Winterizing A Bike: A Grease/Oil Discussion

[gopherhockey]

There has been discussion of what to wear to stay warm, how to stud your tires etc.

This one is how to winterize the rest of the bike.

I recently rode at Leb when it was around 11 degrees and my freehub was "giving out" on me (pawls not engaging). I got some good suggestions on winterizing the freehub as well as what oil/grease to use.

Enough questions came up for me to think it would be valuable to do this via thread so others could join in the discussion.

Specifically it was suggested to use Phil Wood Tenatious Oil on the freehub. I also heard Finish Line Synthetic, or plain old Park Synthetic Grease. I did some Internet searching and found a few sites that sugggest a product called Lubriplate MAG-1. (saying that the tenatious oil doesn't work in hot conditions)

http://www.icebike.org/Equipment/freehub.htm

Now that I have the hub and freehub ready to grease up and re-assemble I want to be sure I'm using the right stuff.

I'm not even 100% sure I will put the Blur back out on the trail this winter, so what I use should be capable of 100 degree weather as well as cold weather.

While we're on the subject, what lube do people use on their chains in the winter?

Or... do people have general winter lube suggestions?

[EscourtU]

I don't have any suggestions but I did go through my bikes, removed all the old grease and greased all the bearings. After a years worth of dirt and grime I have found that all the old grease wasn't really grease. It was more like slightly mallable varnish. I have never really had a problem like you where the freewheel doesn't engage. Only problem I have is with the cables freezing up. Usually ends up with no brakes or brakes that wont release. I carry a cable luber incase they get sticky but I havent found any lube that prevents it when it gets cold.

[ZippyZoe]

Recently I completely tore apart my commuter bike and applied something called CP-90 Rust Inhibitor (http://www.carwell.com) to just about everything. I use it on my vehicles and figured it may help prevent corrosion and electrolysis problems on the bike once MNDOT starts applying a ton of salt per square foot.

It has served me well over the years applying it to typical rust areas of my vehicles. The product speaks for itself. One of my vehicles is 12 years old and doesn't have a speck rust on the typical "body cancer" areas.

This is my first year bike commuting through the winter, so only time will tell how effective it is. This is not to say I don't use low temp lubes/grease for hubs, freewheels, etc. CP-90 is just another weapon in my arsenal against the harsh effects of winter.

[jjrsds]

Finish line wet, the green bottle, works great on the commuter in nasty wet or cold conditons. It will leave the chain and drivetrain a mess so cleaning and reapplying is a must but everyone maintains their ride don't they? I leave the shift changing squisy thing alone in the winter time (ok most of the time) so wiping off the chain and cleaning the cog is pretty simple thing to do once a week or so. Winter can make suspension oils, shifters and freehubs work slower in the extreme cold. Now is the time to maintain an item or two a week and ride when weather permits. I have just started using Dumonde Tech (lite for the road bike and original for the rest of the bikes) and will see how it works for the winter nasty stuff.

P.S. Triflow works well.

[JayPee]

I used the Finish Line Wet in place of the grease in a freewheel for winter use. The pawls weren't engaging at temps under 10º F and cleaning out the grease and lubing with the Finish Line product keeps it engaging down to -10º or so. Below that and I start to have problems again.

[tedsti]

I ran Finish Line Synthetic grease in the freehub of my SS all last winter and never had a problem and I rode a couple times when the temps were below 0F.

[gopherhockey]

Good suggestions so far. However, would you run what you run in the winter in the summer as well?

Apparently there are products that work good in all conditions, and there are some that may run in the cold but end up running out in the heat. (this was mentioned about the Phil Wood Oil)

[funky-funky-chicken]

I own a a couple of pair of Phil Wood hubs that have a field serviceable freehub body. The whole freehub body can be removed from the hub with a 6mm Allen wrench on the road to facilitate spoke replacement on the drive side while on the road if needed. (Fortunately only had to use once while touring.) The actual pawls for the freewheel are exposed when the hub is disassembled. Makes for easy lubrication and maintenance if need be.

I've got one set of hubs from my primary touring bike that probably has 25k miles on it in ALL kinds of weather. Cold, the heat of July in Iowa, rain, snow...etc. I have used Phil Wood Tenacious oil, I have NOT had any problems with it "running" out of the hub. I've also used the same lube for inexpensive freewheels without problems. IMHO, grease is out of place for a freewheel mechanism. A freewheel contains both bearings and moving pawls. While grease would be great for the bearings, it is too thick for the pawls and could prevent them from moving freely or engaging properly.

The good doctor Sheldon Brown says this about oiling freewheels (freehub same thing) difference with freehub is that I would recommend removing the freehub from the body of the hub so that you do not contaminate the hub bearings with excess lightweight lubricant:

Lubricating Freewheels

Freewheels should be oiled from time to time with a medium-weight oil. This is easy to do, and generally requires no disassembly. The bike should be held with the rear wheel off the ground, and leaning to the left at about a 45 degree angle. An assistant may be helpful for this. Turn the pedals around a couple of times to get the wheel spinning fast, then let it coast (helps to be in high gear for this.) Look inside the smallest sprocket. The sprocket will be stationary, since the wheel is coasting, but you'll see an inner part of the freewheel that is spinning with the wheel. Drip oil onto the crack between the turning part and the stationary part. Gravity and capillary action will help work oil into the freewheel. Repeat this a few times, until you hear a change in the sound of the clicking pawls (they'll generally get quieter when the oil reaches them.) This should be done every year or so, or any time that coasting sounds loud and gritty.

For chains, I'm an old-school TriFlow user (primarily because I bought a whole gallon of it!) Apply plenty, wipe off the excess. During the winter; I'm a neglect until last conceivable moment, apply more lube, replace drive-train in the spring guy. I wasted a couple of hours one time and did a mid-winter cleaning; pointless.

[tedsti]

One thing to remember John is that your XT rear hub on your 1x1 has the same freehub internals and grease as your XTR. You never had any trouble with your XT did you? My guess is that contamination just made your XTR more sensitive to cold. If you cleaned it out and put something similar to stock back in it, you should not have any problems.

[Kosk]

Im with Ted, the only times I've had problems with the pawls not engaging was when it was well below zero and on a bike with an old crappy neglected freehub that had never been serviced. Even then a quick bounce of the rear wheel re-engaged things.

Keep it clean and it shouldn't require any special sauce.

Usually ends up with no brakes or brakes that wont release. I carry a cable luber incase they get sticky but I havent found any lube that prevents it when it gets cold.

Don't lube your cables and you won't have this problem. Change housing once or twice a year and clean the cables with steel wool and you won't have problems with sticky shifting or brakes. Those additional dust catchers and cable stop seals help keep things cleaner longer too if you got em.

[tedsti]

That is one of my life's motos.

Keep it clean and it shouldn't require any special sauce.

[gopherhockey]

That is one of my life's motos.

Ewwww.... :sick:

;)

[EscourtU]

I lube everything. I guess it just got carried over from riding Motocross. I would even armor all the seat on my crotch rocket before I would give women rides. Not so they would slide off the back, So they would slide forward. Nothing like having airbags pressed against your back.