Cold weather

"Doug" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

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I'm just starting to commute in the winter. Monday was the first

day in

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fact. The temps were in the 20's (F) and there was a minor

amount of snow on

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the ground. By the time I was half way, my rear derailleur had

frozen in

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place. When I got to the office I brought it inside to de-thaw,

and at lunch

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time sprayed it with wd40 for the ride home.

This evening I took the cables apart to clean and grease then

and found that

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there was water in the cables. I'm guessing that the water froze

which

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prevented the derailleur from moving. It's back together and

working now,

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but I got to thinking - am I better off leaving the bike outside

at the

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office?

From what you say it sounds like you've had water in the cables for some time. I've had cables
that didn't work properly but only when they were way overdue for a change. Some folks say you
should change them every year, that seems unnecessary but it's not expensive. Maybe it's time to
change yours.

I leave my bike outside at the office, inside at home. The only problems have been when the bike
gets a coat of ice at work. When you have ice all over your rear cluster the derailleur can't
change, even if it wasn't covered in ice too. Your rear cogs can ice up while riding so that you
can't change gears.

Doug For email, a sense of wonder.

I have a Redline Monocog (i.e. a one speed bike) that I have used quite a bit this winter. Of
course, they lack "high end" speed, but I don't go very fast in the winter anyway. And the reduced
number of parts to foul up seems to be an advantage. This is my eigth winter of commuting by bike.
Though I haven't had the specific problem you describe, there's no question the salt, grime, freeze-
thaw cycles, snow and ice take a huge toll on the bike.

Doug said:

I'm just starting to commute in the winter. Monday was the first day in fact. The temps were in
the 20's (F) and there was a minor amount of snow on the ground. By the time I was half way, my
rear derailleur had frozen in place. When I got to the office I brought it inside to de-thaw, and
at lunch time sprayed it with wd40 for the ride home.

This evening I took the cables apart to clean and grease then and found that there was water in
the cables. I'm guessing that the water froze which prevented the derailleur from moving. It's
back together and working now, but I got to thinking - am I better off leaving the bike outside at
the office?

Thanks, Doug