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Moving from very cold storage to very warm storage -- can this cause problems?

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Moving from very cold storage to very warm storage -- can this cause problems?

Old 01-05-09, 11:35 AM
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Moving from very cold storage to very warm storage -- can this cause problems?

Whenever I'm not at work, my bike is stored somewhere that's out of the weather but not heated -- in the garage, in the back of the car, on the back porch, wherever.

When I'm at work, I park my bike in our boiler room.


Will moving it between the extremes of a northern New York winter to a hot boiler room cause any problems?
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Old 01-05-09, 11:44 AM
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Only a problem if you throw the frame in the boiler.
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Old 01-05-09, 11:44 AM
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how long and how often have you been doing this? and what are your bike and its parts made of? it's conceivable that an aluminum part attached to a steel part might pose some problems because of the 2 materials differing expansion/contraction rates. i doubt it though. best not to store it too close to the boiler though!

how hot does it get down there?
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Old 01-05-09, 11:48 AM
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I had a tire explode once doing this. It was -15c or 20c outside and I took it into the nice and warm LBS. After about 20 minutes there was a very loud bang and I had a flat tire. The wrench just silently took my bike and put a new tube in for me.
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Old 01-05-09, 11:57 AM
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It's an old (early 90's) steel bike, I don't think there are any AL parts on it.

I don't (yet) have high-pressure tires on the bike, just 40 psi knobbies. I'm planning on moving to high-pressure tires come spring, but by then we probably won't be using the boiler.

I'll put a thermometer in the boiler room to see how hot it gets; offhand, I'd say it gets into the 90s easy. It was -2F on New Years Eve, and we tend to get a cold spurt (-20F or so) in February.
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Old 01-05-09, 11:59 AM
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Originally Posted by tjwarren
It's an old (early 90's) steel bike, I don't think there are any AL parts on it.

I don't (yet) have high-pressure tires on the bike, just 40 psi knobbies. I'm planning on moving to high-pressure tires come spring, but by then we probably won't be using the boiler.

I'll put a thermometer in the boiler room to see how hot it gets; offhand, I'd say it gets into the 90s easy. It was -2F on New Years Eve, and we tend to get a cold spurt (-20F or so) in February.
When mine popped I had studded tires with about 60 or 65psi.
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Old 01-05-09, 12:12 PM
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Might damage a leather saddle?
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Old 01-05-09, 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by tjwarren
Will moving it between the extremes of a northern New York winter to a hot boiler room cause any problems?
All things considered I'd say condensation would be your biggest concern, not that "biggest" would be much of a concern in this situation. If you're really fond of the frame you might consider applying some frame saver though.
Generally speaking cold storage is better, as it slows down ageing in stuff like rubber and plastics.
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Old 01-05-09, 01:09 PM
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After being in there for an hour, the thermometer reads 91.4F. It's fairly warm out today (weather.gov reports us at 34F), so the boiler isn't going full-tilt.

I haven't really worried about condensation because it's not only warm but also dry in there. My riding clothes dry out really really well in there.

The rubber and plastics is more what I had in mind when I asked the question, and the grease, whether the hot/cold cycles will negatively impact the bike.

So far it sounds like I should be ok.
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Old 01-05-09, 03:13 PM
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I agree with dabac that condensation is likely to be your biggest problem, and since you say it's very dry in there I'd say you don't need to worry. Which is what you've already concluded.
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Old 01-05-09, 03:24 PM
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You might find the heat/cold cycles could draw moisture into your hubs or bottom bracket. The air inside the hub gets warm in the boiler room and expands. Then you take it outside in the cold on a wet day and as the air in the hub contracts, it sucks in water from outside the hub, through the bearings. This eventually washes out the grease.

I've read somewhere about this happening, and I was thinking it was on sheldonbrown.com, but I can't find it now. The solution suggested was to put the bike someplace cold and dry for a little while before riding it in the wet, so it will cool down and suck in cold dry air, rather that cold wet water.
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Old 01-05-09, 04:52 PM
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Originally Posted by tjwarren
It's an old (early 90's) steel bike, I don't think there are any AL parts on it.

I don't (yet) have high-pressure tires on the bike, just 40 psi knobbies. I'm planning on moving to high-pressure tires come spring, but by then we probably won't be using the boiler.

I'll put a thermometer in the boiler room to see how hot it gets; offhand, I'd say it gets into the 90s easy. It was -2F on New Years Eve, and we tend to get a cold spurt (-20F or so) in February.
Moving from cold to warm may cause condensation. The usual problem with this is that the condensation water in the cables may freeze when the bike is taken outside again causing sluggish shifts. (silicone grease in the cable housings may reduce this problem). There may be an issue with steel frames and condensation too, but perhaps the boiler room is so hot and dry that the water evaporates quickly? Try an experiment one day before leaving work; take the saddle off and shine a flashlight down the seat tube. If you can see condensation water dripping down the inside you know you have a problem. Perhaps you could check the outside of the frame tubes ½ hour after you parked your bike. If they feel moist and clammy on the outside, they probably are too on the inside.
There may be problems, but in fact most steel frames seems to do OK with moving between cold and warm.

No need to worry about how aluminium and steel (or carbon) works when shifting between cold and warm. It is simply not an issue.
If you service your own hubs and they are of cup-and-cone design, just pack them once a year with as much grease as possible so there won't be much room for air (and therefore water) around the bearings. I don't think there will be much trouble with your hubs as long as you use your bike. Water intrusion in the hubs usually becomes a problem when the bicycle is unused in the winter months so the intruding water is kept in contact with the same patch of cone or race for a long time.

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Old 01-05-09, 06:22 PM
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Since it's a steel frame, suddenly going from the dry cold air to the moist heated air will cause moisture to condense on it, including possibly inside the frame tubes. That's a prescription for internal rust, if you care about the frame. If a bike like that is going to be stored in cold and ridden in cold, it's best to keep it in cold all the time.
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Old 01-06-09, 07:42 AM
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Originally Posted by fearfeasog
it's conceivable that an aluminum part attached to a steel part might pose some problems because of the 2 materials differing expansion/contraction rates.
ΔL=α Li ΔT

Change in temperature = ΔT= 90F-(-20F) = 32C-(-29) =61C

α = Coefficient of thermal expansion for steel is 12*10^-6 C^-1

For AL 23*10^-6 C^-1

Length initial = Li = 1mm of steel ΔL = 0.0000012/C(1mm)(61C) = .000732mm

Length initial =Li = 1mm of AL ΔL = 0.0000023/C(1mm)(61C) = .0014mm

Kind of redundant but the AL expands and contracts twice as much as steel. I think I need to figure out the RATE at which they expand and contract to see if there could be any harm done.

I'm not sure if this means anything at all. I think your bike will be fine though, The dry heat probably is not good for the rubbers but they are consumable anyway. Props to you for riding in such cold weather. Were still in tshirts and shorts here in Florida...
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