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:

- Crank arm cracked at BB spindle (tightened to spec with torque wrench) after 3 seasons
- Front hub skewer snapped in the middle after 2 seasons
- Rear hub nut stripped out after 3.5 seasons
- Hydraulic brakes leaking fluid (replaced with BB7s now)
- Pedal bearings shot after 1 season (set up when new packed with marine axle grease)
- Front hub bearings pitted and grinding after two seasons (I set the bearings up when new, packed with plenty of marine axle grease)
- Rust on just about every non-stainless steel bolt
- Gates Carbon Drive belt snapped after 3 seasons
- Gates rear sprocket developed serious rust - was replaced by Gates with a new unit which has been OK
- Gates front sprocket seriously worn down

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.

79pmooney

Salt is a killer. I had a winter bike routine that worked pretty well in Boston 40 years ago. (12 mile commute, didn't drive.) Took a beat up Peugeot UO-8. brush painted it with two coats of epoxy paint. Set it up fix gear. Cheap sew-up wheels, cheap CX sew-ups. Lots of Phil Wood grease in bearings and on threads. (Didn't know about marine grease yet.) Mafac brakes. Plastic fenders. Zephal HP pump. I'd ride the bike all winter, doing next to nothing for it. (No outdoor running water and wasn't welcome to wash it in the basement.) By the end of March, the wheels would be square, the nipples frozen solid, the chain dry, stretched and junk. All bearings needed overhaul, some destroyed.

Late March, I'd cut out the spokes, rebuild with new rims, pack the bearings, put on a new chain (and maybe chainring, maybe cog and have what felt like a new bike to be my summer bad weather trainer/commuter until this rather nicer bike went into its next winter and repeat.

This bike never got expensive parts. Everything was deemed throw-a-way. Bike's still running. Everything is at least 4 parts later. Part quality is up a little but not a lot. (No salt in Oregon and I'm getting softer in winter; crashes hurt more and have longer lasting consequences plus I am now seeing the very long-term consequences of those crashes 4 decades ago.)

I"m not tempted to repeat those days but I have fond memories. The silent ride in to work in 7" of new, virgin snow. (And being one of the very few who showed up. Yes, I was 10 minutes late.) Being strong as an ox and crazy on a bike I knew very, very well. Cyclo-cross tires and fix gear - fun!! A full week of -5F every morning when I left. Never has the hill been so welcome.

Ben

wolfchild

Your belt drive seems to have more problems than my chain drive. I always suspected that all the marketing claims that belt drives are maintenance-free was false... I use singlespeed and fixed gear drivetrains on my bikes....The only thing that wears out and needs to be replaced after each winter season is a chain and maybe brake pads. My most used winter bike has also gone through 3 bottom brackest in the last 13 years. I also had a problem with hydraulic disc brakes and changed over to BB7s. My experience with BB7s is that they are good brakes but not immune to winter salt. I regularly use water to rinse all the salt out of my brake calipers, if I don't rinse the salt out, the calipers will seize up and become very difficult to adjust.

bpcyclist

Well, as Ben said we haven't had salt here in town except as some kind of trial run thingy they did here and there to see if they wanted to start using it everywhere--so that helps us. Still, it rains nonstop for close to 8 months and the grit and grime from the road can definitely take a toll. Funny I saw this post today, because this was my bike wash day. I live in an apt. complex downtownish and we have no common outside hose available, so I throw the bike under the shower, actually, for just a few minutes to help get it cleaned up. There is always a lot of just road grime that washes down onto the white tub, where you can really see what your bike is going through.

Anyway, I wipe it down after every ride, wash it in the shower maybe once every ten days or so, and really stay on the chain lube situation. Am all over the drivetrain--jockey wheels, everything. It seems to work, as I haven't had any components fail during a winter in a long time.

BobbyG

Not much salt used in Colorado Springs, but lots of sand. My 1997 Nishiki Blazer is super tough. I clean the 3x7 drivedrain occasionally. Full fenders help.

rumrunn6

doing something is always better than doing nothing. meaning, I like to at least wash, dry & lube. I shud probably lube shortly after the dry cycle is complete rather than wait a week or more to lube before my ride. it's just so convenient to wash the bike & toss it in the basement until I ride again (for me that's not daily). I only get in in 1 ride a week this time of year. if I use 1 bike then it sits for a week before I lube it. if I'm swapping bikes it might be several weeks before a bike gets lubed. but definitely, doing nothing, is not a plan

Banzai

Salt. It kills components more than anything, and we use more now than ever, just so drivers don’t have to slow down as much.
My list of winter cycling hazards:
1) Drivers
2) Parked cars.
3) Messed up bike lanes because parked cars screwed up the plowing.
4) Ice ruts made by cars.
5) Road salt put down for cars.
.
.
.
.
.
20) Cold weather.

sweeks

I'm in Chicago, where salt use is heavy and corrosion of aluminum and (especially) ferrous metals is a problem. I have gradually replaced most of the non-stainless (and even stainless) hardware with titanium bits which I get from Toronto Cycles. These don't corrode in the salt and basically last forever.
I also have a Nexus 8-speed rear hub, which fortunately is compatible with a roller brake module. This is a hub-mounted drum-brake, and it eliminates the wear on the rear rim which used to cause me to replace the rim every couple or three years. The roller brake is essentially maintenance-free, needing a shot of (special) grease once a year.

