My bike stops working when it gets below freezing...
Asked by
jrpowell (
40562
)
January 2nd, 2008
It is a shitty old 21 speed mountain bike that was hacked together from random parts. I bought it on craigslist for 20$. I plan on replacing it next month when I get paid.
My question is why it stops working when it is really cold outside.
Everything looks fine. It is just the back wheel refuses to spin when I move the pedals. The back gear assembly moves as it should but the wheel refuses to spin.
And this has only happened on nights that are well below freezing. I live in Oregon and this has happened four times. The bike works fine if it is above freezing.
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4 Answers
It may depend on the type of chain lube used to grease your chain. There are some that work way better than others in cold weather. Same for the lube on all parts related to moving the bike – the pedal threads, the cogs, the chainring, bottom bracket, etc. Also, it’s a $20 bike. Why would it work in the first place? But really, it could be the lube.
The gears on the rear wheel rotate with the chain. For some reason the hub on the wheel won’t rotate. The link between the back gear assembly and the wheel seems to break.
Pedaling forwards and backwards feels the same when this happens.
And the $20 bike has worked well for over a year. Like I said, I want to replace it. It was just hard to when the bike I have worked well before winter.
Maybe it has some thread issues on the hub or freewheel. I’d recommend running it to your local bike shop and just having them take a quick look at it.
It is not worth having it fixed.. That money should go towards a new bike. This just seems really weird and I was wondering why it happens. I have never heard of something like this happening.
When I get a new bike I want to rip this one apart and see if I can find the problem.
But I will call the local bike shop and see if they know what is going on. Or if they have ever heard of this.
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