So this week marked the first cold weather commuting of the season. Conditions included snow flurries and even showers at times. The roads weren’t terribly slick, save for a few spots yesterday morning (I had to bypass the hill out of Morningside on Hampton). I have been curious how the various bits on the Novara commuter would deal with typical Pittsburgh winter conditions, and thanks to this cold snap, I know a bit more.

This morning, both the rear brake and shifter (for the Shimano Nexus hub) froze. It appears that a bit of water/condensation was present where the cables meet the hub/brake body, and the cold weather promptly caused that to freeze. I couldn’t engage the brake, and a mis-shift up (instead of down) locked me into 6th gear. I futzed with the cables on Negley Avenue, and this resulted in the brake getting stuck while engaged, thus locking up the rear wheel. Another yank of the cable fixed that. I did manage to get the hub into 5th gear, which is my usual flatland gear, making the commute a bit easier than it might have been.

All of this prompted me to reconsider kitting out the Monocog was a MC-style fixed gear machine. This requires only a few mods:

* TomiCog on the rear wheel (16 tooth)
* Narrower tires (~45mm)
* Bigger chain ring (36 tooth)
* Fenders (in the basement)

I suspect this will start tonight, unless I can conjure up a way of keeping the cables on the Novara from freezing.

Posted on 19 November 2008