Notso_fastLane

Nice thing about using a Strada as a winter commuter: the drive train is fully enclosed and doesn't get exposed to road salt.

I still have to check the wheels and will usually wipe them down after a ride when it's wet, but that's not bad compared to an open drive train on a regular bike.

KP_Doodie

Moved from Tennessee to Utah. The road salt here just eats up chains and derailleur springs. Thinking of going back to the Alfine hub because of it.

Buglady

With the exception of the crankarm, all of those fall under normal winter wear in my experience. The Alfine axle nut actually lasted rather longer than those usually do; the metal on those nuts is *exceptionally* soft

(Said experience consists of 12 years of year-round cycle commuting in Calgary and 7 as a full time professional bike mechanic. I have worked with a lot of Alfine hubs and with two generations of Gates belt drive).

Archwhorides 

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.

bpcyclist

Yikes.

wykaman

I ride a fixed-gear around Boston as well all winter long. The salt is the number one killer. The fenders help a bit, but only so much. I usually take a rag to the frame and components every other day to wipe it clean and to keep things running smoothly. The chain does rust out pretty fast if it has snow sitting on it or you ride through snow/ice and don't dry it off immediately after your ride. I've been using the grunge brush for cleaning up the chain. The bike is steel and so far the paint job is holding up, however, I did have to replace the rear wheel since the hub was pitted. The city is never really a friend to the bike, but like others have posted, put non-expensive parts on the bike since they will eventually fall victim to the Texas-sized potholes, texting drivers, and mother nature.

Rpbergie

On the upside: I just bought an old mountain bike to use as a winter commuter. The aluminum seatpost would hardly budge when I worked on it in the warmth of the indoors. Today after the ride to work in -15c cold I took another try at freeing the seatpost. SUCCESS!!!
Fenders seem essential for getting a little more life out of the winter ride. The salt is one inch think on Montreal roads.

noglider 

Buglady you know they use soft metal on axle nuts on purpose, right? Sturmey Archer knew the wisdom of this long ago. It's to prevent stripping the threads on the axle which is much harder to replace.

noglider 

Since I got the advice to oil my chain after every time it gets wet, my chain has been lasting much longer.

I occasionally clean my drivetrain. A couple of weeks ago, I did my cassette and rear derailleur. Now I have to clean my chainrings. This prevents grime from getting in the chain.

I pretty much oil everything often when it's picking up salt. I clean and shine thoroughly when I get around to it, maybe not until spring.

MinnMan

(Also in Minneapolis)

Yes, winter is hard on bikes. Particularly because of salt, it's best to wash down your bike regularly, and that's not easy in the winter when you can't use an outdoor hose. The best alternative, which some friends have but I don't, is an indoor heated space such as a laundry room that has a floor drain. I have heard of people bringing their bikes into the shower, but I only have a stall shower and it's on the top floor, whereas the bikes enter and exit through the basement, so that isn't happening. I simply fill buckets of water and pour them over the bike outside my garage (but positioned so that the water doesn't coat my driveway and give me sheets of refreeze. Elsewhere somebody recommended a garden sprayer, like this.

Banzai

My Pugsley used to be black. It's gray/white from salt right now. Ridiculous.

parkbrav

I use just a parc tool, some clorox wipes and an old t-shirt. That saves me considerable hassle.

parkbrav

Good advice, as always! I grease the chain as often as I can remember to, with the caveat that due to normal wear it's probably going get junked at the next annual tune-up

MinnMan

uh, what are you cleaning? Just the drive train? to get the salt off, I want the whole bike washed - the insides of the derailleurs, the exposed cables, the bolts (rusting bolts in the steering column are a PITA), etc. Wipes and a rag wouldn't cut it.

bpcyclist

For me, the most effective way to get at things like inner chainring recesses and jockey wheels and stuff is a toothbrush. It will get all that business completely clean. Personally, I just use dish soap and warm water. Works great.

Banzai

Budgeting cleanup time into every...single...ride is an enormous hassle, and the biggest disincentive to winter cycling.
And cleaning the bike outside, with water, when it’s 10F really sucks too.

79pmooney

+1 Hence my post above.