Frozen Gear Shifters - Triathlon Week

Machiavelo · 03-19-2005, 03:34 PM

i just went for a nice ride today as it was sunny and relatively warm at approximately 2 degrees Celsius (appr. 39 F). Everything started out fine but, as usual in this kind of weather, my gear shifters froze up and I could not change gears. I was stuck in my 3rd cog and the high front gear, which is great for climbing but not all that greatly condusive to speed on the flats. What about you other guys from northerm climes, what do you do to avoid this? Do you clean out all your grease and replace it with a lighter oil? It's not a big deal really because I enjoyed my ride anyways but it would be even more enjoyable with all my gears available.

pyschosyd · 03-20-2005, 04:58 PM

Are you sure they froze? The freezing point for greese/lube is well bellow zero. Maybe you have some water in your cable housings. Have you put your bike in/done a spring tune up? There may also be rust on your cables in the housing. I suggest pulling the whole thing appart and have a look at it. The only way that it could 'freeze' if there was water in the system. However, I think there is probably something else to blame. You may need to replace your cable and housing. If you have used a hose or high pressure washer to clean your bike it may have got some water in the housing in the spring or before you put it away for winter.
Syd

Machiavelo · 03-21-2005, 02:34 PM

Nope, that is not it, the bike is all tuned up and good as new. The gear shifters and the gears are working perfectly in the house at room temperature. I can even shift gears for the first kilometer or so, but as soon as the levers get cold I cannot shift. I guess that even though it was not freezing out, the temperatures did reach below the freezing point due to the acceleration of the air passing over the levers. Or, perhaps the mechanism inside the levers is starting to wear down--they are 1998 components--somewhat and will not engage as soon as the grease thickens.