Originally Posted by
2manybikes
If it's cold outside and the bike is cold you bring into say 68 degrees, something like a bike will get condensation on it. The bigger the temperature difference the more condensation there is. The faster you warm it up the worse it is. If you need to go outside when there is still condensation on something it will turn to ice if it's cold enough.
While I agree that bring a bike into the house to warm it up is a little silly, condensation isn’t a problem. The outside of the bike is painted so any water that condenses there isn’t going to do anything...not that much water is going to condense on it to begin with. Water inside the tubes
might be a problem but there simply isn’t much water inside the air in the tubes and there isn’t much air for the water to be in the first place. I haven’t done the calculations but I would estimate 500mL to a liter (about a quart) of air volume in a bicycle. I suspect that would be very high for a steel bike which has much smaller tubes. At 32°F, there is about 4 g (about a teaspoon) of water in a kilogram of air. The rub is that it takes 770 liters of air to equal on kg of air. In other words from about 700 times to 1400 times what you have in the tubes. In other words, you have to have a wind blowing through those tubes to get that much air through it.
Not that condensation would be much of an issue for the aluminum. It’s fairly inert to water corrosion.
Originally Posted by
bikerbobbbb
It's not a joke. The bike is outside so it's literally ice cold. You sit on a cold bike seat and then grip cold handlebars. There's definitely a difference riding a bike that's sitting outside vs. one that's kept inside -- Cold butt and fingers go numb faster gripping the cold handlebars. Add in having to squeeze the handlebars more if I wear thicker gloves when it's colder out or when it's icier out and I grip the handlebars more. So if I bring the bike inside before I ride it when I'm stuck having to leave it outside, that helps. I'm wondering if I can get it to room temperature faster though.
A fan blowing air over it. Maybe an electric blanket. Laying something on it that's warmed. Putting it by something like an old boiler or oven.
My bike is kept in my garage when I ride to work and is kept inside at work. I don’t really notice much difference when riding. It’s usually warmer in the evening, of course. That said, the type of handlebar tape or grips could make a difference. Thicker tape or foam rubber grips are warmer than thinner tape or plain rubber grips. They keep the heat from your hands being sucked into the metal of the bars quite so quickly. Carbon bars can also help. Carbon is an insulator and doesn’t transmit heat as much.