Effect of cold temperature on bike materials

[SpokeValley]

It's another slow Friday at the office when a question worthy of this forum (perhaps) came to mind.

Call me a wimp or whatever but the coldest I've ridden is 30 deg.F...and that was plenty cold for me. The other extreme where I live is usually somewhere north of 80 and maybe 90 in the summer.

Are there any opinions about what effect on the ride quality that cold temperatures play on your frame (bike frame, not my fat arse), be it metal or CF, or wheels and bearings, and whatever?

If your bike was cold...like hung in the garage...is there any huge potential of damaging the components if one was inclined to get out and really romp on it?

Conversely, what if it's really hot outside? Stuff tends to get looser...

[keevon]

The "ride quality" of a bike frame will be unaffected by the range of temperatures in which human beings can exist.

[thwart]

Bike in cold garage (below freezing temps), placed on cold rollers, also in garage:

Much more pedaling resistance for the first 5-10 minutes. Consistent from bike to bike. How much is the rollers, how much the bike, who knows... ?

No damage has ever occurred.

This is true also for cold rides, although I usually use rollers if it's below 30 degrees F.

[nooneline]

I've spent some time outside at -20F (not wind chill - legit temperature). My headset gets pretty sludgy - my grease is getting cold and there's not enough movement to keep it loose.

I've had some tires freeze. Like, the rubber compound gets super hard.

I learned to avoid those tires.

[false_Aest]

Hot = go through tires faster

cold = go through whisky faster


never figured out why.

[Mark McM]

In general, temperature extremes have a bigger effect on the rider than they do on the bike.

For metals: Metals can change their properties (strength, brittleness) with temperature, but these changes will be very small over the temperature ranges that one would even consider riding a bike.

For carbon fiber: Again, there will be some change in properties over temperature, but the changes will be small over the range of bike riding temperatures.

For plastics: These may have significant changes in properties (strength, stiffness, brittleness) over riding temperatures. Some plastics may become more brittle and prone to cracking at very low temperatures - but we're talking well below freezing.

For rubber: Rubber will become stiffer, and may have a reduction in its coefficient of friction (i.e., traction) at low temperature. This is why snow tires typically are made of softer rubber.

Viscous lubricants (oil and grease): These will have the largest changes with temperature. The extra viscous losses on chains and bearings will be small compared to the other drag forces on a bike; however, the extra viscosity in lubricated spring mechanisms (such as freehub pawls or shifter mechanisms) may inhibit their correct operation at very low temperatures. This is why it generally not recommended to grease freehub pawls - the grease may become too thick at low temperaturs, preventing the pawls from engaging.

In answer to your direct question - really romping on a bike that has been stored in a cold garage is not likely to cause any more damage to it would on a warm day.

[bicycletricycle]

Oils and grease get thicker, magnets in dynamo hubs can come unglued. Tire pressure changes slightly, technically any place were two different materials are glued together is a potential sore spot for big temperature changes because of the different rates in expansion and contraction due to temperature changes .

I don't know about gel seats or grips .

My headset always feels terrible under 20 or so

[jds108]

I have noticed my STI shift levers will fail to return in the moment after making a shift - due to the grease inside the lever being more viscous (temps in the 20s, 30s, 40s)

Other than that and less tire adhesion, haven't seen much of anything.

[CNY rider]

I commute down to 0F.
Ride a pretty beat up old cross bike.
The steering is slow and high friction.
The shifting is laborious particularly in front. The FD also likes to freeze over the big ring and not spring back in.

[Steve in SLO]

If your bike was cold...like hung in the garage...is there any huge potential of damaging the components if one was inclined to get out and really romp on it?


I'd worry more about your knees than your bike.
But what do I know...it's 84 degrees here today.

[aaronf]

My headset always feels terrible under 20 or so

Yep, my threaded Record headsets that are adjusted perfectly indoors at say 65-70F are always a touch loose near-or-below freezing. Shrinkage!
Other headsets, not so much.

[cfox]

Aluminum headsets can get loose when it's really cold. Even if they don't get loose per se, the gap between the top cap and the top bearing cup will widen. Come back a little later after it's been inside for a while, and it will be back to normal. Yes, I've checked. I'm a dork.

[gdw]

Disc brake performance can become unpredictable. Moisture in the housings will cause cable activated brakes to become sluggish while Shimano's hydraulics seem to suffer from sticky pistons and leaking seals when the temperatures drop below freezing.

[jchasse]

Disc brake performance can become unpredictable. Moisture in the housings will cause cable activated brakes to become sluggish while Shimano's hydraulics seem to suffer from sticky pistons and leaking seals when the temperatures drop below freezing.

My snow bike with BB7s (cable actuated) never gave me problems, but I guess they could. I'd bet more from cold/frozen/sluggish stuff at the calipers than anything.

The Shimano thing is because their disc brakes use mineral oil. Most other brakes use DOT brake fluid, and I'm not aware of any problems there with cold. My drivetrain boogers up long before my brakes give me trouble. I've "only" ridden down to about -5 F though :fight:

[jchasse]

One sorta practical temp related tip: if you're riding in really cold temps, carbon bars seem to make a noticeable (positive) difference over metal bars. The carbon bars don't really get cold, where aluminum noticeably does. When we're out in real cold, when I take the gloves off and touch the stem (aluminum) then touch the bars (carbon) it's pretty amazing. Cold handlebars act as a pretty efficient heat sink, sucking heat from your hands.

Not rocket science, but I never thought about it until I was out there.

[tuscanyswe]

One sorta practical temp related tip: if you're riding in really cold temps, carbon bars seem to make a noticeable (positive) difference over metal bars. The carbon bars don't really get cold, where aluminum noticeably does. When we're out in real cold, when I take the gloves off and touch the stem (aluminum) then touch the bars (carbon) it's pretty amazing. Cold handlebars act as a pretty efficient heat sink, sucking heat from your hands.

Not rocket science, but I never thought about it until I was out there.

Yep carbon bars and carbon levers actually make a pretty big difference for me.

But i never noticed anything else of the previous stated things that could happen in the cold to a bike. Most winters i ride every day in sub zero celcius for many hours. So it cant be that big of a deal, not to me atleast.