How to ride your e-bike in winter

Keep riding your e-bike throughout winter with our top tips.

Los árboles dejan caer sus hojas, temperaturas bajo cero, puedes ver tu aliento mientras pedaleas. En invieno puedes seguir disfrutando de tu bicicleta eléctrica. Serás la envidia de muchos.

You will need to pay close attention to a few considerations:

Battery care
Cleaning and bike maintenance
Winter kit and components
Safety

How to look after your e-bike battery in winter

It’s well known that batteries don’t perform as well in extreme cold. It is completely safe to ride in sub-zero temperatures, but the colder your battery, the lower the range.

Storing your battery indoors at room temperature as often as possible is the best way to extend the battery’s life. Keeping the battery warm means the cells won’t get damaged.

If you’re commuting on your e-bike, consider bringing your charger to work with you and topping up the battery throughout the day.

Cleaning and maintaining your e-bike in winter

It’s no secret that winter is a dirty time of year for your bike. Grit, snow, slush and mud are an all too familiar sight throughout the winter months. While salt is great for melting the ice, it can mean rusty bikes if you’re not careful.

After each ride, you should wipe it down with a damp cloth to remove any debris. Not only will this keep your bike looking nice but it’ll extend the life of components such as your chain, cassette and wheel bearings.

When possible, frequent deeper cleans are a good idea. Cleaning your e-bike is similar to cleaning a traditional bicycle but you must take care to remove the battery first. Use bicycle specific cleaners and lubricants to keep all the moving parts running smoothly. Cleaning your e-bike is similar to cleaning a traditional bicycle but you must take care to remove the battery first. Use bicycle specific cleaners and lubricants to keep all the moving parts running smoothly.

Winter is a great time to ride your e-bike.

Winter e-biking gear

Dressing for winter weather is important as it’ll improve your enjoyment of riding. We recommend investing in some key items of clothing:

Merino layers: known for its insulating properties, a merino wool will keep you warm. Look for merino base layers, socks and headwear.
Rain jacket: it’s likely to rain and snow in winter and keeping yourself dry with a good rain jacket is important for staying warm.
Warm gloves: your hands are more susceptible to the cold than other parts of your body. Keep them warm with high quality gloves, so that you can operate the brakes and bike computer safely.
Long tights or trousers: not only will you be warmer in longer legwear, but you’ll be also a bit more protected from debris on the road as your ride.

Components for e-biking in winter

Making sure you’re warm and comfortable while cycling in winter isn’t the only good piece of advice we can give. Your e-bike needs extra bits of gear to keep trudging through the cold conditions.

Mudguards: protect you and your bike from rain, snow and slush with a set of mudguards or fenders.
Lights: the days are short and you may find yourself riding in low light conditions are lot more often in winter. Make sure you can see the road ahead and other road users can see you with a good set of bike lights.
Waterproof bags or panniers: there’s nothing worse than arriving at your destination to find all your spare clothes soaked. Get yourself a waterproof backpack or set of pannier bags to carry your gear in.
Winter tyres: in countries that get a lot of snow, winter tyres are an absolute must. They have metal studs in the tread to increase grip in slippery conditions. Consider also reducing your tyre pressure slightly in winter to improve traction.

Make sure your e-bike is equipped for winter and the lights are working.

Riding your e-bike safely in winter

It’s time to put performance on the back burner in winter. The roads are slippier and you might find you’re riding in the dark more often. In more extreme weather conditions such as heavy snow, blizzards, freezing rain and black ice, we’d advise staying off the bike if possible.

Make sure your lights are charged and your bike is in good working order before leaving the house. Have a contingency plan if the weather takes a turn to make sure you can always get home. Trains can be unreliable when the winter weather hits suddenly, so it might be wise to ride closer to home.

Enjoy winter riding

Winter is a great time to ride your e-bike, so don’t let the cold conditions put you off. Prepare today, so that you can ride tomorrow. Remember these important points and you’re good to go.

Expect to charge your battery more often due to e-bike batteries not performing so well in colder weather.
Clean your bike more often to keep it in good condition.
Wear warm clothing to increase your comfort on the bike.
Invest in mudguards, lights and winter tyres to stay safe on winter roads.
Ride more vigilantly and have a back-up plan if you need to get home quickly.