Ok, I know its not a problem most of you are experiencing at the moment (or maybe ever), but in Perth Australia today the temperature is 38 deg.C, and inside the shed where I keep my bikes, it's 52! Parts of the bikes like handlebars, seatpost, cranks are too hot to touch, and there's a waft of burning rubber in the air!
I'm worried that prolonged exposure to these kind of temperatures may damage the bikes - maybe not the metallic bits - but what about tyres, rubber seals, brake hydraulics, or even just the grease in the bearings?
Forecast is for hotter towards the end of the week, so any engineering types out there have an [i]informed[/i] opinion on whether bikes can withstand this kind of abuse? I could bring them indoors, but with six bikes and assorted spares and toolboxes, I'd need to make a convincing case to MrsPerth that its absolutely necessary...
Out here in the desert, it would regularyly reach 40 plus and much much hotter in the car where my roadbike would sometimes live. The only thing I used to do was let a few PSI out of the tyres when if I left it in the car. It seems to have survived OK.
Wish I had your problem!
Without researching what grade of rubber is used, I'd guess that it's much the same as used in cars and motor bikes (to save cost, unless there's a good reason I'm sure bike manufacturers would use standard, readily available parts).
If so, temperatures should be ok (think how hot cars get). Same with grease. When working hard, bearings will get much hotter then when just sitting still.
Agree with the tires to be on the sage side.
Thanks guys.
Just checked the pressure in my road bike and at 95psi its fine, and I don't think the MTB tyres would be a problem. Mind you, its down to a balmy 48 in the shed now as I left the door open for things to cool off a bit. I tracked down the smell of rubber I mentioned earlier to my new tyres hanging up ready to be fitted. New tyres always smell a bit, and I think the heat is making them 'gass-off' a bit quicker than usual.
So, I'm feeling a bit reassured about the bikes, thanks, but maybe I should be more worried about the bottle of LPG for the BBQ and the jerry can of petrol for the lawnmower that are stored in the same shed...
Wish I had your problem!
No, really - it's too damn hot! Only time you can contemplate riding a bike is about 6am, or after it gets dark at night.
Just from a safety point of view, are there any 29ers amongst your bikes?
Might be best to pack those wheels with ice....
That's hot! I'd happily keep the uks climate over that sort of heat!
That's hot! I'd happily keep the uks climate over that sort of heat!
Luckily it only gets up near 40 for a few days each year, but true - those days are pretty much a write-off for doing anything outside! Thankfully its also a dry heat - Hong Kong, where I lived before coming out here is also humid, which made anything above 30 unbearable.
That is hot but I'd happily trade you a couple of weeks right now. 🙂
Its actually pretty mild in the UK right now. I went for a run just after 6 this morning, & wished I'd gone for shorts & a short sleeved top. We have a place in The Gambia, & it can get up to those sort of temps over there, but (wet season aside), its very very dry so not so noticeable.
Heat and sunlight degrade rubber. However, as long as you ride regularly you should wear them out before they die on you. It takes a while and newer compounds are better at withstanding this.
Heat and sunlight degrade rubber
Ok, worry quotient going back up again now...
I've noticed my tyres are only lasting about a year before they fall apart. Luckily, as you say, the tread is all but worn out by then anyway, but what about all those delicate rubber seals in shocks, brakes, hubs etc?
Heat and sunlight degrade rubber
Not just rubber, plastic as well, hence all the white plastic garden chair video clips on 'You've been framed'. Sunlight attacks the plasticiser, which makes it, well, plastic. Too much sun and the plastic goes brittle.
Ok, lets get this clear - are we talking [i]heat[/i] or [i]sunlight[/i] that causes these nasty effects?
I'm familiar with the ability of UV to break down just about anything in short order, having owned a few boats in my life, but does heat by itself have similar effects?
The difference is important to me as the bikes probably get 5-6 hours a week exposure to sunlight, and you can reduce that proportionately due to being under the trees or riding early in the morning, but - they get cooked for hours on end in the shed during the summer...
Both will degrade rubber to varying degrees. You can do something about light but you appear knackered on the heat issue. In commercial storage, elastomerics (rubber stuff) are properly stored in dark warehouses where temperature (and if required, humidity) are controlled to ensure they have a longer shelf life.
I would suggest asking this question more locally to you or on mtbr.com - we spend the next 4 months sweating on winter tyres here!
Can you not just stick a solar panel on the roof and set up some kind of fan based cooling system.
I would suggest asking this question more locally to you
Fair point, guess someone in California would be more likely to have the same problem! Its just that as an expat Brit I always feel more comfortable on STW than MTBR - those yanks are just so damn polite, not like the ... er ... 'playfulness' here 😉
Can you not just stick a solar panel on the roof and set up some kind of fan based cooling system
Like your thinking kaesae - especially as I'm studying renewable energy at the moment!
Unfortunately, I fall into the 'rental trap' that stymies so many renewable energy/energy efficiency investments - ie. no point in investing in stuff that I won't be in the house long enough to benefit from.
Also, unless I have active cooling of some kind, ventilation can only go so far in reducing the temperature inside when its 40 degrees outside!