Storing bikes outside
 

Hey guys, for bikes that you ride most days, do you store them inside or outside? I typically store them outside because its easier than taking it in and out/opening the garage door etc.

I kept my single speed with cheap cable actuated disc brakes sitting outside for about a month and when I went to ride it again the back brake was rubbing pretty badly, could storing inside vs outside be the cause of that? I live in a dry climate

:popcorn

Admittedly, I don’t have a garage, but my parents did. I don’t remember opening and closing the door posing any difficulty that I wasn’t able to overcome, even as a child.

I stow mine in a local dumpster because so few people would ever look there.

The moisture in the air will cause surface rust on the rotor. It's not a big deal, it happens with cars that sit for a while, even new cars.

Outdoors will oxidize and rust and have problems faster especially when it get rained on. Is it that hard? I keep my bikes in basement and have to take them up/down 4 steps IMHO worth it.

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...I've been afraid to open the garage for years now, because it is full of bikes.

So, you store it next to the vodka?

Seems unusual for a residential reentry center to have the option of using a garage but that would be the best choice. Pretty fancy!:thumb:

For those storing bikes outside here is one notable observation...

Neighbor down the street had two bikes stored out side here in Central Texas. One was under a plastic tarp and the other was under an old military canvas tarp (shelter half). The bike stored under the shelter half was in much better shape after a few months.

Also... Storing a bike outside near salt water? Don't do it unless ya have too...

Storing a bike outdoors (or in a non conditioned space in severe weather) is a hard no.

A bike stored outside here will be a stolen bike.

Raising a garage door or even carrying a bike up or down stairs isn't enough trouble to justify having a bike out in the weather. If there was no other choice then sure, I'd have a beater bike that lived outdoors.

It isn't that terrible of an option where it is under a roof (covered porch or screen room maybe) and theft risk is low, but I still would only keep a beater bike outside.

I don’t know where my bikes are stored. I’ll ask my valet where he puts them when I’m done riding.

Do the other cyclists ask to borrow your Grey Poupon?

(Members under about 40 or so won't get the reference)

Most know they can just drop back to my support car and get it.

I get it.

Had my own experience while waiting for the bus on my way to a summer job at Alcoa after my first year of law school. I was all suited up and holding a briefcase so I could look the part. A guy I knew named Mad Mike pulled up to the light on his Harley. Real biker looking guy, but funny as hell. He guns the engine a few times, looks at me and says “Pardon me. Would you have any Grey Poupon?” I nearly pissed myself laughing.

**** off

I would think riding without a shirt would give you thicker skin.

I agree with Larry on this one. The post he replied to can be seen as a personal attack and was uncalled for.

Bikes can be kept outside without harm if properly prepared. For say a steel bike - framesave it, have it painted with say Imron or epoxy (brush painted epoxy works very well), lube bearings with lots of marine grease, chain with a durable wet lube, all threads with marine grease including spoke nipples). Grease cables with Phil Wood or the like including the several inches going into and out of lined housings.

Leather seats will be a challenge. I'd go with treating it with SnoSeal oe equivalent and perhaps covering it with dry cloth, then a plastic bag over. Plastic will not like sunlight. How poorly it will do depends in large part on the type of plastic. I'd be more comfortable with a bike with no plastic anywhere it mattered). Many handlebar tapes will fare poorly or fade.

I don't keep my city bikes outdoors but I expect them to sit perhaps many hours outdoors in Portland weather, be ridden home and put away wet. (All my bides get put away wet or left leaning against the workbench until they dry. All my bikes get hose rinses after dirty rides except in the dead of winter when the hoses are shut down. I expect to need to lube the good bikes before the next ride. City bike chains get FinishLine MTB wet lube.

Bikes are just like everything else. Do the proper prep and sitting outside isn't a big issue for 95% of it. Exceptions are things like plastic, bar tape, the paint color - all affected by sunlight and UV. Local weather needs to be understood. Air moisture and cycles of heating cooling and condensation. Perhaps freezing.

A lot of this is easier when starting from scratch with a bike where looks aren't everything. I picked up a sport Schwinn frame that had been in a crash. Straightened the frame, stripped the paint and brush painted it with 2-part epoxy. Built it up with parts off my previous all weather bike. That Schwinn got parked all day locked to a lamp pole in Ann Arbor most winter days (and ridden in Ann Arbor salt).

I've never owned a CF bike so I haven't spent much time thinking about what that would need/want/require. UV and sunlight might be a large issue. Electronics? Again, I've kept my bikes simple so no advice here. Theft obviously needs to be thought about and different areas are very different in that regard. Tires are not al equal. And there are plenty of other very specific issues that can pop up. I had water freeze once inside the front wheel rim, making the wheel so unbalanced it was almost unride-able. (Cycle Oregon. It had rained for 4 days. No way to dry anything. Bike outside the entire time. (All possible shelter was grabbed up fast by the earliest of the 2000 riders,) Last of those nights the temp went into the 20sF. That next day was 80 miles and I wanted to arrive in camp relatively early. Had no idea what was happening until I put the bike on the pavement and tried to ride it! Rode gingerly and away from all other riders until the sun finally came out and melted the ice.)

Sorry you feel this way. Larry has freely posted about his drinking, drug abuse and the disregard of rules that has led him to his current situation. Seemed unusual that he would have the option to keep his bike indoors and I encouraged him to do so. His potty mouth response is a manifestation of his issues and I didn't take it personally.:beer:

So you are saying it was indeed a personal attack based on past. Okay, good retort. As for his storage situation, I agree, he should open the door and put it inside if he has the option.

Good talk.

I don’t think that is what he’s saying at all. It was merely an observation re: indoor bike accommodations based upon Larry’s oft repeated assertions. He didn’t judge, criticize, etc., based on those assertions.

In any event, and as I got at previously, if opening and closing a garage is the only impediment to storing a bike indoors, I believe the answer to the question is a no-brainer. That is why, without knowing more (e.g., the garage is a mile away), I question the sincerity of the question.

I am picturing maybe a garage door is extraordinarily heavy or difficult to open, misaligned or apt to come off its hinges, in which maybe leaving the bike outside is the better choice.

With an IGH it's considered better to prevent temperature swings from drawing moist air into the mechanism (I.e. don't bring your commuting bike into conditioned living space during the winter). Or so the old wisdom said.