jawnn

How can I keep my chain and other parts like the derailleurs from freezing. Actually my chain hasn't frozen but the derailleur has.

CliffordK

What is freezing?
Do you bring your bike inside?

The answer will be lighter weight oils and greases. Your derailleur jockey wheels can probably be run dry, but you could also use a basic oil on them.

The chain should only freeze if wet. So... keep it lubed. I often lube my chain every day or two during the winter, but we get a lot more rain and less snow.

Bike Gremlin

Fully synthetic motor oil, a lighter one (0w30), is not expensive for a lifetime bike lubing amount of one litre. Or get a small oil bottle filled at a local car shop from their leftovers of new engine oil. Good for freezing temps.

Also, teflon based lubes (and greases for hubs) are good for deep sub zero temps.

Andrew R Stewart 

Having run a shop in Cleveland when the bike messenger craze was on the rise I saw a lot of frozen things (ice or rust). Frequent cleaning, keeping lube current, minimizing the temperature swings the bike sees were all vital. That last one few seem to talk about. But the more above and below freezing temp swings the bike goes through the more moisture will be drawn into the bike's internals. Frozen water (snow/ice, often laden with salt) melts and gets sucked in the parts (and frame) as they melt down. Andy.

LesterOfPuppets

Just shift a lot. Even when you don't need to, shift.

dabac

Never heard of a chain freezing bad enough to cause a problem. The design and the forces involved makes them basically self-cleaning.
It's quite rare for a derailer to freeze, unless it gets seriously caked in ice.
Which can happen to the cassette too.
In which case lube won't help.
Derailer cables OTOH can freeze.
The trick here is to avoid build-up of ANYTHING in the housings.
Water is a given.
Doesn't take much to freeze a cable solid inside the housing.
Lube isn't much better.
Many lubes get stiffer/stickier in cold, and it doesn't take more than a few inches of engagement to overcome the force of the return springs.
Or the force a rider is comfortable putting into the shifter.


Rear derailers can usually be run full-length housings needing nothing more than a new cable set and some zip ties.
Or there are various "sealed" sets you can buy that work OK.
Front derailers tend to be less likely to freeze.


The pawls in the freewheel/hub can refuse to engage when it's cold.
Particularly if the unit has been somewhat enthusiastically greased at one time or another.
Some people flush and then dribble some light oil into it instead.
Some disassemble, clean, use grease on the bearings and either only a thin sheen on the pawls.
Or use a drop of (light) oil on the pawls.


Either way, when its below freezing, I do make a point of always leaving my bike in a reasonably generally rideable gear whenever I park it.

Andrew R Stewart 

The most common freezing issue I saw, when in Cleveland, with winter bikes was the freewheel locking up solid so the ability to coast was lost (as in the freewheel became a fixed gear). My shop was the closest one to the downtown area and I had a number of bike messengers that would stop in mid afternoon with a frozen freewheel. I had a classic steam radiator up front next to the door. It acted as a bike rack for narrow tired bikes. I would always suggest the rider park their bike either "in" the radiator or against it. the rider would come up to the counter and we'd talk about his problem ("can't coast"). I purposely was slow in my reply and verbal assessment and in a few minutes ask if I could look at their bike. Of course by then the heat from the radiator had melted the frozen water that had gotten inside the freewheel and the bike was "fixed".


The real solution was to remove the freewheel, flush out the insides with compressed air and solvent then lube it up. We had a Stein Grease Injector which we used frequently, during the winter Phil Ten. oil was used.


So we found that a lack of lube in the freewheel would sooner allow water to enter and in time freeze. Andy.

pdlamb

I'd guess you need less moisture in the derailer pivots and cables, more oil on the derailer, or maybe a lighter oil on the derailer. If you don't want to try a scattergun approach, you pretty much have to figure out what was causing the problem you observed before you can figure out how to fix it.

Hypno Toad

This ^^^

I ride temps down to -20F, I've had my freehub freeze up on me (not a lot of fun walking 3 miles). If we are talking strictly about freezing from cold: keep the bike in a cold place, or if it comes inside it needs to be inside long enough to thaw and dry before going back outside. Flush and re-grease hubs and BB in the fall - there are specialty greases, however fresh grease has worked for me. For the chain, I use T-9 (wax based lube, never had an issue freezing). For the derailleurs, I removed them on my old winter commuter - SS saves a lot of issues, if you have a dedicated winter bike... and if the derailleur freeze up while riding, enjoy the SS bike. My current winter bike is a Pugsley and the derailleurs on that bike have no issues with cold/snow/ice... I can shift no matter how much is built up on them.

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noglider 

@Andrew R Stewart, what is the bike messenger industry like in Cleveland and Rochester now? It's still big here in NYC. It has been since before I was born (in 1961).

Andrew R Stewart 

Tom- I can't talk about Cleveland as I've not lived there since 2000. But at that time it has retracted from the number of riders compared to a few years before. Currently in Rochester there are none that I now of. The shop, Full Moon Vista, was the closest to downtown till a couple of years ago (and was in downtown till 6 years ago) yet we never see messengers seeking service or saying hello. There is no talk among the urban hip that do shop with us (or that the young wrenches know) about messengering.


My understanding is that in today's world of email, fax and general agreement of accepting approvals electronically the need to proof and sign off on most docs is mostly gone. If a town has a lot of advertising or legal business this need still survives in the professional circles. If a town has a lot of small product delivery (think food) then messengering survives.


Although I have heard that many NYC messengers are no longer using human power only. The E bike has taken over. This is some of why some NY officials are so against the E Bike, they see the worst examples of use daily. Andy.

maddog34

Silicone lubes........ Water repelling.

jawnn

It seldom freezes here, north of Seattle but it was the cables that froze in place. Maybe if I squirt pure alcohol in the housing that is facing upwards. I originally put Triflow in the housing, does it have oil as well as the PTFE? Or just distillate?

I used a torch to warm them up yesterday. I can't bring the bike inside, too small of a living space. The sun usually works by mid day.

I saw a video of some one cycling across the arctic and they had some kind of antifreeze in the chain oil, said the narrator. Possible every where. But I can't help but think that it would ruin the bike.

wschruba

Buy a bottle of lock de-icer from NAPA, et. al. Works quickly, and is not messy to store in a bag for use as you are going around.

dwmckee

Is this a recommendation from experience?

wschruba

Yes. By and large, it does the same thing for a lock that it would do for a cable, for the same reason(s).

rmfnla

FYI, bringing a cold bike into a warm room will allow condensation to form, which will freeze if you go back outside before it has had a chance to dry off...

jawnn

thanks that is a good idea

noglider 

@Andrew R Stewart, we have zillions of bike couriers in Manhattan. Most are still pedaling, but e-bikes are increasing in number. They are illegal, and I think the law is dumb. I suspect that few couriers carry documents now. Mostly, it's food. Some will pick up anything you want purchased for you.