Anyone got any advice on how to avoid getting frozen gear cables / mechs ? think the inners were freezing in the outers or the actual shifters were freezing up last night, as dry conditions and no ice forming on the actual mechs. It was probably -3 degrees air temp though. Anything that can be put in the cables to help prevent this freezing up?

SingleSpeed. 😀

If they're freezing does that mean they have water in them?

If so try squirting some GT85 down into the cables on a regular basis.

a water bottle ? lol …yep my son had frozen ice /mud last nite on his rear mech… we had frozen gloop/ice on our rims and problems of ice stuck to pedals (that was terrible because you were riding with lumps of frozen mud under your shoes which made your feet slip off the pedals all the time… we did try to hack off the mud but it was stuck like ruddy concrete….. sooo cold last nite….

piss on them

mm thats a strange one. I've ridden in temps down to -10 and not had problems with freezing cables. And if it's dry I certainly wouldn't expect that to happen. In damp conditions I've had ice forming on the drivetrain which caused some skipping but no problems with the shifters.

Do you keep your bike somewhere damp, put it away wet and it's frezing up before you irde it?

Blackdog – that could be it: Water getting retained in the cables / shifters. Bike shed is not exactly the driest place, especially over past wee while , and cant put bike away thoroughly dry if out on night ride. Will strip cables, dry them out apply GT85. Ta all.

We have done a bit of Puffer prep for Jan. Replaced interupted cables with fully enclosed, helps keep them dry and smooth.

dont middleburn do those cable oiler things that you can attach a gt85 nozzle to? sure i saw some on crc when i was looking for stocking fillers a while back…

urine.

Yep. When urine trouble, there is always a simple solution. 😉

Squirt some anti freeze down your cables.

Full-length cable outers worked for me last night.

Front mech was slightly temperamental but I think that was inevitable considering the amount of frozen mud that was clagged around it.