My brake cable was frozen today

[Amanda P]

My old Fiesta used to have the throttle freeze open on a long run in cold weather. You'd lift your foot off the throttle to slow down as you came off the motorway - and nothing would happen. The only solution was to declutch and coast off the motorway. You'd stand on the side of the road for a moment, engine screaming away with no load, and with no cold air blowing through, the heat from the engine block would thaw it out and it would suddenly free up and return to idling speed.

No problem once you knew what was happening, but scary the first time!

 

[Crankarm]

The solution is hydraulic discs brakes with quality brake fluid which won't freeze.

 

[lulubel]

something like that happened with my car .... Next day I get a phone call with the "you have a frozen accelerator cable" as though I had no knowledge of it!

I had the accelerator cable freeze on a bus I was driving in Cornwall. (All it took was one cold snap and the months of rain we'd had previously caused havoc!) I'd been driving it for nearly an hour by the time it gradually gave up and slowed to a stop. Fortunately it happened right outside WHSmith, so I was able to go inside, buy a cycling magazine, and sit in the cab with the heater blowing and drinking tea from my thermos while I waited another hour for a replacement bus. One of our other drivers wasn't so lucky when her brake lines froze, but fortunately she managed to drift to a stop in a layby!

 

[mrmacmusic]

The solution is hydraulic discs brakes with quality brake fluid which won't freeze.

I don't doubt that for a second, although I'm quite sure in very cold conditions that brake fluid may well freeze too (as per lulubel's bus story above).... and anyway, freezing gear cables would still be a problem!

 

[mrmacmusic]

My old Fiesta used to have the throttle freeze open on a long run in cold weather. You'd lift your foot off the throttle to slow down as you came off the motorway - and nothing would happen. The only solution was to declutch and coast off the motorway. You'd stand on the side of the road for a moment, engine screaming away with no load, and with no cold air blowing through, the heat from the engine block would thaw it out and it would suddenly free up and return to idling speed.

No problem once you knew what was happening, but scary the first time!

I can remember that happening when I was but a boy... not sure what car my dad would've been driving at the time, but I do recall the screaming engine alarming my mum... Dad just calmly dealt with the problem Also remember him having to hang out the window, pulling on a broken throttle cable so we'd get home, but that's a whole different story!

 

[wisdom]

Not frozen as such but as i wheeled the bike out of the garage on Thursdays very frosty morning,i noticed the pedals didnt hang down as normal.
The grease must have gone really thick.All was well though as soon as i started riding.

 

[greyhound_dog_1]

I had my rear mech cable and rear brake cable freeze when it got to -2 degrees last week. Made sure the brake was frozen off, then limped to work using the front brake and front chainring gears quite successfully. Problem is, on my bike, that the rear disc brake cable and the rear derailleur cable run along the chainstays then terminate in an upwards direction, so the water can trickle down the cable and inside the outer cable. Wonderful design, that one. Front cables just go straight down so no issues there.

Other than expensive sealed Gore cables which wear out, or routing cables more sensibly, does anyone have any solutions to water ingress? I was going to experiment with something to attach to the cable ends like, say, a thin rubber tube which glues and seals to the cable ferrule and then glues to a point on the exposed cable inner (a point which never goes inside the outer cable), so that no part is exposed to the air. Could use the finger of a latex glove for example to make this.

My father suggested drying the cables and then blocking the end with vaseline. Anyone tried this? Would it work, or affect the the cables or the shifting?

I was thinking I might accept the water, and make some sort of 2xAA battery heater to clip to the cables to defrost them...

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

...
My father suggested drying the cables and then blocking the end with vaseline. Anyone tried this? Would it work, or affect the the cables or the shifting?

I was thinking I might accept the water, and make some sort of 2xAA battery heater to clip to the cables to defrost them...

not vaseline. It will effectively holds water against the cable as it absorbs it. lithium grease would be a better option (found out the hard way when the only thing I had available was vaseline and had to replace the grease in the pulley cable on the external gear changer on my rohloff hub).

 

[HovR]

I had my gear cables freeze a couple of times last winter, mainly after long climbs when I'd been spinning away in the lowest gear. I reach the top of the hill and go to change up gears.. Nothing, cable just goes slack! A quick stop and a few minutes with a handy lighter solved the issue.

 

[mrmacmusic]

Problem is, on my bike, that the rear disc brake cable and the rear derailleur cable run along the chainstays then terminate in an upwards direction, so the water can trickle down the cable and inside the outer cable. Wonderful design, that one....

Think you're on to something there.... the rear calliper on my Boardman is fitted inward of the rear stays (to ease fitting a rack), so as you point out, the cable terminates in an upward direction – that design is going to be prone not only to allowing water ingress from the end, but any water that does get in will just sit in the lowest part of the cable (along the section under the rear stay)

Having persuaded my wife that the commuter deserves an indoor home for the next few months, at least it will always get a chance to dry out overnight, but I think it's going to be worth trying to fashion some form of gaiter for the end of the cable to prevent water getting in there in the first place.

 

[collswill]

Hi Yesterday and today I took my bike out of a warm garage. Cycled about a mile and the first time I applied my rear brake it was frozen solid. Yesterday I thought I had a cable problem but as the brakes worked later in the day I realized that they must have frozen. I have a specialized tri-cross with disc brakes. The brake and gear cables are housed within the bike frame. Anyone else know how to stop this happening as getting to the cables is difficult

 

[jarlrmai]

Hydraulics?

 

[Globalti]

New cables.

 

[Twizit]

Just had a similar exchange about this with @ianrauk over in the daily commute thread. I had a similar thing with BB7s last year whenever I went through Richmond Park in very cold weather - brake would freeze up by the time I got through the park.

Suggestion was probably water sitting in the bottom loop of cable outer near the rear brake.

Since solved for me by changing over to hydraulics as already suggested above (but granted, a slightly extreme measure if you've just bought a new bike!!)

 

[Flying Dodo]

I have the same issue with the rear BB7 on my Pinnacle. Due to the design, water will run down the inner and freeze as I discovered this morning.