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| *Vultures Knob>>>Cycling |
Will my chro-moly frame be okay to use in winter? |
I worry if it gets too cold when I ride the frame may crack or break. Temps here get around -10f. If it's not safe to use, any suggestions on frame materials? Thanks! I can't imagine that any kind of cold weather could possibly have any effect on a bike frame. I've never heard of anything like that. You can go right ahead and ride your bike all you like. I'm positive you'll be freezing your b*** off long before it has any effect on the bike. Never dreamt this would ever be asked... Your bike will be fine frame wise. I used to mountain bike in winter but I NEVER rode at -10! At 25 f I was darn cold and that was my low end temp for riding. Any colder and my lungs, fingers and toes couldn't handle it! Give it a shot - at least you can tell everyone you bikeed at -10! Not many can say that! Absolutely. Steel is the most durable and forgiving of all the common bike frame materials. You will crack long before your frame does! ---- Edit: I've done singletrack on my old steel GT at -5掳. The trails weren't crowded. Absolutely....steel is real! You may run into a lot of other temperature-related problems but don't think twice about the frame's integrity. Any moisture that isn't already frozen will instantly freeze....if you take your bike from the indoors to outside, give it time to sit there and give it a component check before you pedal. Cables may stick but will free up again once you actuate them. Lots of people run full-length housing for a long or wet winter. Lubes and greases sometimes freeze or at the least get stiff in super-cold temps. It's common for freewheel bodies to lock open, and the whole bike to move a little sluggish. You might want to pack your hubs with a very light grease that has a wide temperature range. Plain old motor oil is a decent winter lube for most moving/pivoting parts if you dont have anything synthetic.....it's just messier and you'll need to clean up more often. If you have a suspension fork, those cold temps are really tough on the seals and the fork's action will really slow down even with lightweight oil in it. Some people get a cheap coil-spring fork and put their good fork up for the winter. You rock for gettin' out there in those temps! +10掳 is my limit, and my rides are short in that temp! The only frame material that I worry about being affected by cold temperatures is carbon fiber. Your frame is the least likely to crack due to freezing. The only thing you have to worry about is road salt rusting it away, and that's more of a problem for the components (gears, chainwheel, derailers) than a steel frame. Cold temperatures will actually slow the progress of rust. Still, if you're riding on salted roads, try to clean it often. As a person who's gotten stage-two hypothermia riding in a winter rain, dress in layers and have some kind of carrier on your bike so you can add or remove as needed. I carry water against my back in the winter so that it won't freeze. What else? Oh, guys, in very cold weather, remember to put on a third sock. You know where. You don't need to worry too much. You may have heard of steel getting brittle at low temperatures, but that only affects the way it breaks not its actual strength. The only issue is corrosion. Try to keep road salt and dirt from building up on your frame and components. Try to avoid bringing your cold bike into a warm house. Moisture in the air will condense on the inside of the frame. |
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