bigcheetah

I recently moved from a cool climate (San Francisco) to North Texas where it's been over 100 degrees fahrenheit almost every day this summer. My garage gets even hotter than the outside temperature during the day. Are there any maintenance concerns that may be caused by leaving my bikes in there?

Al1943

My garage also gets really hot. I've found that extra innertubes stored in the garage develope holes in the folds, looks like some kind of chemical corrosion. The same tubes inside the house have a long shelf life with no problems. I don't think the heat is directly responsible but may accelerate the reaction causing the holes. The tires seem to be OK.

Al

Portis

I've wondered the same thing before, as my garage also gets hotter than haites here in Kansas. My rationale is that if it were hot enough to hurt the bike stuff, it would likely do me in a lot quicker. Besides I have a tons of other things in the garage and they never seem effected.

Still it's good to open the doors as often as possible to let some breeze through.

supcom

There is no problem or additional maintenance necessary.

TRUMPHENT

If your garage has a roof , the UV rays of the sun are kept off the bike. They will attack the soft parts of the bike quicker than anything else. Unless you notice other things rusting for no reason, don't fret, do play the guitar and ride when you want.

jsharr

Never really lived anywhere other than North Texas,and can't really think of any issues. Have not experienced the holey innertube issue,so no help there. My bikes have hung in the same garage for years, never spontaneously combusted or anything. Where in Texas are you? When , what and where do you ride?

bigcheetah

Hey folks. Thanks for the responses. I'll stop fretting. Promise. It's just SO FRICKIN' HOT HERE!!

Anyhow, to answer jsharr: I'm in Frisco (Frisco to Frisco, yep). We have an infant, so I don't get to ride as much as I'd like right now. Oh, that plus the ridiculously hot temperatures here! I'm doing a lot of subdivisional tours right now, with the occasional open road jaunt into Prosper thrown in. There does not seem to be a lot of safe roads to ride on one's own around here: no shoulders (except the old roads like FM423) and lots of big SUVs going 50 miles an hour in residential neighborhoods. And I thought San Francisco cabbies, hills, cable car tracks and rush hour traffic were bad! I hear that it's really nice in the winter in this area, though. Thanks again for your advice.

J

bluehair

I was reviewing old posts and ran across yours. Your inner tubes will cement themselves to the outer casing in the extreme heat of the garage. I also have a hot garage; I use liberal amounts of cheap (because it's a coarser grain) talcom powder on all my tubes. P.

evictionsurplus

I am in Fort Worth, and left my cyclocross bike in my station wagon for about 7 days, Stupid, stupid stupid. However, everything is fine with it. I wouldn't worry about it unless you start hearing bad things. Sure leaving your bike in a station wagon oven for a week can't be good for it, but the heat seemed to cause no problems.
On a lighter note, there are only 4 more months of summer left here in North Texas. Enjoy the heat and the lack of rain. Living in North Texas is a sadistic venture. Why the hell did you move here?
j

bigcheetah

I am asking myself that question every day.

filly

Pipe down winers...I live in New Orleans. As hot as Texas with more humidity, trash (people and garbage) everywhere, and nowhere to ride. Counting the nanoseconds till I move this spring.

lymbzero

When I was in ST. Louis, it was 100+ F
The house in which I stayed had a garage even hotter.

One of my wheels had gone flat after three days.
I suspect it was due to the oven like garage heat cooking my tubes.

The hole I found was extermely small, on the seam.
I think the heat magnifies the slight manufacture defects in the tube.

I think prolonged heat will definatly damage rubber and plastic.
Keep you Ish cool as mentioned above.

David McLeod

I once (20 years ago) had two tubular tires blow out (loudly) on the way to a race. I think it was due to the fact that they were cool and fully inflated when I put them in the capped back of my pick-up and the psi increased to much as the heat back there rose.

leob1

I tried for excessive heat in the garage once, the wife wouldn't go for it.

dknight07

I live in Houston, & have spent plenty of time in New Orleans. Its no more humid in your swamp than it is in mine - mine just has more stupid people to run you over.

JanMM

The problem with hot garages is that they make ya defer bike maintenance tasks unless you do that stuff in the kitchen or living room.

bigcheetah

I can attest to that.

BTW, projected 107 fahrenheit today in North Texas. Just perfect for a nice, comfy ride.

peripatetic

drink lots of water.

just as a different perspective: human beings are unique among almost all mammals (with a few exceptions--camels come to mind) in their ability to be active during the hottest parts of a day. It's actually one of our evolutionary advantages. As long as you're sweating and replenishing with fluids (and salts), you're golden: your body was meant to be doing that. The problem with heat/adjustment comes from sitting in comfortable A/C all the time, thereby preventing your body from adjusting to the heat. Then, when you go outside, you just can't sweat enough to cool yourself. So think of being in the heat as a way of maximizing your evolutionary potential .

Before I get yelled at for not understanding the heat, let me say I lived on the edge of the Sahara for three years without electricity, daily temps of 110-120 F. Personally, I like the heat, esp. now I'm in my 30s: all those creaks and squeels in my joints just aren't there anymore. It's the extreme cold I just can't stand.

Good luck.

infieldfly

I left my mtn bike in car on a hot day. The wax based chain lube appeared to have melted off my chain. What do you think?

peripatetic

I'd wipe the chain and re-lube, but only if it's squeeking. I'd think the biggest worry with heat might be something like wax or lube, but my understanding is that they're usually designed to work with all the heat from friction that occurs in the power transfer from your legs to the bike.

robert_atx

I wouldn't worry about the heat in your garage too much (you may want to store sensitive electronic equipment elsewhere, also because an open garage door invites opportunistic thieves - but that's a different story).

It does get much hotter in a car parked outside, and one of the first things to go will be hiking boots (or any other kind of modern shoe -- they're glued together and will come apart). I haven't heard any stories about bike shoes falling apart, but wouldn't take any chances (don't leave them in your trunk!).

oilman_15106

Seems that the other stuff in your garage is made out of the same materials as your bike. Your car, lawnmower etc. Or you could cut a hole in the wall and put in a wally mart $100 air conditioner. 10 years in Houston, TX did not seem to impact my bike.