Dudelsack 

I’m blessed to have a winter home in Jensen Beach, Florida, and I’ll be taking my bike there for the winter. Any tips to try to make the bike more sea and salt resistance? I’ll be going up and down A1A which is right on the coast.

GlennR

I live on Long Island... about 1/2 mile from the Great South Bay and 5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.... Never had an issue with sea/salt, but then my bikes are carbon and alloy parts.

Hasek

I live about 8 miles west of A1A a bit north of you. Been down here almost 6 years with no issues with my 2 steel bikes that have been with me that long. My 3rd that I picked up about a month ago, the guy lived about a mile from A1A and no apparent issues with that bike. I believe the key to not having the salt being an issue is to keep your rides inside. Also a complete wipe down every now and again.


[edit to add] My brothers department store bikes that are kept outside were trashed in less than a year. Far more than bikes kept outside when I was up north.

[double edit to correct my Rand McNally screw up]

jon c. 

If you're near the water, store the bike inside if you can. We have a few old bikes on the screen porch of our beach house and they rust out just sitting there. But I don't know of anyone who has problems just riding near the water.

canklecat

I've lived on a few coasts: NY, especially Long Island; Georgia; Texas; Southern California; and Florida.

By far, Florida was the most corrosive environment.

I never needed to do anything special with my bikes in SoCal or NY. But on the Florida Gulf Coast the combination of relentless humidity and salt air made even my stainless steel and aluminum fishing gear rust and oxidation incredibly quickly, even when I rinsed them in fresh water after every use. Everything I saw in that area showed evidence of rot from humidity and salinity. I didn't have a bike there but I'd expect it to need as much routine cleaning and maintenance as cars and fishing gear.

Regarding the simplest spray-on type lube/protectant, the best I tried in the 1990s was Birchwood-Casey Sheath. It was mostly sold for the firearms market but works on any metal. The name has been changed to something else but it's still the same stuff. It's a polarized protectant, so it spreads to all contiguous metal surfaces to reach beyond where it's sprayed externally. I tested it against several other similar products (including old fashioned RIG -- rust inhibiting grease -- similar to cosmoline), various lubes containing PTFE/Teflon, etc. Sheath consistently outperformed those in outdoor tests on a covered patio and in a shower on identical pieces of blued carbon steel.

There might be a few delicate items that wouldn't be suitable for that spray, but I can't think of anything on a bike that would be harmed by it.

rumrunn6

sounds great! good problems to have!

Iride01 

Florida is one of those places with really high humidity. So if you want something to dry quickly so there is less chance of rusting from just being wet after you wash the bike or ride in rain, then put it in front of a box fan to keep the air circulating till it's dry.

I put my bike shoes in front of the fan too when they get wet in the rain and they are completely dry and ready for another ride in half a day or so.

CrimsonEclipse

On the Florida coast, your bike will be stolen LONG before there are corrosion problems.

jaxgtr

My sister lives in Satellite Beach, just north of you, and they have never had an issue with their bikes.

Brian

Bassmanbob

I'm assuming you meant 8 miles west of A1A. 8 miles east of A1A, and you would be at the bottom of the ocean.

Hasek

Ummm....errrr, yup.

Bassmanbob

Hello neighbor!!! I ride Hutchinson Island almost every Saturday morning, but I live on the main land, just west of Savannah Road. If you live on Hutchinson Island I would consider giving your bike a bath once a week. I agree with jon c who suggested leaving the bike inside if you are on the ocean (or Hutchinson Island). Things tend to corrode more quickly on the island than they do as you go more inland. I have one CF bike and two steel bikes that are stored in my garage. My two steel bikes are four and six years old with no problems. They get cleaned a few times a year, but again, I'm about two miles from the ocean as the crow flies.

Feel free to contact me about group rides and the better bike shops in our area. Treasure Coast Cycling Association rides out of Stuart Beach every Saturday morning at 7:15AM. They ride up to the Ft. Pierce jetty and back (about 38 miles round trip). There are other rides for them and some of the bike shops as well.

Bassmanbob

No place is 100% safe, but I have not heard stories of this on the Treasure Coast. That being said, I do lock my bike if I leave it unattended.

ChrisWagner

Park inside as already stated and minimize sand exposure. Wind driven sand is a given but riding through it will increase your maintenance time and cost.

Maelochs

Yeah, but what about his bike?

canklecat

Yeah, that too. Pensacola was more like Baja Alabama than Florida. Anything called a "panhandle" is bound to be an unwanted stepchild that should be split off into its own state.

jaxgtr

otherwise known as bikini bottom

Bassmanbob

And you could live in a pineapple!

Dudelsack 

Thanks! I don’t know that I would be welcome on a group ride (which I see going up and down the road - we live in Oceana 2) as I have a Townie e bike. I can pull a steady 19 MPH as long as the battery holds out. It’s cheating, though.

Dudelsack 

Speaking of which, as I am a 2A participant and have a boatload of Balneol, would that make an OK chain cleaner? I think that would have me branded as a heretic on the ol’ 44.

63rickert

Wind driven salt spray and 100% humidity causes problems. A1A is a problem. Be very traditional and use oily rag wipe down before and after each ride. On windy days with wind off the water there is no way to avoid consequences. Oily means oily. Every place except where you hold the bike. You have to leave the rim bare if it is a rim brake bike. Otherwise get oil just everywhere.

canklecat

Ballistol? (Balneol is a personal hygiene lubricant for ones personal area for ones personal, umm... business.) I'm not sure I've ever used Ballistol. I did use CLP years ago, especially the grease, but tended to prefer Sheath (now Barridcade) as a rust preventive because it's a polarized oil that creeps and seeps into every crevice, nook and cranny so you don't need to disassemble items to reach all the metal parts that need protection. And it didn't appear to harm any synthetics, rubber, plastic, etc.

However Sheath/Barricade wasn't much of a lubricant. The carrier evaporates leaving a very thin coat, and it's designed to avoid soaking into fabrics (as it is intended for firearms, which may be carried on the person) so I wouldn't rely on it for bicycle chains, unless I was prepared to apply the stuff every ride.

I used to hot wax my bike chains, but for the past couple of years have mostly used Rock 'n' Roll lubes -- Absolute Dry, Gold and, mostly recently, Extreme for wet/dirty conditions. It seems pricey for what it is -- naphtha carrier with powdered PTFE that needs to be shaken back into suspension, and varying amounts of light oil in Gold and Extreme. But it works so well, is easy to use and lasts long enough that I'll put up with the cost since I go through only one 4 ounce bottle a year. As the directions suggest, there's no additional cleaning step. The carrier for the lube -- naphtha -- is also the cleaner. Just squirt it on, spin the chain, wipe it off with a paper towel, done. As my back and neck, knees, etc., deteriorate, the less time I spend bent over or kneeling to clean my bikes, the better.

blacknbluebikes 

Pledge spray-on furniture wax may be helpful. I'm not near salt water, but I do use it a lot after washes. Certainly won't hurt, but avoid braking surfaces, of course.

jaxgtr

I live in Jacksonville, and ride up and down the A1A up here all the time and have never had an issue with rust or corrosion, unless you are riding on the beach and in the water, or leaving the bike outside 24/7, I just don't see this being an issue.

Dudelsack 

Well that was awkward. I sprayed Ballistol all over my taint…my chode…and I haven’t been able to sit still since.