Basic preventative wheel maintenance for winter riding?
 

Recently upgraded to (what to me) is a pretty nice/expensive wheelset: Mavic Open Pros laced to formula hubs with DT Swiss Competition spokes. Standard brass nipples. Since I ride year round, I initially planned to ride em in the winter. Guy at the shop I frequent suggested I consider investing in a cheapie wheel set instead (I have my old stock wheel thats already survived a winter, so just the $50 double-wall whatever it was front rim they had at the bike shop). He also said riding nicer wheels was definitely doable in the winter, just stressed maintenance. Specifically he said regular wipe downs are important, and suggested lubing the nipples with triflow to prevent spoke seizure.

As I'm a broke student, the latter option is my plan. Does that sound ok? If I'm really going to irreparably harm my wheels then I guess $50 isn't that much for a beater front wheel. Part of what sucks there is the whole point of investing in nicer wheels was to enjoy the ride quality/durability they ostensibly afford, and yeah, spending more money. So if I provide a bit of TLC (and feel free to amend the "suggested" list) should I be ok riding my Mavic's through the winter in MN?

I do no extra maintenance for winter or summer. I don't wipe down, lube the spokes, or anything. Salt and sand will attack parts so if that's a problem, you'll need to wash your bike regularly. I wouldn't ride a good bike in the winter with those conditions. I'd ride a MTB especially with any ice or snow patches.

You can certainly ride your new wheels throughout the winter and whether you have problems or not will depend on how much TLC you give them and what the road conditions will be like. If you live in an area where they salt the roads then you will need to spend more time making sure to clean your stuff off.

If your new wheels were bought for performance and are nice then you may find that you will shorten their service life considerably if the winter conditions you ride in are harsh.

Since you have your old wheels (at least thats what I infered from your post), then why no ride them throughout the winter and save the newer/performance oriented wheels for nicer weather?

-j

i start with a hub overhaul if they are loose ball hubs. that's it really. another overhaul in the spring. use a heavy wet lube and clean/rinse the bike regularly if going on salty roads

This.

I have a decent set of wheels to commute on which 1) have sealed cartridge bearings, not loose-ball / cup-and-cone 2) are not super-expensive to repair / replace and 3) have a relatively thick anodising that protects what is underneath to a reasonable level.

I ride through most conditions on them and have had them for two years with no problems, but I make sure I rinse at least the rims down pretty regularly. Every day if there is any salt around. Also, as soon as I hear the grinding when I brake (grit / build-up of metallic shards in the brake pads), I take a file to them to minimise wear to the rims.

For me it's all about the brake type. Rim brakes or discs? Around here you can ruin an expensive rim over the winter season using rim brakes.

All you can really do is more frequently clean the road crud from the rims and pads if you're using rim brakes. Disc or drum brakes are the only real way to avoid rim wear.

I don't actually have my old wheel set, just the rear wheel. The front wheel was destroyed in an accident. I'd have to purchase a new front wheel. This is an option, but saving money is pretty important to me.

Its Minneapolis, so they salt the roads and it gets pretty bad. I'll play it by feel/available funds. Thanks!

When I lived in a rainy, coastal town I would sometimes wax the spokes for extra protection. Obviously you dont wax your rims. I applied car wax or aerosol furniture polish using a small cloth.

Consider putting out a want ad for a front wheel. They're usually cheap and easy to come by on craigslist. You shouldn't have any trouble getting one for around $20. I'd feel bad using an Open Pro wheelset in the winter. I always put junk on my winter bike.

Even better if you can find a bike shop that lets you dig through the trash pile. I get used tires and wheels all the time, sometimes just using them for parts (axle, freewheel, etc.) Just be careful because the stuff in the trash is there for a reason, and may have a fatal flaw.

Does that affect braking performance? What about the pads? It's a really good shout if you can still stop (commuting in London isn't fun without brakes).

Run the new wheels through the winter. Wash the entire bike more often. Lube nipples once a year when you are checking wheel true, or ask you shop to do it if you have it in for a tune.

Stainless spokes, brass nipples, stainless eyelets at the rim make for as good a winter wheel as you could hope for, aside from a sacrificial winter wheelset. Hopefully the builder greased the nipple seats before assembly...

The only added enemy winter vs. summer is salt. So the only added protection relates to that. If your hubs have gone a long time without service you might service them as a precaution, but it's most important that you service them in the Spring to flush and replace any salt contaminated grease.

Other than that the only thing I do every winter is apply a bit of grease or anti-corrosive to the spoke holes in the rims. The rims were drilled after anodizing, so the wall of the spoke hole is an Achilles Heel. The cycle of wetting with salt water then drying leaves this area full of salt which will attack and weaken the rim causing premature fractures at the spoke hole. This is more of a problem with non-eyelet rims then those with eyelets, but even with eyelets it pays to spray some WD-40 or other thin oil and let it wick between the eyelet and rim. (Wash excess off the brake surfaces before riding---duh).

One other issue, though rare is chloride damage to the spokes. Some of the stainless alloys used for spokes are extremely vulnerable to chloride damage, which shoes up as black spots, and brittle fracture points. Unfortunately there's no way to prevent this, short of rinsing the spokes daily, and there's no sure to know whether your spokes are of a vulnerable grade until it's too late. In 40 years of riding I've only run into the issue once, but it involved 4 wheels, all built with the same spokes, all of which were total losses 100% spoke failure) after 2 years in Cozumel, Mexico.

Wax on the spokes doesnt transfer to the rims in use so its pretty safe. You just have to be careful when applying the wax. If you use spray wax, spray onto a cloth away from and downwind of the bike. I like to wax the whole frame and any exposed metalwork. Wax works particularly well on those old 1970s rust-prone spokes.
If you have disk brakes you need to be extra careful to avoid contamination. I haven't tried it with my discs because they use decent stainless steel spokes.

I use my favorite wheels year round - 32 hole Open Pros (formerly Reflex clinchers) laced cross-3 to 1996 Campagnolo Chorus hubs (with 1997-1998 Record Titanium 9-speed freehubs) with DT 2.0/1.5 Revolutions front and rear non-drive side, DT 2.0/1.8 Competition drive side, and alloy nipples.

Using those wheels in Boulder, CO for a decade I'd switch to a spare set of Mavic MA40s on otherwise identical 36 hole hubs with a set of Vittoria 27mm cyclocross tires mounted on days with snow actually on the ground.

I inject new grease (Record and some Chorus hubs have grease ports in the middle) every year or so until clean grease comes out the seals and disassemble infrequently.

It works fine. I got 12 or 13 years out of the last Mavic Reflex front rim before I bent it (although it was getting a little concave and probably in need of replacement soon). No problem re-using the alloy nipples (I build my wheels with anti-seize on spoke threads and in the nipple sockets). It's been five years since I last crashed a rear wheel.