snow and ice drivetrain question

[roadmaster]

even though a few weeks till i normally wonder about what im going to commute on when the snow and ice hits, but i think winter is gonna be a little early this year. this is the time of year i take all my nice weather commuters and sweet cruisers and put them in winter storage as i tend to lean towards bikes with fenders in the wet season.

my question is, is there anything outside of normal maintnence that can keep a bikes drivetrain (chain, deraileurs and shifters if applys) from icing up in the winter's snow and ice. i've done lots of winter ridingand it always seems like after awhile of riding in snow and ice, especially if it really cold, the chain and deraileurs will start to ice up as my drivetrain slowly freezes up. anything out there that will help keep this from happening, as indoor storage at work is not an option? do single speed and 3speed drivetrains work better in cold and icy conditions than a derailuer equipt bike with all its moving parts? i've got a 86' murray monterey cruiser 18speed conversion bike, a 90' huffy stone mtn 3speed conversion bike geared with 39tooth front and 20rear and a 95' GT outpost trail 21speed hardtail mountain bike as my 3 big bad weather bikes, with only the huffy 3speed having fenders. trying to figure out what will work best when the white stuff hits the ground. thanks in advance.

 

[Ed_Straker's_Rat]

Last year I laced up a 3 speed coaster to a 700c rim and 700 x 35c Cyclo Cross tires and it was the best winter bike I've ridden in years. The skinny rims cut through the snow and slush better than 26" wheels and the cyclo cross tires give great traction when they hit the road. I did find that on really cold days the hub would get really sluggish but after I repacked it with better grease, it worked great. WD-40 on the gear cables seems to keep them from icing up. I originally had a hydraulic disk brake on the front but when it gets below -20c the fluid gets really 'soupy'. Plus the brakes make a horrendous screeching sound when they get road salt and water on them. This year I might lace up a front drum brake to see how that works. I would definitely avoid dérailleur gears as they get really gummed up in the snow and ice. Single speeds work better but it's nice to have some kind of gear options if you hit deep snow...

 

[roadmaster]

thanks so far for the good advice. i am a partial to non deraileur equipt bikes in the winter cuz seems like things get frozen really quick. just the other morning, at only 26 degrees, the shifter cable for the front derailleur froze up in the housing and wouldnt budge at all when i tried to shift. later that day, after it had warmed up, it shifted just fine (semi-new cables and housings). always had good luck with 3speeds, but wasn't sure how a sturmy archer aw hub from the 60's would deal with severe winter conditions.

so skinnier tires for cutting thru the snow? i also have my loaner bike outfitted with full fenders but it has 26 x 1 3/8 rims and tires and i can only find that sized tire in mild road tread form. any studded in that size and are skinnier wheels gonna be better than a 26 x 1.75 or 2.125 tire?

 

[Graylock]

I'd like to know also.

I love riding the Hammer Head Trike in the snow but raises heck with the drive train. I was thinking of using Tri-Flow spray. It has Teflon in it and as I remember so did some oil that I use to put on the bindings of my Nordic skis. As I remember it worked well on the bindings. I also was going to try a coaster brake setup along with knobby tires. Then again I'm just playing in the snow and beach cruiser tires pull awesome power slides .
Skinny tires sound a little weird in the snow, I wonder how those ones with the knobs that are on my univega would work.

GL

 

[Skipton]

I am ready for the snow and ice! :wink:

I will try and get better pics soon :roll:

 

[deorman]

Skinny's are terrible for packed snow and refreeze IMO, great for slushy pavement, flip a coin. :wink: I prefer open treaded balloon or ATB tires myself, we tend to have hards chunks and holes in the sphalt around here. Carry a can of de-icer in your tool bag from the auto part store to free up frozen controls and keep derailleurs clear. My twenty one speed will work in conditions that would have me pushing a single.

 

[user 135]

Derailer bikes do suck some what. Most of the time you stay in one gear so that allows you to keep pedalling. I would like to have a Nuvinci Hub on my Xtracycle. Tires are totally dependent on what your weather is. Roads that never get plowed and stay rutty definately need some tires that can handle them. Last year after these pics I bought a pair of studded tires for an extra set of rims. I commute everyday to work by bike so gas money gets spent on bike parts. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Ed_Straker's_Rat]

I agree that skinny tire are pretty bad if you are riding snow-pack trails, I prefer these if I'm outside the city:

The problem I have in Toronto is that the city doesn't do such a good job of plowing side streets so you get a lot of ice 'chunks' and ruts frozen to the road that throw you off the bike if you are using fat tires. I have a lot of street car tracks around my neighborhood so ice studs are out for me (steel studs + steels tracks = ouch)

 

[roadmaster]

i take off to work at 4am, so if there is snow, im breakin trail. :shock:
i can see both sides of the coin as it goes for fat or skinny tires. a can of de-icer or wd40 may be a good idea to carry along. of course if it gets bad enough, i'll just frive my 79' LUV with studded snows on all 4s (but wheres the sense of fun there?) i have been thinking about studded tires (or even chains, if they make them) this winter, for even simply an icy road, cuz im lucky enough to have a big hill right next to a lake that i ride down every morning. half my commute on city maintained roads, the other half is "county maintenence" roads.

thanks for the good advice. id almost just build a bike with 32tooth front and 20tooth rear on a coaster brake rim, but id think modulation for a coaster brake on ice would be scary at best and dangerous at worse.

 

[deorman]

Probably not as bad w/that low of a gear. I used to ride a 1-spd coaster year round 25 yrs ago. As I recall, taking off without sliding out :? , and pushing through soft stuff :x was more of a hassle than stopping. Once I switched to a 21-spd, I never rode a coaster in the snow again.