止めない限りはよろよろとバイクは右へ、左へと振れるが、進めるのです。速歩きかチンタラジョギング程度の非常に遅いスピードで4kmとか5kmの間を走りました。家に帰り着いたころには、1時間30分も自転車に乗ってました。帰り道は14kmの距離も無いのに。

とにかく、このHalo Twin Railのグリップはすごい。今後は氷の上を走ってさらにグリップ力を試したい。雪の上のグリップ力（走行してる間はトラクションと云う言葉が適切だろうけど）には感動した。これはスノータイヤとして機能してる。

帰りは深い雪の中を走行したので、朝よりさらに自転車に雪が積もった。ホイールは雪が付着し、ディーププロファイルに成ってた（笑）。エアロホイール状態だった。

明日（水曜日）は雪はあまり降らない。ずっと曇りの予想だ。明日も頑張ってでこぼこの雪道と格闘しよう。アルゼット川沿いのサイクリング道を出ると、除雪・塩捲きがしてある道路なので、車に注意しながら、普通に走れる。このサイクリング道を通過するのが苦行だ。ちょっと早めに家を出ようと思う。

とにかく、雪道での車の運転のように、アクセルONでトラクションをかけて安定化を図るのが大事。ブレーキは禁物なのだ。