After a few hellacious streetcar trips home from work last winter, I’ve decided to commute by bike as long as my two wheels will let me. My bike is a piece of shit, she cost me $40 last year and part of that went to new tires they put on for me, so I’m not really concerned about keeping her in pristine condition. I just want her to keep going, and not put life and limb at risk.
I ride about an hour a day, in total, through Toronto’s slushy-salty streets. She will spend the nights indoors.
I don’t want to take her into the bike shop just yet, partly because I don’t quite trust the cool courier types who work there to do as little work as necessary and charge me as little as necessary, and partly because I want to learn how to do it myself.
So what should I do to the bike to keep her going? I know she needs oil, but what kind, and where?
[ul]
[li]Put fenders on to keep the tires from spraying the frame and drivetrain (not to mention you) with corrosive slush[/li][li]Go to a bike shop and get a bottle of chain lube. Don’t use oil–it’ll just get all over the place and act as a magnet for abrasive dirt. Get one of the ones like “White Lightning” that dry into a waxy solid. Follow the directions on the bottle.[/li][li]Occaisonally check the visible parts of your cables for rust.[/li][li]Occaisonally hose off the grime and salt with fresh water.[/li][li]Hopefully you have sealed wheel hubs and a sealed bottom bracket (that’s the system of bearings that supports the crank–what the pedals attach to–where it goes through the frame). If not, either buy or check out a book on bike mechanics (it’s pretty simple stuff, and the tools, though specialized, are pretty cheap) or go to a bike shop, because you’ll periodically need to dissassemble and replace the ball bearings with fresh ones and new grease.[/li][/ul]
If your bike cost $40, consider just letting it fall apart and then buying another piece of shit. Perfectly valid strategy.
The definitive web site about winter biking is Icebike. It has some tips on maintenance, though it may be a bit too “hard-core” for your needs. You can also check MTBReview for user reviews on various cleaning and lubricating products.
I think the most important thing is to wash off the salt with plenty of water, and to lubricate the chain regularly. I usually use a Park Tool Cyclone chain cleaner filled with Simple Green to clean my chain, then rinse thoroughly with water. But when I’m in a hurry I just hose down the chain with water, then apply plenty of lubricant and wipe off the excess. Repeat the lubricate/wipe process if necessary.
As for lubricant choice, there seems to be no clear rule. I think the bottom line is that any lubricant would do if applied regularly. (But not WD-40 because it’s not a lubricant, it’s a Water Displacement treatment.) Some people even recommend motor oil. I use Boeshield T-9, a lubricant originally developed by Boeing for their aircraft and now available in most bike shops.
Icebike’s Winter Maintenance says wax lubricants like White Lighning harden in cold weather and build up on the pulleys. They recommend using oil in cold weather. (Boeshield T-9 is an oil-based lubricant, by the way.)
That’s the idea ! It worked with my last bike. I just want it to last till spring. Which, if last year was any indication, will come around June.
I’ve got mudflaps on it now, which keep me free of slush although I can’t speak for the machinery.
Can I just spray Simple Green on the chain or do I need a fancy Cyclone thing? And the "hosing off’ part is crucial? I’ll have to find a hose … do I then have to wipe off the water?
Since we’re on the subject and I’ve got your attention, can I ask (assuming y’all have some experience) - what do you wear in the winter? Do you just have to accept that you will either be freezing for the first ten minutes and then okay, or comfortable for the first ten minutes and then boiling under all your clothes?
Nah–the chain cleaning tools are convenient, but not necessary. You can also clean the chain by removing it from the bike and manipulating it (shake shake shake!) while immersed in solvent (although to do this you’ll need a chain tool, and if you do it frequently you’ll want to add a special link that allows the chain to be easily removed). Or you can just run the chain backwards and spray lots of solvent on it. The cost of the tool might recoup the cost of all the solvent, though. Supposedly, the “wax dissolved in a solvent” lubricants like white lightning clean on their own a bit, but as scr4 mentioned they may not be good in extreme cold (my winter riding was wet, but not freezing cold).
I lived in a hoseless apartment–just pour water over it from a container. The idea is to wash off the corrosive salt. If it’s a part that needs to be lubricated, then lubricate it afterwards.
My experience is from when I raced road bikes in Northern California, so it was a different situation then yours. However, cycling-specific clothing can be a big help. Go check out a shop… It’s designed to be easily added and removed as you go and is designed more around blocking the wind then insulating (for example, I had a vest that was wind-stopping nylon on the front and a very light mesh on the back). On a cold day, I’d wear a jersey, shorts, arm warmers, knee warmers, toe warmers, thin wool gloves under my cycling gloves, and a wind vest. If it could rain I’d switch one of my water bottles out and replace it with an old one that I cut in half and stuck a rolled-up riding poncho in.
