fooferdoggie 

usually its not that cold here. but it was 20 and down to 17 degrees on my commute. my garmin radar kept disconnecting and my cadence sensor was way off even my chest HRM disconnected a few times. my electric gloves were a bit wimpy but ok my Bosch powered e bike was fine though.

base2 

I found the same with the cache battery in my Luxos U. Lithium batteries really don't like to give up the current in the cold.

Hey! Let's start a Di2 vs Etap vs cable shifting thread!

I'll start: "Di2 sux! "

pdlamb

Not surprising, if unfortunate. Batteries don't like cold weather.

Gratuitous plug: dyno lights do fine in the cold.

fooferdoggie 

the radar was not the battery it was freshly charged. the cadence gave a really high reading. the garmin was way off on the elevation lost and had me a min elevation at -32 feet and the lowest temp at -8 degrees.

Polaris OBark

It is just giving you extra credit for being bad-ass for riding at 17°F (I assume °F).

fooferdoggie 

it was not as bad as I expected. the big deal are hands and feet, my electric gloves were wimping out but it was not too long of a ride and a pair of waterproof socks then my thick smartwool socks in insulated shoes. the rest is easy. its a first for me since I was young. seldom is it below 30 here.

79pmooney

That's why my winter ride is a no electrical anything (save lights) fix gear ridden with chopper mitts and liner mittens. There's nothing about that bike that won't work in far colder weather than I'm ever going to ride in. (Tested years ago to -5F. My limit but the bike didn't care.)

Fix gear pluses (beyond working, even with frozen chains and slush or snow on the cog) - warmer down hill. (That not being able to coast thing - what a blessing!) No shifters requiring finger dexterity so both clumsy mittens and hands too cold for shifting feedback still work well. And the old fewer miles for a quality workout or more conditioning per mile. Better traction or the ability to ride faster tires and still get there upright. (Assuming you started riding fixed last summer, not last week.) And put away (salty and) wet? Ridable next morning, always. Oh, and that right-side crash on ice? No trashed RD, no bent hanger. You get to ride home.

Trakhak

I notice that we older guys are exhibiting an increasing (and, speaking for myself, slightly worrying) tendency to answer questions that weren't asked anywhere in a given thread. Here, the suggestion is that all you need to do to fix your problems with bike electronics while cycling in the cold is to start riding a fixed-gear bike. For another old guy, on almost any conceivable topic related to upright bikes, it's to switch to recumbents. For me, it's proselytizing on behalf of the much-maligned aluminum bike. I see myself doomed to becoming only more cloud-shouty as I age.

79pmooney

Yes, true. But this was something I was told when I was 22 and had just started racing. No car so I rode all winter and found that the fix gear was radically better than the freewheel of the year before. (And I didn't say this but I find riding fix gear, I don't even want electronics.)

Troul 

While inside a warm building, power everything on. Leave them on until the ride is done.

Trakhak

Yes! I could have written that, word for word (except I was 13 and starting out on a track bike as an ABLA intermediate racer in 1964; got my driver's license at 22 and my first car five years later). (No electronics on my track or road bikes except a pulse monitor, sometimes.)

Tourist in MSN

I probably do that more than anyone else here, years ago when I asked the same question I still remember the followup questions that I asked and wished that someone would have answered in a timely manner.

fooferdoggie 

riding home all was fine but the garmins were in my shop till I left so that made the difference.

Troul 

did you read my last post?

Seattle Forrest

I skied Wednesday, it's a tradition. It was -6F when I parked the car, -14F when I got back 4 hours later. It got down to -30F that night, I was worried about my car being able to start and get me back to safety. Glad it worked.

rumrunn6

yikes, talk about badasses!

biker128pedal

I’m surprised the Garmin head unit battery was dropping out. My Edge 1030 and Montana 610 were reliable below 20 F. Now my iPhone shut itself down below 20 F. This was on my motorcycle and I needed Google to find an address.

RB1-luvr

I had to retire my otherwise fine old iPhone 7 recently because it would freak out and deplete its battery nearly instantly in cold temps (30F or below).

PeteHski

I've noticed my Garmin can give low elevation readings at low temperatures. Probably due to its default auto setting, where it can interpret temperature change as altitude change. I believe the fix is to use "altimeter" mode instead of "auto" and manually calibrate at the low ambient temperature. Otherwise it's just going to read low.

I've no idea why the Garmin radar would disconnect at low temperature if the battery was charged. Mine drops out occasionally for no reason in any conditions, but always quickly re-connects after a few seconds. I put that down to dodgy firmware as it started happening straight after a particular update.

unterhausen

I had 2 rechargeable taillights give out on me on one 5 mile commute in 5 degree F weather. Both freshly charged. That's when I gave up on battery lights.

Troul 

in the cases where the temps are at or under 32F, I leave the light where it's warm (side pocket close to the body) & immediately turn it on [usually while it's in the pocket] before sliding it on the mount. If I am riding beyond the internal battery duration limits, I'll slave the light with a bank before it lights out happens... unless it's too moist out where the port may ingest the moistness.

Tourist in MSN

Generically, batteries are designed for normal temperatures, not sub freezing and not for desert heat.

Li Ion batteries are not supposed to be charged when it is below freezing. And they lose a lot of efficiency in cool weather. When bike touring in cooler weather, I have seen my phone Li Ion battery really drop fast just to get a weather forecast off internet when it was 40 degrees (F).

And I have taken a freshly charged LI Ion camera battery outside in cold weather and it did not take anywhere near as many photos as it would have in warmer weather.

Taillights, I only use AAA taillights or dyno powered, almost always use NiMH batteries.
https://www.panasonic-eneloop.eu/en/...s-cold-weather

I do not have any Li Ion taillights, but I would assume they work about the same as my Li Ion powered camera, which is not very well in cold weather.

I do not bike below 20 degrees (F), so I can't say if my taillights would work at 5 (F) or not. I think I will put a taillight in my freezer, see how it works later.

My DSLR will operate on AA batteries or on Li Ion battery. The manual says for cold weather to use Lithium AA batteries, I assume they mean the disposable 1.5v ones and not Li Ion. I have never owned Lithium AA batteries, but if I was going to use that camera in really cold weather, I would run it on AA NiMH batteries, not the Li Ion ones.

If I was going to commute in sub freezing temps a lot, I would buy a package of Lithium AAA batteries and use those in my taillight. And carry a spare taillight to use if one gets dim, it is easier to swap taillights than batteries in a taillight when you are wearing gloves or mitts. My AAA taillights are Planet Bike that easily clip into the holder on the bike without needing tools.

ADDENDUM:

I took a Planet Bike Superflash off my my road bike, it has been stored in the garage all winter. Not sure how much charge I had in the AAA Eneloop NiMH batteries in it, but the light was bright when I turned it on. I suspect that they were charged up last fall, as I try to keep my taillights bright.

Put the light in the freezer, light was turned off, the food adjacent to the light was 10 degrees (F). Twenty minutes later, I turned the light on in constant on mode and left it in the freezer. I assume that the constant on mode drains the battery faster than flash mode and I was too lazy to check Planet Bike website to see what they say.

Checked it again after the light had been turned on in the freezer for an hour, it was still pretty bright. Based on that, I would trust NiMH Eneloops for a taillight in subfreezing temps for commuting use. That said, I would still charge them up once a week instead of waiting for them to look dim.

unterhausen

That was the thing, I took them into work for this very reason. Still wiped out early.

Troul 

how cold was it & about how many minutes was it in those five miles, before it quit?
Depending on there age, I'd return those & try a totally different one.