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Is Rain Bad For Your Bike?

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Is Rain Bad For Your Bike?

Old 10-26-20, 08:22 PM
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DudeManBro
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Is Rain Bad For Your Bike?

What do you think, is it ok to ride your bike in the rain? How to go about drying it off?

I was thinking of using an air compressor to dry it off but not sure if that would be a bad idea?
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Old 10-26-20, 08:52 PM
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As a commuter I have no choice but ride in rain from time to time.
  • I have fenders.
  • I don’t ride in heavy downpours.
  • I don’t leave the bike sitting out in the rain any more than absolutely necessary.
  • When I get home I hang the bike upside down; sometimes I get some water out. I’ll sometimes remove the seatpost to help ventilate the moisture out of the frame.
  • If I feel like it might be damp I later bake the bike, with seatpost out, in the sun.
    ​​​​​
I’m sure it would be better if they didn’t get wet, but I haven’t had any corrosion related failures on my steel bikes in 15 years in inland south Texas.

YMMV.
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Old 10-26-20, 08:56 PM
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Rain is not nearly as bad for your bike as it Is sitting in the lonely corner of your garage.
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Old 10-26-20, 09:01 PM
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I ride year-round. I also did so when I had external gears and chains. Of course, I usually bought aluminium bikes for that reason, but my latest (and probably last) is a titanium jobby - unfortunately with a steel fork. I may swap it out at a later date for some custom titanium thing.

Maintain the chain and gears (oil the chain and wash off road salt), and you should be good to go for years and years. Truth be told, I rarely washed any of my bikes, and rarely oiled the chain unless I felt it needed it (too much noise) and things still kept on rocking. You can get stainless chains these days. They're worth it.
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Old 10-26-20, 09:03 PM
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I just let it drip dry in the garage. I'm a commuter in the upper Midwest, so I get my share of rain. I don't go out of my way to avoid rain unless there might be serious action such as hail, and I've been caught in storms where I literally pour water out of my shoes when I get home.

My summer and winter commuter bikes have internal gear hubs, which supposedly are more weather proof, but derailleur systems are pretty robust. In fact I think that bikes are a lot less delicate than folks tend to assume. I've gotten a bit of minor surface rust on chains and cogs, which doesn't really affect performance of the bike. Now if I wanted to keep it showroom clean, it would be a different matter, but none of my bikes are worth that kind of attention.
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Old 10-26-20, 09:04 PM
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I ride my bike rain or shine. One of the bad things about riding in the rain is that (at least with my bike) water seeps into the cables. Thus, the cables rust inside their casing. You can usually tell your cables have rusted when the brakes don't work so well because they are not sliding in and out very well. In such instances, all you need to do is change the cables. Other than that, I have rust in various indentations around my bike. So, in short, I suppose it does make a difference though all I've done is to replace the cable once it gets stiff.
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Old 10-26-20, 09:11 PM
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Thomas15
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If you are a serious or even semi-serious rider you will get caught in the rain. No matter how careful it will happen. Happened to my just this week.

I rather have some mud, road grime, a few use scratches and dings and really use my bikes than have a pristine machines that rarely gets used. In the end no one except fellow bikers are impressed with a showroom condition bike anyway.
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Old 10-26-20, 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by DudeManBro
What do you think, is it ok to ride your bike in the rain? How to go about drying it off?

I was thinking of using an air compressor to dry it off but not sure if that would be a bad idea?
Steel (non-stainless) rusts. Leather gets soaked and dries harder. Light oils can get washed out of parts needing lubrication. Compressed air can force grit and debris into chains, bearings and other places it doesn,t belong.

That said, I've put 50,000 miles on a steel bike that has seen plenty of rain, including some rides where "downpour" would be an understatement. Now that bike 1) has had the insides of the frame treated with rust prevention, 2) had bearing greased with plenty of quality grease, 3) leather was treated with quality leather treatments (toestraps, leather covered racing seats and for around 15 years, leather wrapped handlebars). Moving parts need lubrication. Bearings need to stay lubricated and free from water. On a bike ridden regularly, heavier oils and greases are your friend. I use light Tri-Flo for the chains of my summer bikes but Finish Line MTB wet lubricant for the winter bikes because a hard rain (or ride through a very deep puddle) won't wash it out..