My experience has led me to wear diff stuff depending on how cold it is.(that’s part of the fun) In extreme cold (10 to -10F) I wear earmuffs, a polarfleece pullover (200wt) a medium wt jacket, a neck gator, polypropylene/wool long underwear (pants only) and jeans. Wool socks and boots are pretty good, but I’ve had to break out my -80F boots before. Mitttens are a must over gloves, though I don’t use the inner linings.
I get a kick out of how thick a layer of frost I can build up on my mustache and beard over the 7 mile trip.
Also I can estimate how cold it is by how quickly my eyelids freeze shut. If I can go 3 miles before this happens its around 15F, If they freeze shut within a mile its below zero.
When that happens I first try this
:dubious:
But, most of the time I have to do this
:smack:
Don’t use Simple Green if you can’t rinse it off with water. Simple Green is a degreaser (grease remover) so if you leave it on the chain, it will wash off the the lubricant. It’ll do more damage than good.
The various methods I use to clean the chain, in increasing order of time and effort, are:
[ul]
[li]Just add a lot lubricant, wipe off excess, repeat.[/li][li]Pour water on chain to remove salt. Then add a lot of lubricant, wipe, repeat.[/li][li]Use Simple Green, and scrub chain with a Cyclone or a brush. Rinse chain with water. Wipe with dry rag to dry. Add minimal amount of lubricant, wipe excess if any.[/li][li]Remove chain from bicyicle (requires a chain cutter or special chain link), put in plastic bottle with kerosene, shake vigorously. Leave soaking overnight if necessary. Dry chain with heat gun. Add minimal amount of lubricant, wipe excess if any.[/li][/ul]
By the way, the only part of the chain that needs to be lubricated is the innermost part, where the rollers contact the pins. You can (and should) wipe the chain so there’s no excess lubricant on the outside surface, otherwise it will splatter all over the place and also absorb/attract dust.
You shouldn’t over-dress. At the start of the ride, you should feel a bit chilly but not shivering. If you’re warm at the beginning you’ll start sweating in a few minutes, and it’s really miserable when your sweaty clothes get cold after the ride.
By the way, Burley helmet covers are reall nice. Bike helmets are designed to be cool, so in winter you want something like this to cover the vents. A shower cap works too if you don’t mind how it looks.
Thanks for the tips ! I can’t wait until I’m no longer a starving student and I can buy real gear instead of having to improvise with clothes I no longer want to wear in public ! I’m going to fashion a neck covering of some sort with some polar fleece, all the ones I’ve tried so far are either too bunchy or not big enough.
I will buy lubricant and Simple Green on my way home tonight. I imagine the cool courier types will have good advice re: what kind of lube will best defend against Downtown Toronto. I guess I could get a nail brush kind of thing to apply the Simple Green with, no?
It’s all about the chain, I see. When I killed my beloved first bike (may she rest in peace) it was the chain that really did her in. (After the streetcar tracks had a go, of course.) After three days with lubricant and two pairs of pliers, I shant make that mistake again.
Sigene:
Gold ! Pure gold ! Never have smilies been more effectively used for illustration !
If you’re still here: chains are very replaceable. Cheap ones aren’t that expensive, and they’re not hard to put on (just make it the same length as your old one). You need a chain tool, but they’re cheap. Don’t try to remove or replace a chain with anything other then a tool specifically designed for the job–not worth the frustration.
The only downside is that a very worn chain puts extra wear on the rear cassette (the “gears”), and if you let it get really bad the new chain won’t match the wear on the teeth of the cassette and it won’t shift as well. You probably still could have squeezed more use out of it with a new chain, though.
At least, that was my strategy the winter I was a courier in Winnipeg. Lined cycling tights, sweatpants, nylon wind pants on the bottom, two shirts, three sweatshirts, and a windbreaker on top. Neck gaitor, fleece headband, helmet with the vents taped shut, and on the worst days a neoprene facemask. Even with all that, at -35 it takes about 2 minutes before you feel distinctly chilled.
Hands and feet were always the worst, and I experimented with many things without ever arriving at a satisfactory solution. Course, Toronto isn’t quite as cold, either. Lobster mitts are a good compromise between gloves and mitts that should be adequate for most temperatures.
If you spend money on one piece of cycling-specific clothing, I’d recommend it be on the windbreaker. Cycling shells are extra long in the back so they don’t ride way up your back when you’re bent over on the saddle.
