Originally Posted by
vettracer
Dang! you found me out. Yep, a materials engineer.
For me, metals date back to school as well, my work experience is all composites and polymer systems. Somethings you don't forget though. Metal fatigue and fracture mechanics was another significant result of the study of metalurgy. It's good to not have planes falling out of the sky like the DeHavilland Comet.
Now for all you guys riding around when it is 40 below;
1) How do you breathe, I have only experienced it once, but it was painful
2) What do you use for grease, most lubricants are useless at that temperature? I would expect it to be brutal on wheelbearings and bottom brackets.
It is a mix of old and new... wool for the body and synthetic lubricants for the bike.
Usually run an IGH in the winter that is filled with synthetic oil and things will tick along smoothly at -40C and have experienced a few problems at -46C although I was riding a derailleur equipped bike with a cassette that had also been overhauled with synthetic.
Most bikes will operate quite well as exceeding low temperatures and the biggest issue is moisture contamination that happens when things thaw and then freeze.