Originally Posted by
Boston Commuter
I have a derailleur bike but I don't ride it in the winter. Can someone tell me what happens to derailleurs when they get full of ice? Do they still shift, and if they do freeze, can you still ride the bike?
There are several things in gear mechanism that can freeze, but the actual derailleur isn't the first one to fail in my experience. Indexed shifters freeze, cables freeze relatively easily. Then there's the real possibility of accumulating so much snow/ice on rear cassette that only the one sprocket you're currently using works. In all these cases you still have a single speed (or 2-3 speed, depending on how many front cogs you have and whether you can shift between them). I've never had my derailleur mech freeze or become stuffed with snow.
In very cold weather lubricant inside the freehub may freeze, resulting in gearless bike (the cassette "coasts" in both directions).
--J