Now, as others have said, frames of carbon fiber, aluminum and titanium don't care about water. Aluminum doesn't either.

If you plan on doing more rain day rides, tell us what you're riding. Not everything wants the same treatment.

Edit: Fenders are your (and your bike's) best friend. Get full fenders with a deep front flap or plan on making a good front flap. (Quote me and I'll tell you what I do.) And if you ride in the rain enough, get a rain bike and save your good one for the better days.

Last edited by 79pmooney; 10-26-20 at 09:53 PM.
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Old 10-26-20, 11:40 PM
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My old bikes are too good for rain. The grocery getter may see some wet pavement, but that's it.
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Old 10-26-20, 11:46 PM
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The problem isn't the rain, at least for me; it's the road grit that gets thrown up. Also can increase chance of flatting. Plus I wax my chain, and it doesn't really like water.

scott s.
.
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Old 10-27-20, 06:38 AM
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If it's a light rain, just bounce it a couple of times before you put it away, wipe it dry with a rag and run a fan pointed at it. Lube the chain after the bike is dry. Maybe check derailleur pivots and lube if needed.

If it's gotten a good soaking, you may need to rinse off road grit with a hose. Then, in addition to the above, pull the seat post, maybe turn it upside down for a while (the drain holes in the BB are pretty small). Also it may be a good idea to pull your tires off to give the rims a chance to dry. This is for standard aluminum wheels with standard spokes and rim strip. I don't have experience with carbon wheels or tubeless, so it may not be necessary for those types of wheels (???). If the bike gets regular soakings, the maintenance schedule for re-packing and greasing bearings should be shorter, maybe as much as quarterly if you live in a wet area. You'll probably also go through cables and housing more frequently, as they may get gunked up from periodic rain rides.

I don't think blasting the bike with a compressor is a good idea, it might drive moisture past seals and into areas that have remained mostly dry. I don't know, though, I've never tried it, so maybe someone who actually knows will chime in.
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Old 10-27-20, 09:03 AM
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Here's something I've noticed. All but one of my bikes have steel frames. All have been exposed to varying levels of rain, mud, road salt, and so forth. None of them have ever been pampered. Over the decades, none of my frames have seen serious rusting with one exception. The paint that they put on frames is pretty darn good. As others have mentioned, the insides of the tubes can be coated with something resembling varnish. The things that have rusted have tended to be fasteners, drivetrain parts, cables, etc. So I wouldn't go out of my way to seek out special frame materials.

Now the exception was a bike that was half buried in my college housemate's family's barn for possibly decades, an ancient Hercules. And its frame was badly rusted. So I think long term storage in wet or corrosive conditions can definitely rust a frame. Salt air, sure. The pics we've seen of frame rusting on this forum must be due to more than just normal use in normal weather.
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Old 10-27-20, 09:06 AM
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Originally Posted by Gresp15C
Here's something I've noticed. All but one of my bikes have steel frames. All have been exposed to varying levels of rain, mud, road salt, and so forth. None of them have ever been pampered. Over the decades, none of my frames have seen serious rusting with one exception. The paint that they put on frames is pretty darn good. As others have mentioned, the insides of the tubes can be coated with something resembling varnish. The things that have rusted have tended to be fasteners, drivetrain parts, cables, etc. So I wouldn't go out of my way to seek out special frame materials.

Now the exception was a bike that was half buried in my college housemate's family's barn for possibly decades, an ancient Hercules. And its frame was badly rusted. So I think long term storage in wet or corrosive conditions can definitely rust a frame. Salt air, sure. The pics we've seen of frame rusting on this forum have to be due to more than just normal use in normal weather.
That's kinda my opinion I'm just going to go through all the things that people talk about here because it rained It's a bike it's not going to dissolve if it gets wet.
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Old 10-27-20, 10:10 AM
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The rain itself is not that big of a deal, it's the kickup that it brings for coating the bicycle with the nasties. I've at times put in a "round-up" pressure sprayer jug a diluted mixture of car wash soap & warm water. Spraying the mid/lower half of the bicycle. Following that up with a wipe down & relubrication. It isn't for everyone, but it works for my equipment.
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Old 10-27-20, 10:18 AM
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Is rain bad for your bike?

