007craft

I think I have to by a car.. boo. 2 nights now as I start my ride home from work, the back tire has blown. Nothing punctured, just blown from only what I can speculate, being out in -10 (-20c or less with wind chill) for 8.5 hours.

I did some winter biking last year but I never used it for commuting. It was going great until this cold weather hit. Now I dont know what I can do? Putting my bike indoors at work is absolutly 100% not possible. And it appears my back tire cant handle the weight after 10 seconds after being frozen. My bike lock even broke today. Was trying to unlock it and it was frozen so I banged it against the bike rack to losen it up and it just snapped in half. I couldnt belive it. Also my reflector and light just crumbled. Gears also dont appear to work until their warmed up. I couldnt believe what was happening. Im curious to know if theres any1 else riding in these temperatures and leaving their bike outdoors for 8-9 hours? My ride into work @ -12c was fine, as the bike had been kept in my garage overnight. This sucks. Got all the winter clothes going, finally got myself able to stay warm for long periods in these temperatures and my damn bike cant handle it.

SlimAgainSoon

Tell us where this is, so we never go there in December.

You must have brass balls to ride in weather like that.

007craft

Its not that bad. Im in Markham Ontario Canada, just north of Toronto. Temp out right now is -7c. Like I mentioned, riding in the cold is not a problem. My ride to work is just peacy (aside from the snow and ice im riding on almost killing me heh). The problem just seems to be from the bike remaining motionless in the cold for so long

badmother

No help in buying a car, mine refused to start today. -10C also here. Has to take the bike + trailer to go shopping tomorrow.

Had the tyre problem only once before in cold weather. folding tyres, newer on the studded I use now. Maybe use different tyres? Water expands when frozen, maybe tyres do to so you need some with a tighter fit? sometimes the rims is the problems .

Tomorrow I need to remowe the steeringwheel and a lot of plastic on my car to get to the key cylinder, get it out and buy a new one and put it all back in -10C. My bikes I bring innside the house to work on them.

I-Like-To-Bike

I doubt it, unless you have some sort of defective tires or tubes. I ride and park outside at temperatures that cold or colder all winter long for 12 hours at a time (including parking outside at work for 10+ hours) after leaving my unheated garage in the morning. Never had a problem with tires or tubes for the last 6 winters.

ban guzzi

I'd replace the rim strips with Velox cloth rim tape if you haven't already. The stock rim tape is crap and will cause blow outs and slow leaks, particulaly in cold weather. As to your reflectors, if they bake in summer too its' likely they became brittle from the plasticizers evaporating out. Nothing lasts forever! I did have my rear shifting slow down or ice up badley last year but I did poor maintenance and not enough lube on chain and derailleur. Try it out, maybe that helps?

Ditch the cheap lock (?) and keep your lights with you. Besides getting stolen, the cold doesn't help them with battery life.

007craft

well its happened 2 times now, 1st tube was fairly new (couple months) and the other tube was 12 hours old. My ride in to work (leaving from an unheated garage) was fine. I made the 10k trip to work, riding over snow and bumpy ice without any problems. Then leaving work I have the problem both times, which basically strands me (I had to walk home ).

My tubes are axiom 700x28-32c and my tires are 29c. I have no idea about rim tape or how to apply it or if it would help?

ghettocruiser

Your problem is you're in Markham, Ontario.

Seriously, I think this has little to do with temperature and more to do with problems that just happen to be showing up now, perhaps aggravated by the cold weather but not caused by it.

Out of curiosity where are you riding in Markham?

StanSeven

Try different tires. My guess is the tires are so stiff from being cold, the bead isn't holding.

I used to have car tires but made awful sounds in the cold until they warmed up.

GV27

Guys, that's not that cold. -10C is 14F. That'll be fairly standard for me most of the winter. Last Friday my commute was -14C.

I think it's just coincidence. I was on my summer slicks on Friday. Have ridden in that sort of temp on all sorts of tires. Check your rim tape, check the inside of the tires for debris. Talc your tubes. Carry an extra one or apatch kit so you're not walking!

The other stuff - I dunno. Bad luck again, I would guess.

apricissimus 

Definitely look into the rim tape. What the rim tape does is it lines the inside of your rim, protecting the tube from any sharp or pokey thing that might cause a puncture. Even very tiny barbs that you would never notice normally can cause small leaks in your tube.

Do you still have the flat tubes? If so, find out where the leak is. If it's in the exact same spot on both tubes, the leak was almost certainly caused by something in the rim poking into it. If it's not in the same spot, something stuck in the tire is a possibility.

LesterOfPuppets

Yeah, I used to leave my bike parked outdoors in -10C weather outside my dorm all the time. The only temperature specific problem I had was poor shifting on mornings where the day before I had rode home in slush, which iced up overnight.

Surely there was a hole of some sort in your innertube. Take note of its location and try to see what could be causing the blowouts. If it's on the inside, could be a spoke poking through. If it's on the outside, there may be something embedded in your tire.

