Underwater
 

How far do you intentionally put your bike (any kind) parts under water? When is the puddle or river too deep?

Me - total dry weather guy to this point. I have gone through a 3 puddle, but thinking I may get over it and do some MTB stuff and do some stream crossings.

I never want the axles or b-bracket underwater. The seals are designed for wet roads and rain.

Many years ago I explored a road near my house that was closed due to flooding. At one point I submerged my bottom bracket. (Beater Trek 930 MTB.) Hastened the need for an overhaul. I would never do something like that again with any bike of mine. But if you want to lend me one of yours....:D

I mainly avoid puddles for safety reasons. I was forced into one during a tour last year. There was a giant pot hole lurking beneath the surface. I nearly wiped out (my ass came off the seat and my left hand came off the brake hood) and fell into the path of an overtaking car. I still don't know how I managed to right myself. Instinct I guess. The woman driving looked terrified as she passed me.

^^^^ Same, though I tend to prefer not to be dipping my pedals either -- because I like to keep my feet dry.

I've gone past the hubs on my gravel bike. Not something I do regularly, but 130 miles into a 200 mile ride you kind of stop giving a crap and if it seems like riding across the low water crossing will be faster than walking then why not? Bottom brackets can be replaced.

This is the rainy season here. There are some areas on my routes that will have standing water on them until summer is over. Generally, I won't go through anything higher than the bottom bracket. My method is to get up a little speed and then coast through the water with pedals in a neutral position.

I also don't like submerging the bearings.


This guy yelled out, "Well, here goes another bottom bracket!" before he dove in. I carried my bike.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...23e27e31a4.jpg


-Tim-

If it's deep enough to submerge pedals or a BB, my feet are gonna get soaked anyway...So I just shoulder the bike and hike through.

I was being dumb and reckless on an early spring century this year and rode through a flooded section of paved trail with moving water. At the deepest it was WELL over the bottom bracket!! Probably halfway to my knee. I made it through, thought "That was stupid" and looked down there trail to see more flooded sections.

I turned around and waded back through the section I just came, which was harder because now I had all the surface area of my legs and bike, wow that water is strong!!

Got back to dry trail, sat down and wrung out my socks and boots. Lucky for me it had hit the high of 60° and sunny, as I still had 50 miles left.

Took it to the bike shop to pull the BB out the next day, casually mentioned what I did and we all had a chuckle. Then the mechanic popped out the BB and water dumped everywhere :lol: That's when the laughter really started!

If you don't get dumb and reckless on the bike every once in a while then you're doing it wrong.

Never.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a730cd4573.jpg

I got my front Deore axel/hub submerged a couple of times in one day walking it across some rocks. It washed out the Phil Wood waterproof grease and started getting gritty.

I don't like puddles that are even an inch deep... they hide a multitude of problems and might be dramatically slipperier than the pavement around them. Of course, I live in SoCal and don't really have to worry about that at all.

I'm SoCal too. Fog is too deep for me.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c4c8e8002.jpeg
The point where you know you've done something stupid but there's no terrible consequences like you deserved!

I cross some streams on the mtn & cross bikes that are at least to the BB. Actually never thought to worry about it.

On the road, winter flooded sections 6" deep or so- pedals for sure.

The impact has got to be less than a muddy CX race, where the chain is scoured to bare metal.

As a kid we rode bikes into a pond, but I guess that's different.

I do my best to keep the BB out but pedals have often gone under completely. (Roadie, not a CX guy. I have no interest in wading through puddles but when riding fix gear, keeping the pedals out is not possible.) If you pack the bearings with marine grease (and use lots) submersion doesn't hurt much. (That stuff is designed to take being wheeled while freeway hot into salt water to launch your boat. Nothing we do with bicycles comes close.)

Ben

I am a fair weather rider. Unless I get caught in a thunderstorm, I prefer to remain dry and bike clean. I can always find other things to do on rainy days, like reloading ammo. :D

My feet got wet going through this flooded bog this past spring in Maine. The bird watching was off the charts. Just awesome.https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...24c82243fc.jpg

I rode through a flooded section on my work commute several days in a row. Water was over the BB and wheel bearings. It took about 2 minutes to get through. I rode past cars that were stalled out with drivers still in them. At one point I actually saw a fish swimming past my front wheel!

Upon seeing it the first day, I stopped before entering and considered my options. Re-routing to avoid meant being late for work. So I removed my shoes and socks and strapped them to my rear rack. Once I was through, I shook the excess water off my feet and put them back on.

The bearings showed no problems for thousands of miles after that, although I did have to clean and lube the freewheel. Those have no seals.

I don't like getting my pedals submerged, I do it but don't like it. I don't like riding 50 miles with soaked shoes and socks. I did it this summer on a tour.

I avoid putting my rear axle under, as it's an e-hub and the cable enters the 16mm axle. That limits me to 1ft deep. I have waded quite quickly at over 1ft though.

Yeah, this is a flowing body of water. It's questionable judgement to try to ford moving water where there usually isn't any. Standing water and vernal pools are risky, but you probably won't end up a corpse on your way to the Gulf of Mexico. I'm glad this worked out for you.

As long as the water doesn't reach the big chain ring, it's good.

fify