CameronStewart

Hey guys,

Just looking for a bit of advice. Just bought myself a road bike and have been riding it since Christmas. What can I do to keep it in tip top condition over winter? Obviously I am riding on the roads and they are at the moment covered in salt and rubbish. The guy in the shop said I shouldn't even ride it in winter because it rusts/wrecks everything but I am wondering if that is true? I can only afford one road bike to be honest.

Cheers guys

cale

If it is a new bike, you probably have a warranty and if so, a owner's manual. Read the manual and follow the maintenance instructions as directed there. That way, if salt "rusts/wrecks everthing " you can make a warranty claim.

The guy in the shop was probably thinking that you wouldn't want to do the maintenance necessary to keep your bike in good order. Like washing any road debris off before putting it away. Cleaning and oiling the chain more frequently, and keeping an eye on all the moving parts for signs of stiffness and lubricating as necessary.

jimc101

Letting your bike corrode away with salt damage will probably get any warranty claim rejected.

Wash down after use and lubing as necessary should be all that's needed.

CameronStewart

Cheers guys.

Just a simple wash with soap and dry it after year? How do you guys clean the more difficult to reach parts like round the chain etc?

cale

When I lived in an apartment, I used to put down newspaper and use a mild soap solution, sponge and bucket, to wash the bike and its parts. Since then I've acquired some nice bike brushes that fit all sorts of nooks and crannies. YMMV.

You don't need to clean a chain after every use. Once a week is plenty for a person riding regularly on bad winter streets.

Carbon Unit

I use to take the chain off to clean it. A easier solution is a chain cleaner. Park Tool chain scrubber I hear is a good one. You also want to lube the chain.

DosWheelsBtr

GCN on youtube has a good video for washing your bicycle very quickly. Should do it often.

dh024

Our streets here see a lot if salt in the winter, which (as others have mentioned) can lead to a premature death of your drive train very fast.

A quick rinse to remove the salt and grime is a really easy bit of preventative maintenance - do it as frequently as possible. An easy system for me is to fill a garden sprayer with water and hose down my bike whenever needed, then put a box fan on it to dry quickly. In the morning, I do a very quick lube and good to go. It only takes a few minutes each day.

penguins

Make sure you get a good set of fenders - I can't recommend that highly enough.

I have these: https://www.ridepdw.com/goods/fender...l-fenders-road on my road bike (if you have a bike with more space around the wheels like a mountain bike or touring bike, you can probably find a cheaper option) and after 1000 km on completely wet and salt-covered roads, my frame and most of the components are almost perfectly clean.

V73

This has been useful for me as well. I've been cleaning and lubing the chain and gears once a week or so, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good chain grease for cold? The grease I have is gelling and not working very well.
-Val

Jim from Boston

I have a variant question about riding my pristine carbon fiber bike in winter. Obviously if riding on wet roads with salt, it will be flung into the drive train. But what about on dry roads with caked salt? Would “salt dust” contaminate the drive train significantly? If I were to ride, I would avoid visible salt patches. I realize there may well not be a definitive answer, but "whaddya tink"?

This winter I have ridden my CF bike up to January 1, and it looks like it may be relatively mild (for precipitation), with increased dry road days.

I do have a beater mountain bike with fenders and studded tires otherwise for winter riding.

modernjess

Rust never sleeps, and salt is the enemy. The effects of moisture alone can be mitigated with proper lubrication, but salt eat parts and can wreak all kinds of havoc.

So obviously keeping it as clean as you can is important, take out every bolt and grease the crap out of it.Grease and lube everything often. Make sure you remove and grease your seatpost often! Salt spray finds it's way down into it and seizes them up.(not on CF frames) I just use standard teflon grease, and I use Boeshield T-9 spray lube for winter. I over lubricate most everything. I'd rather clean dirty lube off than try to remove rust or a stuck seat post. Chains do get rusty easily, much of it is light surface rust that cleans off ok if you keep on it. But I expect that and I replace my chain every spring on my winter commuter.

It's the cost of doing business if you want to keep your bike in good shape. In the meantime save your money for a winter beater, it can be less costly in the long run.

79pmooney

Excellent advice. Take it one step further. Go to any auto parts store and buy that blue grease for boat trailer hubs. Completely impervious to salt water. Any bearings that could see alt should be beeded in lots of the stuff. All threads. Seat post. Quill stem. Pedal threads. Anything you use enough of this grease on will look the same next spring (after you do a lot of work to get the stuff off. It is nearly soap, detergent and solvent resistant. But a real bike saver. (Thank you, Colin, former manager at Portland's Bike Galleries.)

Ben