Difficult Shifting in the Cold?

When the temperature drops into the 40s and below my rear derailleur click shifters require far more pressure to get into lower gears (larger cogs). making for difficult downshifting. Anyone encounter this problem and solve it?

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Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on October 31, 2012 at 6:23am

On my hybrid, the shifting becomes harder and 'gummier' when it gets down to the 20s or lower. Can't say I've had it happen too much above freezing. With my voyageur, thank God I'm retro-grouchy and have friction shifting. :D

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on October 31, 2012 at 6:48am

There are a lot of possibilities but all of them are pretty easy to address.

Most likely you either gave to corrosion, gunk or to much of a lube that is to thick and congeals in the cold. The cure here is to flush them out and use a good cable lube in them. Shift all the way to your lowest gear in the back and your highest in the front. Then, with out moving the cranks, shift all the way up in the back and down in the front so that the cables go slack (if you have a rapid rise rear derailleur reverse the directions on the rear). With the cables slack you can pull the housing out of the stops and clean and lube it. I like the Rock and Roll brand Cable Magic. Also apply some lube around the cable guides on the bottom bracket or anywhere else the cable slides on something and make sure that area is free of debris and ick. If your bike has full runs of housing to the derailleurs you can just drip it in the ends with the bike oriented so that it runs into the cable housing and that may help some but if not it is time to replace the housing.

It can also be the pivots on the derailleurs are gummed up as well. Clean them up with alcohol or a light oil; run them through the range of motion to work in the lube and work out the gunk. Then use a chain lube on all the pivot points. If they are really gummed up take them off and soak them to clean them up. If they don't free up replace them.

All these tips apply to brake cables as well.