Awesome ride in the snow !

ooh, boy, now i'm tempted to do that to my tarmac, I wonder if the salt they spread on roads would affect the paint? where'd you buy the parts?

Cycler6n said:

ooh, boy, now i'm tempted to do that to my tarmac, I wonder if the salt they spread on roads would affect the paint? where'd you buy the parts?

I wonder how fast the salt destroys chains and gears. they put too much salt out around here. I did ride some this week on some salty roads but I'm trying to make my goal of 5,000 for the year. After today, I have 90 left. Normally, I'll just use my trainer to avoid going out in the "salt flats" i.e. roads.
Ken.

PS. nice fenders dude.

Freehub said:

I wonder how fast the salt destroys chains and gears. they put too much salt out around here. I did ride some this week on some salty roads but I'm trying to make my goal of 5,000 for the year. After today, I have 90 left. Normally, I'll just use my trainer to avoid going out in the "salt flats" i.e. roads.
Ken.

PS. nice fenders dude.

Ebay. This fork retails for way more than what I paid and it was brand new. I will keep my Python fork for the summer. Esge - A Gerrman company makes the best lightweight fenders I have ever found. New on Ebay for $30 plus $10 for shipping. Salt -- yes it WILL eventually do a number on many parts and maybe the paint. Secret: Leave the bike out in the cold until you can clean it. I am a chemist. For every 10 degrees C, chemical reactions (ie corrosion) happens ~2X faster. I left it outside on the north side of the house in the shade, until I could take a bucket of warm water and some soap to it and then rinsed it really well with warm and then cold water (to slow down any reactions that did occur due to heating). Then a quick dry with a rag. I will re-lube it before the next ride. Took all of 10 minutes to do. I feel so great after riding, even ifI hav to replace some parts after a couple years itwill be worth it. 😄

George

Freehub said:

I wonder how fast the salt destroys chains and gears. they put too much salt out around here. I did ride some this week on some salty roads but I'm trying to make my goal of 5,000 for the year. After today, I have 90 left. Normally, I'll just use my trainer to avoid going out in the "salt flats" i.e. roads.
Ken.

PS. nice fenders dude.

yeah, I bet it'd do more damage to the chain/derailure than the paint. Where I live, sometimes, they won't even plow when we have like 6 inches of snow, just drop salt, sometimes, no salt or plow, they just drive the trucks around. So riding in the winter is not an option for me.

geoinmillbrook said:

Ebay. This fork retails for way more than what I paid and it was brand new. I will keep my Python fork for the summer. Esge - A Gerrman company makes the best lightweight fenders I have ever found. New on Ebay for $30 plus $10 for shipping. Salt -- yes it WILL eventually do a number on many parts and maybe the paint. Secret: Leave the bike out in the cold until you can clean it. I am a chemist. For every 10 degrees C, chemical reactions (ie corrosion) happens ~2X faster. I left it outside on the north side of the house in the shade, until I could take a bucket of warm water and some soap to it and then rinsed it really well with warm and then cold water (to slow down any reactions that did occur due to heating). Then a quick dry with a rag. I will re-lube it before the next ride. Took all of 10 minutes to do. I feel so great after riding, even ifI hav to replace some parts after a couple years itwill be worth it. 😄

George

ah thx for the tip

Salt did not affect my Deore derailleurs and hubs or my bare aluminum rims when I diligently washed my bike after every ride. However, if you leave it there or don't wash out the frame, road salt will pit aluminum. My Raleigh had a 6061 frame which is more corrosion resistant than 7-series but it still pitted through paint chips when I didn't wash.

Another major trouble area is the steel steerer of a suspension fork. I painted mine.

I think it's worth it, but gritty slush will eat your rims with V-brakes. I upgraded to discs after a season or two.

There's also the option of getting some cruiser bike. The thick, mild steel parts rust surprisingly little and aren't affected as much when they do. I did that for two seasons but let repacking go for too long (they don't have sealed bearings).

Quoted post said:

I think it's worth it, but gritty slush will eat your rims with V-brakes. I upgraded to discs after a season or two.

Not to mention that V brakes don't work very well with snow on them. The bike does come to a stop after about 1 revolution. This is in addition to shifting problems that I encounter when snow gets on the shifting cables. A couple of weeks ago I was cutting accross grant park, and the thing kept on spontaiously shifting every couple of seconds. For the winter, I get the feeling it's better to stay off the MUP and use the plowed streets.

I'm a wimp. When there is snow on the ground, I ride my rollers.

kdelong said:

I'm a wimp. When there is snow on the ground, I ride my rollers.

get out and ride in the snow. Then, working out won't be such a chore.

Cycler6n said:

yeah, I bet it'd do more damage to the chain/derailure than the paint. Where I live, sometimes, they won't even plow when we have like 6 inches of snow, just drop salt, sometimes, no salt or plow, they just drive the trucks around. So riding in the winter is not an option for me.

Can see no visible surface rust at all after these few days --chain/derailluer, nothing-- we are going out again today, I just sprayed all components with dry lube, heading out now... 🙂

Geo

They don't use salt here, just keep shoving the snow into the ocean. My problem is having cables freeze-up when it gets -0 (f).

Alaskavan said:

They don't use salt here, just keep shoving the snow into the ocean. My problem is having cables freeze-up when it gets -0 (f).

Wow -- it's only 8 degrees F here now and I will NOT be out cycling in this stuff. As for freezing cables are they frozen inside the casings ? If it is near the cable ends you could use "ice-off" this paste we use to keep ice out of our line guides while fishing for steelhead. Works pretty well :o

Have you seen this site ? icebike.comicebike.comOpen ↗
Pretty cool (pun) :p

George

I solved the problem for the rear derailleur. I pulled the cable out, filled the casing with Lock-Ease and put the cable back in. I'll do the front one when I replace the cable there. I had trimmed the cable pretty short, then I changed to a 62t chainring which required my moving the front derailleur. I'm right at the end of the cable and it's frayed pretty bad. I did try to get some Lock-Ease to work it's way through there, but it still freezes up. I'm also having the freezing problem with one front brake. The brake will grab, but it doesn't want to release (I can reach over there and yank on it to release it "manually". I recently changed to a dual pull lever, and getting the brakes on the trike "synchronized" was enough of a hassle that I have been reluctant to undo that one cable to fix it.