If that lock you broke was a Kryptonite, they'd probably replace it if you call their customer service line. Otherwise, just buy a new one.

Bring your lights inside.

Perform regular maintenance, or have it done somewhere. It'll likely be cheaper than car insurance.

ryanwood

I agree, temp aren't that low, I keep the bike outside the house 24 hours a day here in Iowa and have made several morning commutes on mornings below 5F which is -15C. The only Issue I ever have is slow shifting, but only for the first mile.

007craft

Thanks for the advice everyone. I still think it has everything to do with the temperature. Just too much of a coincidnece to happen twice, after being frozen. I check the tire when I replaced it last night and there was no debris or anything in there. And my ride to work was a-ok, so if it was a spoke or something it would of blown on my way to work this morning. Also, these dont appear to be punctures or pricks. My tube both times lietterly exploded, going from 100% air to 0% in less then 1 second, If it was something that poked my tube, im sure it would let the air out over the course of 10 seconds or so. And I was riding on clean smooth pavement, no snow bumps or ice when it happened.

Its rather diffcult for me to go buy more tubes and tape and new tires etc etc because theres no LBS in my town other then some really crappy 5 square foot box shop. I need to travel at least 30k to get to a proper LBS. I already started looking around for some used cars . I think ill stick with the summer commuting on my bike, less problems, ALOT less gear and less time. Takes me 12 mins just to change into complete riding atire before and after work every day .

BTW the lock wasnt a kryptonite, just a 5 digit combo lock (easily cut with lock cutters, but still shocked the main lock broke when it got cold) and for the guy above who asked, I ride along 14th av between markham and warden 6:30ish AM and again between 3:30PM-5:00 PM (depending on the week and day, alternating shifts)

JoeyBike

I am amazed and humbled by you Northern Folk.

I hope you get those glitches ironed out. It would be a shame to lose one tough commuter like you due to equipment failure.

Good Luck

alpacalypse

-10C is totally doable. Cold always causes problems for the first few days with a bike. If you fix the problems that come up, you'll be fine.

You will end up changing your equipment around some, but saying that bikes "fall apart" magically at -10C is pretty silly. There are people riding at much lower temps than that.

LesterOfPuppets

I'd love to see these inner tubes. A tube can't literally explode without the tire blowing off the rim or having a big hole in it. Did this occur in either occasion?

What size tires are you running? (I'm curious even though at this point it seems you're not really interested in why your tubes are blowing and that this post was simply a report that you're giving up, as opposed to a request for help.)

Good luck with the car hunt. When buying used, I like the GM-branded Toyotas (Geo Prizm, Pontiac Vibe).

Bike Cottage

The last time I had a tire go BOOM, it was the bead which had started to separate from the tire. It seems fine when you air it up but then put a load on it and Pow!. Maybe on your commute on the morning the tube is warm enough to deform around the defect a little but give it 8-10 hours at below freezing and the rubber is probably pretty stressed. I'd be looking for bead material coming through the rubber. Just my two cents.

uke

gerv 

I had a similar experience last year. I was getting a lot of flats in February and March and blaming it on the cold weather.

One day I chanced to look at all my punctured tubes and discovered they were all punctured in the same spot. That lead me to investigate the tire which has a small tear in the sidewall, which -- out on the road -- would pinch the tube.

I bought two new Schwalbe marathon tires and haven't had a flat since.

So, follow the advice from those above:
- check the tire very closely
- check the rim and tape.

It's most likely one of those.

rotharpunc

I had a discussion about this with the owner of my LBS the other day. Apparently someone came in wanting to know if he(LBS) could either add some to the air or fully inflate with nitrogen. Lbs owner asked why, biker said it is supposed to help maintain proper pressure in the tires down to some ridiculously low temperatures.

LesterOfPuppets

Seems like a tire shop (of the automobile variety) around here was trying to push the Nitrogen. They had it up on their marquee. I never did drop in to see what their angle was...

bent-not-broken

I commuted the last two winters in WI and my bike is parked outside all day. Many days -0 F. (-20 or so C). The bike spends overnight in an unheaed garge and seldom gets above freezing in January. I have never had a tire issue. I ride both Nashbar 26 and 27 inch studded tires (2 bikes). I do run a heavy tube, because they hold air better and are less likely to flat. Bike tires should be as reliable as car tires at cold temps.

ItsJustMe

If the tire/tube can't handle -10C there's definitely something wrong with it. My bike is out in the garage overnight in those temps and colder many days of the year, and I've never had a tire problem. I've ridden down to -25*F, which is -32*C, once, and probably a couple dozen times between -10*F and 0*F (-23*C and -18*C). Again, no problems. In fact I've never had so much as a flat in the winter.

ItsJustMe

Their angle is charging you ten bucks to inflate a tire. It's total crap.