prairiepedaler

It's been warm (a little too warm, Robin) here lately. A nice break, but a messy one on the streets. If you take your bike out in this climate & in these conditions be prepared to have your drivetrain melt down in front of your eyes. I'm talking about the chocolate mousse from hell; salt and road grit mixed into a plaster-like slurry which sticks to and permeates everything on the bike. Your brake blocks melt down and coat your rims in rubber compound.

You can just hear your alloy chainrings moan. I think I'll switch to steel for the winter bike. They'll rust but are much tougher in the mousse.

It's time consuming dealing with this stuff everyday post ride. I usually take a watering can of warm water and give the thing a rinse down then drip dry outside. Wipe the chain down immediately after rinsing then when dry, re-lube. I like to take a bit of silicon spray and put a few drops on upper bike rust-prone parts afterward too (i.e.stem bolts, shifter bolts).

Ride on, it's par for the course sometimes

mcours2006

Every ride this year has ended with me spraying down my bike with warm water.

JonathanGennick 

I ride a belt drive with an IGH. It's the most worry-free bike in winter slop that I've ever owned.

jfowler85

Unless there is ice/snow covering the roads, I'm on my carbon devinci leo. 105 tolerates the mousse just fine; I clean up the drive train weekly at the most.

GrainBrain

I just upgraded my mtb drivetrain in December and had no worries for about a month. Now like you said there's crude everywhere! I followed the advice on here about how to easily wash a bike off, and bought a $20 two gallon chemical sprayer from Lowe's. I tested it out last night, you can lock the sprayer valve open, and it runs at a decent pressure for over a minute. It also came with three nozzle tips.

Leebo

In MA we call it brown car snot. I like my $50 winter bikes, no worries.

prairiepedaler

Belt drive would be kinda cool. I had thought about a stainless chain with a 3-speed Sturmey hub for a winter bike at one point. I don't know how an internal gear hub would fare in the sub zero temperatures for shifting. Only one way to find out.