Winter Cycling - Plastic & Cold

I don't know if it's just coincidence but after several days riding my Specialized Sirrus in temperatures just below freezing, a number of resin/plastic parts are amiss First I noticed the plastic cable housing for the rear brake had come out of it's socket. Then one of the toe clips broke off. Then I discovered the plastic-like flap broke off of the fender.

Has anyone else noticed similar problems or is it just normal wear and tear hitting me all at once?

Stacy

Yes, plastic gets brittle in the cold, some types more than others. Nylon, polycarbonite, and Delrin (aka "acetal") are the best plastics widely used--these differ as to strength/brittleness. You can get useful technical info on these plastics at www.mcmaster.com.

I've noticed cheap parts break easy, but design is a huge factor also, best take it easy on all plastic parts in the cold.

Thanks Drakonchik. This Sirrus has plenty of plastic - from the "composite" pedals, to the Alex rims and brakes. I suppose a nice vintage bike would make for better winter transportation than a modern day bike with so many plastic componants.

Stacy

Washing up liquid bottle make good fender-flap materials.
If you want toe clips, then a metal setup is probably better. MKS pedals and Christophe metal clips are a good match. Rivendell have some Christophe copies.

Some plastics are better than others. The type of plastic used by the Profile water cages (http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/11136-055_PROBC2-2-Accessories-171-Hydration/Profile-Kage-Water-Bottle-Cage.htm) stays good in the cold, but the brittle plastic used by the Topeak Road Morph pump breaks at -15 or -20 C. I installed the Twinhead upgrade kit (http://topeak.com/products/pump_025.html) and it now works again in Winter.

The morale : also make sure your repair gear works in Winter!

Thanks I took MichaelW suggestion and picked up a pair of MKS GR-9 (http://www.awcycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m5b0s86p680&z=148&PHPSESSID=02edc5ad535507f19e6edc032a9a4d30) Platform pedals, a pair of small MKS toe clips, and leather toe straps It'll be nice to have toe clips that actually fit my size 6 shoes

I don't really care all that much about the mud flaps but it was sort of a wake up call to check the plastic parts that do matter.

Stacy

I made a beatiful camera mount to my handle bars that was plastic. I used it all one summer. Then I took it out in 20 degree weather and it snapped and tossed my digital camera to the gound and it was destroyed ! Feel better yet? :)

Ahh, your digital camera would have been useless anyway, at least if you had NiMH batteries in it. They seem to die quickly in the cold, too.

--J

Ahh, your digital camera would have been useless anyway, at least if you had NiMH batteries in it. They seem to die quickly in the cold, too.

--J

It works OK in the cold with the NiMh batteries. The camera seems to insulate them for a long. long, time. Plus the draw is not much compared to what they can supply. That is a very important part of the equation. Also the camera is not a constant drain like a light, it can recover between shots. Been doing it for years. It does not go below about 0f around here very often. They worked in the cold yesterday for 6 hours at 25f. At a reduced performance, but plenty of juice to take pictures if I wait a little in between a group of say 5 or 6. I took about 75 photo's yesterday.

From yesterday

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=163556

This one was on a tripod at about 15 F. Used it all day long. On a lake.

[thread hijack] All true. And I usually have the camera in my pocket, keeping it warm. But the lake looks like a blast. With so little snow on the ice, I bet long distance skating would be good, too. [/thread hijack]

--J

[thread hijack] All true. And I usually have the camera in my pocket, keeping it warm. But the lake looks like a blast. With so little snow on the ice, I bet long distance skating would be good, too. [/thread hijack]

--J

I would guess your winter is a lot colder too? Creating more problems with batteries etc.

I'm in North Eastern USA. The lakes don't freeze enough to be safe every year, just once in a while.