Winter...?

Schoie81

So as the dark nights and bad weather close in on us, i'm thinking of putting the road bike away for the winter and getting back on my MTB. This means the road bike is now going to be out of use until after Christmas. So is there anything I should do to ensure no harm comes to the bike during an extended period of not being used? I plan to give it a good clean and lube and I guess I should make sure the tyres don't go down and end up with the rims sat squashing the tyres.

Is there anything else??

rickeverett

is it really that hard to know what to do??

Good chance to give it a full strip clean, service and re-lube etc. Wipe any allen-key holes and metal parts down with WD cloth to reduce damp storage rusting.

Bozman

Strip it, clean it, lube it and apparently you should drop the chain to the granny ring when you're not using the bike.

Schoie81

Bozman wrote:

Strip it, clean it, lube it and apparently you should drop the chain to the granny ring when you're not using the bike.

This is the kind of thing I wasn't sure about - I wondered if there might be a benefit to remove the chain altogether.... Didn't want to get to the spring and someone turn around and say, "oh, I can't believe you've left it for three months with the chain on the bike..."

majormantra

Bozman wrote:

Strip it, clean it, lube it and apparently you should drop the chain to the granny ring when you're not using the bike.

That last part is hogwash.

Schoie81

MajorMantra wrote:

That last part is hogwash.

Fair enough!!

rickeverett

Schoie81 wrote:

Bozman wrote:

Strip it, clean it, lube it and apparently you should drop the chain to the granny ring when you're not using the bike.

This is the kind of thing I wasn't sure about - I wondered if there might be a benefit to remove the chain altogether.... Didn't want to get to the spring and someone turn around and say, "oh, I can't believe you've left it for three months with the chain on the bike..."

If everything is clean and lubed/wiped/protected then you wont have a problem. Nothings going to happen. There will be more abuse and ware on the bike in a couple of rides than a couple of months standing.

One thing I used to find (well a few years ago now) is parts like screw heads and anything susceptible to corrosion that went protected used to go rusty due to the damp cold climate in the garage over winter. I wipe everything with WD or other water repellents during winter and it really helps.

Schoie81

oxoman - the only reason I'm parking it up is that I actually quite like riding the MTB and on that, I can take a different route to work which keeps me out of the worst of the weather (ie. not on the road). I will still be using the road bike if its a decent day, but not until after Christmas as I switched to clipless pedals when I got the road bike in the summer and don't want to ride without them now - as I've only got one pair of pedals (a second pair on the Christmas list...) keeping both bikes on the road would mean swapping the pedals back and forth all the time, and frankly, I can't be bothered!

Provided Mr Claus comes up with the goods, I'll be using both bikes in January (not at the same time...)

ddraver

Putting the chain on the small ring and small cog is good practice just becasue it lets the derailleur springs sit fully relaxed rather than stretched. Otherwise they can start to not spring back with the same sprightlyness that they used to.

Given it's such a small thing to do it's worth it IMO

rolf_f

ddraver wrote:

Putting the chain on the small ring and small cog is good practice just becasue it lets the derailleur springs sit fully relaxed rather than stretched. Otherwise they can start to not spring back with the same sprightlyness that they used to.

Given it's such a small thing to do it's worth it IMO

Is there any actual evidence for this or is it just words that sound logical? If there is, then logically, as small things to do go, it would make more sense just to free the chain so the derailleur cage isn't resting against spring tension at all.

ddraver

I know on some of my older MTB kit (no sadly no longer with us) that it would nt shift into the bottom two cogs if I did nt do it after a ride...

keef66

Rolf F wrote:

ddraver wrote:

Putting the chain on the small ring and small cog is good practice just becasue it lets the derailleur springs sit fully relaxed rather than stretched. Otherwise they can start to not spring back with the same sprightlyness that they used to.

Given it's such a small thing to do it's worth it IMO

Is there any actual evidence for this or is it just words that sound logical? If there is, then logically, as small things to do go, it would make more sense just to free the chain so the derailleur cage isn't resting against spring tension at all.

If you're wanting to give all your springs a winter break you'd also need to dismantle:-

Freehub
SPD pedals
Brake calipers
Shifters

IME the mechs usually fail not because of weak springs but because of wear / corrosion of the pivots / bushings.

ddraver

Whatever, I'm sorry that the unbeliveable, mind blowing, epoch making hassle and effort of shifting the chain onto the small rings is so beyond your capabilities.

Schoie can make up his own mind if that half second of work is worth the cost/benefit or not...

Good god man! :roll:

majormantra

Sorry I'm sticking to calling it hogwash. I would imagine mech springs are operating below their fatigue limit so no amount of use will age the springs. And they certain operate within their elastic limit so it's not like the metal is yielding.

Also, bikes look better when displayed in big front/small rear.

6wheels

ddraver wrote:

Putting the chain on the small ring and small cog is good practice just becasue it lets the derailleur springs sit fully relaxed rather than stretched. Otherwise they can start to not spring back with the same sprightlyness that they used to.

Given it's such a small thing to do it's worth it IMO

Page 92 of the Canyon road bike manual says exactly as above, as an engineer, it makes good sense!

Of course, as Rolf F mentioned may just as well take the chain off (probably needs a good clean/or replacing).

rolf_f

ddraver wrote:

Whatever, I'm sorry that the unbeliveable, mind blowing, epoch making hassle and effort of shifting the chain onto the small rings is so beyond your capabilities.

Schoie can make up his own mind if that half second of work is worth the cost/benefit or not...

Good god man! :roll:

Calm down dear, it's only an internet! I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you that, taking a precautionary approach, it seems like a good idea to store a bike like that. I do think that there is a difference between the rear mech springs and the other springs that keef mentioned - the caliper springs are much beefier and the freehub spring is always in tension so you'd have to remove the freehub and the spring to take it out of tension which is never worth the bother. On the other hand, I do have some old rear touring mechs with distinctly saggy springs. But it's one thing to do something because logic implies it is sensible but something else to say that leaving the derailleur cage spring in tension will cause it to lose springiness. Evidence man, dammit!

ddraver

I only have my anecdotes - i ve no idea about the reductio in strength of springs when left in a relaxed or partially extended state though, my year 7 physics just dealt with elastic and plastic deformation...