Is there any risk in keeping your bike outside in extreme cold?

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Trey

$50 Cruiser
Jan 17, 2013
1,432
5
0
Where cattle outnumber people 3 to 1.
[qoute] bluegoatwoods "By the way, since we are talking about a lock here. I put some powdered graphite in there before Christmas in anticipation of winter.

Don't bother. It didn't do any good that I can tell."


I knew it! The old timers around here must go through a ton of that stuff a year, and I haven't seen any evidence that it makes any difference.
 

boxcar

New Member
Dec 18, 2014
358
4
0
Astoria OR
I hate to be the odd man out but here I go again.
Yes leaving your bike out to weather the storm can be a bad thing.
Just ask the passengers on the Titanic if cold can effect the tensile strength of steel or aluminum.
Not to mention that grease gets very thick at cold temps.
Non seal'd bearings have a bad habit of taking on water . Ice in the bearings can be a bad thing.
If one can't keep his bike out of the weather , I'd recommend the liberal use of WD 40 ( Water Dissipation 40 days ) on the whole bike at least once a week , if not more often.
And frequent inspection of all welds and or joints.....
 

bluegoatwoods

Active Member
Jul 29, 2012
1,581
6
38
Central Illinois
I knew it! The old timers around here must go through a ton of that stuff a year, and I haven't seen any evidence that it makes any difference.
Yes.

On the other hand, though, I might have been putting the graphite to the wrong use. It might be just the thing for locks that have more complex mechanisms and are kept indoors.

But a U-lock that is exposed to the weather? Maybe that graphite merely turned into a wet, then frozen, sludge.
 

Trey

$50 Cruiser
Jan 17, 2013
1,432
5
0
Where cattle outnumber people 3 to 1.
By Thanksgiving, the parking lots in front of the parts stores are flush with people squirting graphite into door locks.
I have never had a door lock so frozen that I couldn't still use it. But I've only actually been here a few winters over the last 20 years.