Frozen brakes and gears

[steveindenmark]

Jannie rode her Tonaro Compy to work the other day and parked it in the bike shed.

When she came out the rear brake lever and gears were frozen solid. I had the bike in the house for a couple of hours today and everything thawed out and worked fine. After about 10 minutes outside they were freezing up again.

When they froze the first time it was about -10 and today it was about -5.

Has anyone had this problem before and how can I prevent it.

Steve

 

[hoppy]

Hi Steve, Good to hear from you again. Glad to hear Jannie's still riding the Compy despite the cold. Have you tried WD40 to keep the moisture out? Happy Christmas!

 

[mike killay]

Steve,
Exactly what was frozen?
Was it just the handlebar controls?
If so, obviously there is water in there. Unfortunately,it can get inside the bowden cables as I found out on my motor cycle in 1963! But maybe it is only the levers.
Anyway, dry the bike out in the house and use WD40, then oil.

 

[oigoi]

I would thoroughly oil the cables

 

[sal_park]

I would suggest lithium grease in a can. It 'dries' to a semi-solid state so will stay inside the brake leaver housing where as oil would drip out. Also really good to stop locks freezing up.

 

[steveindenmark]

Hi Guys, thanks for that advice. I will get it back in the house for the weekend and let it dry out.

The rear brake lever was totally solid. I have wrapped a big piece of cloth around the rear brake assembly and the lever is now working as it should.

I think I will replace the cables and get some grease on them.

I will have to get my Tonaro oit and see what happens to it. The guy at the bike shop said it was quite common at this time of year.

Steve

Steve