My '91 Kona froze up today!

[bazil]

Went to visit somebody today, bike was lent against a wall outside and when I came out the rear brake was froze solid.

Jumped on the bike to pedal and the cranks just span around. The rear hub had frozen and the cassette wasn't engaging properly.

I had to walk all the way back and then use a hair dryer on the bike to warm it up a bit to get it working again.

 

[sam264]

went on an off road blast on my modern ride the other day and got mud frozen in between the smaller gears on the cassette so i couldn't use half my gears

 

[drystonepaul]

Frozen freehubs are pretty common in winter even when it isn't as cold as it has been recently.
I have found that urinating on said frozen component can be an effective way of curing the problem.
During night rides with my group of 'mates' this has developed into an childish excuse to pee on someones bike even during summer.

"Sorry mate, your shifters had frozen..." being something nobody wants to hear.

 

[sam264]

hah, excellent

my friend says " That's because, as well as urine being warm, urea is an excellent anti-freeze compound.
They actually use it on runways
because using salt/grit would make everything too slippy etc"

 

[Tad]

My free hub also froze up on me on the way in to work this morning, unfortunately I went for a wee before I left for work this morning and couldn't have mustered the necessary if I'd tried. I'd also have looked rather silly weeing on my back wheel at the side of the road.