Well the igh and beltd rive have been sensational in the winter with no maintenance and no problems. I had not thought of a derailleur freezing when cold, but that would suck. In fact, as i think about maybe i should just slap a studded tire on the back of my Soho (it already has one on the front) and call it my winter bike. It's not as if I'm particularly fast on snowy/icy days anyway...