How To Set Up Your Bike To Go Skiing

The first, and perhaps most important part of this whole endeavor is choosing the right bike for the job. Of course, the best bike to use for this is the bike you have–but if you’re lucky enough to have choices, there’s a few things to consider. An e-bike will undoubtedly make pedaling far, far easier, saving your legs for the good part of the day. However, other than being scoffed at by the purists, the main issue lies in the fact that e-bike batteries quickly lose performance in the cold, meaning you might be left stranded with a dead battery in the middle of the night. Many trailheads and roads also don't allow e-bikes, so check your local regulations.

If you’re relying purely on your own engine, you might be caught in the middle between a more traditional rigid gravel/road/cruiser bike or a full-suspension mountain bike. Personally, if the pedal portion of the day is purely on paved roads or smooth gravel, I’d opt for the former. Rigid bikes are far more efficient, and much easier to load lots of gear to. However, if there’s any rough riding or singletrack involved, a mountain bike will be a much better choice. Finally, there’s always the option of riding a fat bike to get to the skiing if your access road is still snow-covered…but at that point you might as well just skin.

How To Mount Your Skis

Once you’ve chosen your weapon, it’s time to get rigged. Every bike frame is different, so these instructions will have to be slightly modified depending on what your bike actually looks like. However, the basic principle is that you want to strap your skis to your frame in the most low-profile way possible as to avoid sharp edges and bindings in the way of your legs while pedaling.

The easiest way to do this is to separate your skis and strap one on each side to your top tube below your saddle. In order to get sharp edges and bindings out of the way, I suggest orienting them tails-forward and moving them as far back on your bike as possible (with your bindings directly below or even behind the saddle). Especially with bigger, heavier skis, this can make the bike feel relatively rear-heavy, which can take some getting used to, but it sure beats scuffing your knees on sharp bindings with every pedal stroke.

I typically use just two ski straps to secure the bike to the frame. The first goes around both ski tails and my bike's top tube, the second goes through my saddle rails and around the middle of both skis. I make sure to pull these both as tight as possible to make sure the skis don’t shift or bounce around. If this doesn’t feel secure enough, I'll add a third strap somewhere in the middle. It helps to have your ski partner hold the skis while you strap them to your frame.

If you have a top-tube mounted frame bag that unzips on both sides, you can even slide your ski tails into the bag and zip it up slightly to secure them. This won’t work with every bag, but I found it to be a clean solution for some.

If you're running a dropper post on your bike, either just don't drop it during your ride, or test to see if your skis still clear the seatpost collar and rear tire when you do! 

Finally, it’s important to think about protecting the bike's frame from ski bases and edges, especially if you’re pedaling a carbon-framed bike–or any bike with paint you care about. The easiest way to do this is by applying your skins to your skis before mounting them. Another idea is to use a towel or rag to protect areas where edges might cut into or scuff the frame.

How To Attach Your Poles

Once your skis are mounted to your bike, it’s time to attach your ski poles to the rig. If you use telescopic or collapsible ski poles, I’d suggest making them as compact as possible. Then, use a ski strap to strap them to your skis, behind the saddle. Notice the trend here?

Note: Most tech binding toes will clip around ski poles, which adds another point of security without having to use another ski strap.

How To Rig Your Boots To Your Bike

Rigging boots is probably the most difficult part of the equation here. On cold spring mornings, I actually like to put my boots on in my warm car and pedal in my ski boots while strapping lightweight shoes like crocs or sneakers to my pack or skis. Pedaling a bike in ski boots might sound difficult at first, but it's much easier than it looks. More importantly, it keeps my feet from getting cold, and there’s nothing worse than trying to put frozen boots on at snowline after pedaling in the dark for an hour.

On the way home, however, it’s boots off immediately when I return to my bike. Then, I’ll just clip them into bindings behind my saddle after I rig my skis, and strap my poles above them. 

Alternatively, you might consider strapping one boot to each leg of your fork using ski straps. This helps balance the bike’s fore/aft weight out a bit, but can be harder to rig depending on your specific bike and fork. If all else fails, you can always securely strap your boots to your pack. 

Lighten Up Your Pack!

It’s springtime, so your ski pack will likely already be a lot smaller than a mid-winter pack. I generally carry more water in the spring, which adds weight on the way in, but that bottle tends to be empty by the time I return to my bike. Biking with a heavy pack is really unpleasant, so I try to save weight wherever I can.

If I’m skiing a technical springtime objective that might require heavier gear like ice axes or ropes, I will try to strap those to my bike in order to get that weight off my back. A great place is right behind the saddle on top of the skis, or if you have a frame or handlebar bag, load that gear in there. Just don’t forget to put it back in your pack when you start skinning!

Some Extra Thoughts On Bike Setup and Trail Etiquette

Riding your bike to ski can be one of the most fun parts of spring skiing! Some quick hacks:

Add a few extra psi to your tires–once you rig your bike with all your gear, it will be 15-20 pounds heavier than normal. Then, always ride with a light in the dark. A headlamp works fine, but a bright handlebar or helmet-mounted bike light works better. Speaking of, I'm always a fan of helmets, and there's nothing wrong with wearing your ski helmet on your bike, especially if riding off-road in the dark!

When it comes to apparel, it's worth bringing and wearing an extra insulated layer or two plus some extra warm gloves for the morning portion of the bike ride. You'll be pedaling during the coldest part of the day, and you can always ditch those layers at snowline if things start to warm up. I don't typically wear a chamois for bike to ski missions, but if your haunches are of the sensitive variety, it also might be worth wearing one! 

Finally, a few other things to think about mostly revolve around etiquette and being a good backcountry user.

First off, don’t leave extra food in or around your bike when you leave it at snowline. Sure, it sounds tempting to come back to a delicious treat when you return from an exhausting spring ski tour, but odds are the local bears, birds and rodents will have already gotten into your stash and helped themselves to the calories. Stash an extra bottle of water, but leave the culinary treats in the car (or in a sealed bear box if your trailhead has one).

Secondly, don’t leave your bike in the way of other trail users when you stash it. Lean it up against a tree, out of the way, and ideally out of sight. 

Lastly, if your bike adventure involves any off-road or singletrack riding, follow your local trail organizations rules and don’t ride muddy or wet trails. If you’re riding up a trail through a flowing creek, it might be time to park the bikes and start walking! Summer you will thank you when your favorite trails don’t have nasty ruts in them.