Steering tighter in cold weather?

[Nicholas]

I've noticed that the steering on my road bike has become tighter since the cold weather started.

Could it be grease in the headset thickening in the cold, the headset components contracting slightly and putting pressure on the bearings etc, or something else?

I just thought I'd ask before I try adjusting the top cap bolt a bit, thanks.

[531colin]

I would be checking the bearings for water ingress and corrosion

[cyclop]

Never experienced this,even in subzero .As a first port of call,slacken headset off a touch.If this doesn,t work,something else is happening here.Take a peep at the headset bearings,clean and lube or just lube,make sure headset is not too tight on reassembly.What type of headset?Old school or modern" ahead"type?On ahead type,I tend to overtighten slightly to snug everything down then back it off to the correct torque.All medium/easy jobs if you,ve done it before,google otherwise.

[gbnz]

the cold, the headset components contracting slightly and

Could be happening? Living in a "tightly" managed, high quality property past 18 months and.....

Was noticeable when we hit a cold period this time last winter and again over the past ten days, a major water leak appearing within days of the cold. Bucketful of water in 3 Hrs two nights back from pipework to bathroom sink, plumbers being called out 2-3am as water was flowing out.. Properly installed components, all relatively new, taps & upper pipework replaced as recently as 4-5 months back.

Drop in overnight temperatures sufficient to cause a substantial contraction in materials, sufficient for a major leak, from components which don't leak a drop for 50+ weeks a year. Having managed / controlled housing previously, if this was some ageing, sub standard, unmaintained, unheated property I wouldn't be surprised. Or we if we were in -20 / -30's. Proof that materials do contract

[Nicholas]

Thank you all for your responses.

To give a bit more information, the bike has an aluminium frame with carbon forks/steerer and the headset is integrated type with cartridge-style bearings.

It lives in a mostly unheated room and had no problems at all with the steering until the cold snap started. I hope to take a good look at the headset this weekend and will report back with my findings.

Should anyone else have any ideas, they would be most welcome as I'm determined to solve this mystery!

[Jdsk]

Very interesting.

How about warming the headset to see if that makes a difference before stripping it down for inspection?

Jonathan

[cyclop]

the cold, the headset components contracting slightly and

Could be happening? Living in a "tightly" managed, high quality property past 18 months and.....

Was noticeable when we hit a cold period this time last winter and again over the past ten days, a major water leak appearing within days of the cold. Bucketful of water in 3 Hrs two nights back from pipework to bathroom sink, plumbers being called out 2-3am as water was flowing out.. Properly installed components, all relatively new, taps & upper pipework replaced as recently as 4-5 months back.
Sorry,as an ex plumber,that doesn,t ring true at all.Frozen pipes will cause problems but if not frozen,then sub standard installation of plastic pipes might be an issue.Yes,plastic will shrink more than copper in sub zero but a properly installed plastic pipe should be ok.Have the plastic pipes been installed without liners(metal or rigid plastic)? Somethings not right
Drop in overnight temperatures sufficient to cause a substantial contraction in materials, sufficient for a major leak, from components which don't leak a drop for 50+ weeks a year. Having managed / controlled housing previously, if this was some ageing, sub standard, unmaintained, unheated property I wouldn't be surprised. Or we if we were in -20 / -30's. Proof that materials do contract

[Nicholas]

Cyclop, your post was a little unclear!

[JohnR]

Cyclop, your post was a little unclear!

I think he was giving an example of contraction due to cold weather creating an unexpected problem.

Anyway, I agree with those who think that the way forward is some disassembly, inspection and lubrication. I've had no similar problems and my garage is only a few degrees warmer than outside. Besides which, those who go cycling in freezing weather haven't reported that their steering gets stiffer as the ride progresses.

[gbnz]

[.
Sorry,as an ex plumber,that doesn,t ring true at all.Frozen pipes will cause problems but if not frozen,then sub standard installation of plastic pipes might be an issue.Yes,plastic will shrink more than copper in sub zero but a properly installed plastic pipe should be ok.Have the plastic pipes been installed without liners(metal or rigid plastic)? Somethings not right

[/quote]

The pipes are of steel, interchanging with brass. No plastic pipework in the system (Nb. Have visually inspected all)

Merely proof that the contraction of materials in cold temperatures, does exist :wink. Perhaps cold temperatures may effect a bicycle?

[rogerzilla]

Cup and cone bottom brackets can get rather stiff in the cold, if you adjusted them in a warm living room.

[rareposter]

Besides which, those who go cycling in freezing weather haven't reported that their steering gets stiffer as the ride progresses.

This ^^.
A 20 degree difference is negligble. I might be more inclined to believe it if you'd suddenly nipped out into the Arctic permafrost...

The only issue with cold I've seen on bikes (the cold you get in the UK, not the cold you get in Siberia) was in the days of elastomer suspension forks when the elastomers would stiffen. You'd start the ride with nice supple forks and a few hours later they'd barely move.

[JohnR]

Cup and cone bottom brackets can get rather stiff in the cold, if you adjusted them in a warm living room.

Might this also be due to the grease getting thicker in the cold? My bikes always seem to run a bit better in warm weather.

[rogerzilla]

It's the bearing adjustment - it can feel quite rough, just like an overtightened bearing (which it is, really). A cup and cone bearing adjustment can be measured in micrometres.

[cyclop]

Sorry about my confusing earlier reply but subsequent replies agree that temperature alone would be insufficient to cause any detectable steering stiffness unless something else was going on.