di2 winter storage

bianchimoon

What do people do over the winter with Di2/SRAM/EPS equipped bikes as far as the battery is concerned? Shimano say remove if for a long period (and do what?) If it's left in the seat post in a dry warm place any thoughts on whether that would be an issue?

fat daddy

I wouldn't risk it .. any parasitic drain on the battery will cause it to flatten and corrode .... come summer you could see yourself having to replace a corroded battery box,

for the effort of removing the battery its better to be safe than sory

bianchimoon

fat daddy wrote:

I wouldn't risk it .. any parasitic drain on the battery will cause it to flatten and corrode .... come summer you could see yourself having to replace a corroded battery box,

for the effort of removing the battery its better to be safe than sory

Even if I put it on the stand and run up and down the gears on a weekly basis?

fat daddy

In theory, that would be the same as using it .... as far as the battery is concerned, so in theory that should be fine.

Although, rather than put it on a stand, why don't you put it on a turbo ... and run up and down the gears for an hour

bianchimoon

fat daddy wrote:

In theory, that would be the same as using it .... as far as the battery is concerned, so in theory that should be fine.

Although, rather than put it on a stand, why don't you put it on a turbo ... and run up and down the gears for an hour

good point, stick an old tyre on over winter, has to be incredibly bad weather (standing snow or obvious ice risk) even then have been known get the mtb out. But I take your point!

meanredspider

I've left mine on my bike over 5 Highland winters in a very cold (and not totally dry) garage. It's an external battery. Absolutely no issue.

ETA I commuted on an MTB with studded ice tyres through many of those winters (35 mile RT)

veryslowtwitch

keep in garage and ride in disgusting weather, no problem.

meanredspider

veryslowtwitch wrote:

keep in garage and ride in disgusting weather, no problem.

Yup - if I were building a bike specifically for winter and crappy weather and had free choice of groupset, it would be Di2. It just works in anything and the cables don't freeze. My roadie isn't much good on sheet ice though so use the MTB and live with crappy gear changes.

bianchimoon

veryslowtwitch wrote:

keep in garage and ride in disgusting weather, no problem.

would if i didn't have 2 bikes, so may as well use the older mechanical one round here, full of cow cr@p and mud from farmers fields from now till spring

veryslowtwitch

Apologies to OP, I thought the original question pertained to advisability of Di2 in winter. If not using at all then suggest you take out battery and leave in a drawer with a cover over the terminals. But it would be nicer to stick it on your winter bike if poss:-)

CiB

Personally I'd ride it anyway and wash the cow muck away afterwards; it's organic wet waste, less corrosive than some other stuff that gets on the bike. And it's not as if every day from when the clocks go back till April is a wet grey day, there are loads of opportunities to get out on bright clear days and enjoy it. I've never quite grasped why people spend a lot of money on a nice bike then hide it away for half the year. It's only a bike, but in this case one with gears that are better at dealing with cruddy weather & conditions.

bianchimoon

CiB wrote:

Personally I'd ride it anyway and wash the cow muck away afterwards; it's organic wet waste, less corrosive than some other stuff that gets on the bike. And it's not as if every day from when the clocks go back till April is a wet grey day, there are loads of opportunities to get out on bright clear days and enjoy it. I've never quite grasped why people spend a lot of money on a nice bike then hide it away for half the year. It's only a bike, but in this case one with gears that are better at dealing with cruddy weather & conditions.

If there are decent days I don't have problems riding it in the winter, before I bought the cervelo the bianchi was both the best and winter bike, now that I have 2 bikes, makes sense to use the older bike on cruddy days. Really was more concerned about whether I could safely leave the battery trickle draining, but I guess using it on occasional decent day, trainer etc is the best solution.