cyanemi

It has been a super brutal winter everywhere and we have had many subzero nights and days. I haven't brought the carbon bike home yet due to the need to store it in an unheated garage. I did not find anything conclusive about this. Thanks for any responses.

RPK79

It will be fine.

BluesDawg

Everyone knows crabon will shatter at temps below 32F, burst into flames above 90F and melt if ridden in heavy rain. Best to store it in a climate-controlled glass dome and never ride it.

Dudelsack 

If you store it in a garage and ever bring it inside, it will asplode.

JerrySTL

The Boeing 787 aircraft is made of CF and it flies at altitudes where the temps are well below zero. However I must admit that I've never stored a 787 in my garage.

NOS88

Carbon is used in aircraft builds, and they get to altitudes where the temperature is well below freezing.

Ooops hit the send button a bit late & didn't see the response above.

Rick@OCRR

I've ridden my carbon bike in below zero (F) but only for a couple of hours, at altitude, yet noticed no damage.

Our garage is not heated (and it never gets below zero here anyway) so I just keep my bikes in the house.

I don't think there's any reason to be concerned.

Rick / OCRR

rydabent

jerry

OTOH Airbus airplanes with CF tail assemblies have had the rudders, and the whole verticle stabalizer snap off. Some senior pilots refuse to fly them.

Terex

No different than any other bike - the only thing to be concerned about is lubrication.

crazyb

Will your tongue stick to a carbon frame if its below freezing?

Carbonfiberboy 

I have a carbon bike with 50,000 miles on it, always stored unheated. It's still perfect. I built a wood/epoxy boat over 30 years ago for a couple in Alberta. Always stored unheated, still in perfect condition. It's the most durable bike frame material there is. Carbon/epoxy and wood/epoxy are pretty close, with the wood being just a little bit heavier.

macjager

I suppose if they were flying them when the tail fell off they wouldn't fly them again...(I slay myself some days...and I know, I should probably stay slayed...)

gsa103

The most prominent case of that happening was due to pilot error. He repeatedly applied alternating full left then full right rudder until it finally failed. User error can break almost anything.

JohnDThompson 

Any temperature-related problems a carbon fiber bike might have would be dependent on the resin that binds the fibers, not the fiber itself. As long as bicycle manufacturers use resin of similar temperature characteristics as these aircraft, there should be no problem.

rydabent

gsa

That is the big lie that was released. The plane was thrown upside down from a wing tip vortex from another airplane. The pilot was only trying to right the plane. Dont fault the pilot. The Airbus he was flying is an electric jet, basically flown by the computer with suggestions from the pilot. The computer should have been programed NOT to over stress the airplane no matter what the pilot did. For that reason the Airbus engineers were at fault for bad programing in the computer.

As a one time pilot, there were time when landing in a crosswind I slammed the rudder clear to the stops. The aluminium beer can of a training plane I was flying kept it rudder on.

mprelaw

Most light training aircraft are certified in the Utility category, and are approved by the FAA for both inverted flight and spins. Because it's not unheard of that students manage to wind up in those flight attitudes, without really trying to.

A physics major could probably calculate the load factor applied to a rudder by an 800 lb single engine 2-seater, compared to a 300,000+ pound Airbus 300-600, at full deflection, too. But I can't.

DiabloScott

Actually sub-zero is the only environmental condition where spontaneous combustion of carbon fiber cannot occur... your garage in winter is the one true safe place.

lhbernhardt

Now that we've determined that cf on airplanes can withstand cold garages, I'd like to know how it is that the aluminum used in British Navy destroyers can withstand salt water, while using aluminum bike parts on a salted road will cause the aluminum to corrode or break if left unwashed. I've broken seven (7) cranks (Campag Record, Shimano D-A, and SRAM Omnium) over the past 40 years riding them in the winter over salted roads. I started washing off the cranks after I wised up, but that last SRAM crank broke anyway. They usually break in the fall after the previous winter's use.

Maybe the aluminum hulls of navy destroyers just don't get stressed as much as a crank. Oh, and the other thing you don't want to do is to use a radially-spoked wheel in the winter. The salt gets to the hub flange and rips it apart. Tangential spoking works just fine, though.

Now that I'm using a front disk brake during the winter (to save wear on the front rim from braking on gritty winter roads), I think I will build my next disc front wheel with a carbon fiber rim! At least I know it will withstand the coldest days! And CF is not known for being affected by road salt.

Luis

nkfrench 

The only thing I would caution about is that tires that are inflated to max psi in the cold may expand too much if temperatures dramatically rise.
I've had some tires blow off the rims (ruptured tubes) when they were inflated inside a nice air-conditioned bike store then then ridden out in summer heat.

zonatandem

Carbon fiber is fine n temperature extremes.

BlazingPedals

Yep, I've stored my carbon bikes in my unheated garage for years.

NOS88

I'm also going to guess that bike companies don't ship their carbon bikes in heated trucks during the winter.

JerrySTL

Talk about a coincidence, last night I watched TV program that featured the Airbus that lost its vertical stab. The co-pilot, who was flying the aircraft, got into some turbulence from an aircraft in front of him and kicked the rudder full left, right, and back again a few times within 20 seconds. This produced a stress at least twice what the aircraft was designed to take and was against Airbus's instructions.

jdon

The NTSB blames the F.O. Airbus blames the wake turbulence and crew. The industry is convinced of a cover up to protect Airbus citing the NTSB as purveyors of mis-truths and blames composite structures.

OP, bicycles have nothing in common with aircraft structures. Yes, your bike is fine outside. Mine have lived in those conditions for years.

This thread is 41 worthy.

Rons

Crap now I'm afraid to fly again.