Originally Posted by
robo
Just a commentary, after winter commuting for 4 years in Minnesota, where it's often extremely cold (not unusual for it to be down to -20ºC).
I built up a dedicated winter bike, with an aluminum frame, Shimano Alfine 8 speed IGH, Gates carbon drive, and hydraulic disc brakes.
So far, I've had to replace a whole bunch of parts that I'd never expect to fail under 'normal' riding:
......
I've probably forgotten some things, but overall, it's amazing how hard riding in extreme cold, with salt and slush at either end of the seasons thrown in, is for components.
For comparison, my non-winter bikes are maintained in the same way, by the same person (me) and stuff lasts forever. I have 13 years and probably 25,000 miles on my spring/summer/fall road/touring/commuting bike and almost nothing has broken on it.
I've had great experience with the Gates/Alfine drive train on my winter commuters for the past five years, and no problems with hydraulic brakes, but it doesn't go below zero in my town like it does at 45 North - there's a lot more mid-teen weather around here.
I'm not very good about washing down my bike (i.e. I never do), and the carbon belt / IGH combination has fortunately been bomber for me.