harishankar

I recently bought a second hand Giant Upland SE and to be frank, it is my first bike with multiple gears. The bike functioned normally for the first day or two. I could use all the gears. When the bike is stored indoors, the pedal and wheel work fine but once I take it out in the cold (anywhere from 0 to -30 degrees celsius), the pedals rotate freely and have no action on the wheel. Also I am not able use some gears on the rear wheel. Can anyone please help with an explanation and solution?

fietsbob

Grease got Thicker when cold, is my Guess.. you can clean out grease & replace it with oil, then reverse it in the spring,

clean out oil, replace it with grease again.

SquidPuppet

You ride in that?

Dan Burkhart 

Not as bad as it sounds. That's -22 f

SquidPuppet

I know. And to me, that is exactly how bad it sounds. That's 54 degrees F below freezing.

I'm OK walking in the teens (F), but single digits and zero is uncomfortable for me. Just pulling that cold air into my chest makes my whole body tighten up like a rock.

trailangel

You guys bit on the troll bait!
Add in 10 mph wind chill factor and you are now down to -44 f

harishankar

Yes, It is not that bad. Many people do where I live although for short commutes only

pdlamb

Grease in the freehub may also be dried up. At least from 0 to -10 C or thereabouts, my freehubs work fine as is. (I don't know what OP's bike has, but I suspect it's a freehub vs. freewheel.) Probably worth disassembling the wheel, cleaning it, and re-lube.

speedy25

Well at least Fietsbob gave an intelligent answer to the OP. I give that a +2. Cold weather can cause a lot of troubles on bikes. My typical problem is with quick shifters when the pawls get stuck. Changing to a lighter lube fixes that problem OK, and will do the same for your shifters and rear cluster.

-SP

Leebo

Try some auto tranny fluid on the pawls for the rear hub.

Wilfred Laurier

My experience is that the grease in freehubs is unreliable in the cold after a couple seasons worth of freeze/thaw cycles. The best solution is to replace the freehub body with a new one, then you have a few years before the problem is likely to recur.

harishankar

Can be this done by me or should I send it to the workshop? If doing what you have said requires that the rear hub is disassembled, I am pretty sure that I cannot do it on my own(as it requires special tools). Correct me if i am wrong please

harishankar

and changing to a lighter lube would require that the rear hub is disassembled, cleaned , lubricated and put back right?

speedy25

Thats the best way, but I'll bet others have their "secret" methods that could work for you if you arent handy enough for disassembly.

-SP

rmfnla

Intelligent but not quite right.

Don't replace with regular grease, use a light oil or something rated for extreme temps...

CliffordK

I think it is probably stuck pawls.

So... rather than replacing the grease... the answer should be NO GREASE in the pawls.

The answer is probably a new freehub or freewheel depending on the exact config that the OP has.

Bring the bike inside at night, and the freehub/freewheel should be loose when starting, and will probably continue to work while riding until left outside to freeze again.

fietsbob

You, who I know nothing about, answered your own question, then..

Take it to a Bike shop.

15th post mis read the post. Probably intentionally.. missed the word 'Spring' , thats the season after winter.

CliffordK

Removing a freewheel isn't a great amount of disassembly. It takes a specialized tool, but a good one to have in one's toolbox.

One might get away with soaking the old freewheel in a solvent, then light oil. Or just replace.

A freehub (cassette) takes a bit more work to deal with. Not a big deal, but perhaps something for a shop to work on.

See Sheldon Brown, Freewheel or Cassette?

rmfnla

I did miss it, just as you obviously missed my intentions...

bhchdh 

If it is a freehub:Freehub Service | Park Tool

If a freewheel, you can apply a light lube to the space between the axel hob and the gear body.

coominya

Yes the grease in your rear wheel hub is hardening up in the cold and preventing the drive pawls from engaging. Tipping hot water over the hub might get you going as a quick fix, once you are away though the cold might lock them out again. Definitely take it to a bike shop to have the grease thinned out, it's a tricky job for a total beginner and requires at least 2 special tools.

It's a cheap job but keep in mind what you paid for the bicycle in the first place You won't want to spend a lot of money time and time again if the bike is old and needs a lot of repair.

Moe Zhoost

Even storing indoors does not prevent the lube from becoming putty? Man, you must be in a cold place. I use Stens 00 grease in my Sturmey Archer (new) hub. This is a very light grease. I have not had any problems at temps down to -15 C.

harishankar

Fixed the issue with shifting and can use all gears now. Loose cable was the problem. But, the issue with cold still exists. I tried applying some de grease, letting it sit for a while and then some lube. Did not work. Although, a solution is it hand(dis assembling the whole rear wheel setup and removing grease), I do not have the required tools and expertise. Therefore, I will take to a shop and get it fixed.

PS: I live like 500 kms away from the arctic circle, and it gets pretty damn cold!

harishankar

Fixed the issue with shifting and can use all gears now. Loose cable was the problem. Removed the whole rear wheel assembly including the hub and thoroughly degreased it before applying new appropriate lubrication (sram grease). The cycle works great now ! Thank you all for your help!

HillRider

I've found that grease is completely unnecessary for any freehub or freewheel and that a light oil (Tri-Flow or similar) is more than adequate. I have a 7700-series Dura Ace hub with over 55,000 miles on it in daily use and still with the original freehub body that has never been lubed with anything but Tri-Flow. I have other freehubs with in excess of 30,000 miles also lubed with Tri-Flow that are still in excellent working condition.

Last year I did use Phil Grease, which is pretty light as grease goes, to lube an older Campy Chorus freehub body in an attempt to quiet it down. It was quiet but it also tended to drag while coasting or turning the pedals backward to position them at a stop causing slack in the top chain run. This was in very moderate temperatures (50ºF and above) so I can only imagine what it would have been like in really cold conditions. I cleaned the grease out and relubed with Tri-Flow. Problem solved.

Yes, I remember the Morningstar "Freehub Buddy" grease injector and was always leery of that approach.