Is it made of spun sugar?
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Old 10-27-20, 10:26 AM
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I've never noticed any issues with rain riding affecting my bikes. When I do ride in rain, I usually wipe down and/or clean my drivetrain after to remove the road grime. I suppose arguably there is some more wear on the drivetrain and brake pads due to road grime adhering to them, but these are consumable parts anyways, so I'm not sure I'd say this is "bad".

A bigger concern I've seen is on wet roads that are salted in the winter. Road salt can mess up all kinds of stuff if not thoroughly rinsed off, and washing a bike can be a bit more tricky in the middle of the winter so it's tempting to just park your slushy bike in the corner for a few days after a really gross ride, and that's when things start to corrode.
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Old 10-27-20, 11:00 AM
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90% of the time outside ... my 20 year old SS/fixed aint rusted thru ... it gets KrylonD every couple of years
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Old 10-27-20, 11:13 AM
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Road salt mixed with sand changes everything. Once salt and sand is laid down I'm much more careful about riding only when its dry out. If I get the bike wet with salt down it gets a rinse and wiped down.
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Old 10-27-20, 11:33 AM
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Rain is ok for the bike. You just will need a little more maintenance. Clean the bike with one or more brushes and a pail of warm soapy water. Then lightly spray it with the hose. This will help keep the road grit and grime off. Wipe the chain two or three times to just make sure its fairly clean and dry. In heavy rain, I'd usually use two plastic bags: one for my seat and one for my work clothes in the backpack. A rain jacket or shell can;t hurt, either. I don't bother with a hood for the rain jacket. But if yours has one, then by all means use it (if not too hot). You will also need to take apart, clean and lightly lube: stem & bar, cranks, BB, and seatpost more frequently. If not, then you *will* get creaky bike. Also plan on replacing your headset bearings every year. The bottom one was always the first to go since some muck kicking up from the front tire would get in there. Fenders would help with that besides keeping you a little drier.

Last edited by ptempel; 10-27-20 at 11:36 AM.
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Old 10-27-20, 11:34 AM
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As others have noted, rain isn't terrible for your bike. It does facilitate depositing grit on places where grit oughtn't be (i.e. drivechain, rims, rider) but regular maintenance can limit those problems. I'd be cautious about using compressed air to dry your bike: it can displace grease or oil from where it is needed and force water into places where it's hard to get rid of.
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Old 10-27-20, 02:39 PM
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I think fenders are overestimated. All they do is get your bike wetter than it otherwise would. And they don't stop it from raining.
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Old 10-27-20, 02:45 PM
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Originally Posted by DudeManBro
What do you think, is it ok to ride your bike in the rain? How to go about drying it off?

I was thinking of using an air compressor to dry it off but not sure if that would be a bad idea?
It's perfectly OK to ride in the rain, nothing to worry about...You don't need to dry your bike right away, just leave it to dry by itself.
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Old 10-27-20, 02:51 PM
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Fenders aren't to protect you from the rain. They're to protect you and your bike from the disgusting road water.
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Old 10-27-20, 04:03 PM
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One things fenders seem to do for my bikes is to keep the worst of the grit out of my brakes, which may reduce wear on the rims. This is more noticeable during the winter when the roads are covered by that stuff that's a mixture of sand and salt thrown down by the salt trucks. This is the stuff that comes up from below, not from above. Still, for everything there is a season, and I don't worry as much about fenders during the summer.

And as they say out in farm country: That mud ain't really mud.
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Old 10-27-20, 04:31 PM
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Originally Posted by epnnf
I think fenders are overestimated. All they do is get your bike wetter than it otherwise would. And they don't stop it from raining.
Full fenders are the most important accessory I ever put on my bikes. It has nothing to do with protecting my bikes from rain, but it's about protecting my clothing and backpack from dirty road spray, especially salty road spray during winter time and muddy road spray when riding gravel.
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