jskash

I had a conversation at my LBS about riding my new Giant Escape 1 in the rain. El Nino is predicted for California and I like to ride every day. I was told that if I rode the bike in the rain quite a bit of maintenance would be necessary after the rainy season was over. I don't want to damage my new bike so I am thinking of riding my Giant Cypress when it rains. Is there a way to protect the bike from being damaged when you ride in the rain?

travbikeman

Keep the chain and gearing well lubricated, possibly with a wax based oil.

Oh, also lubing your cables would be good. I tend to spray a bit of wd40 or bike lube into the cable housing.

SkyDog75

More maintenance is required if you ride in less-than-perfect conditions, but it's way over the top to say your bike will be damaged if you ride it in the rain.

Water, which will contain dirt and grit, will be sprayed up from the road onto your bike, which will cause some degree of accelerated wear to moving parts. Just wash your bike after riding in bad conditions to minimize the effect. In addition, you may have to replace cables, housings, bearings, and chain a little more often than if you always rode in fair weather.

CliffordK

I think the chain does wear more in wet weather than dry weather. And, if not taken care of, it can cause sprocket wear. Apparently there is also an increased risk of flats from wet weather.

An aluminum frame should be generally fine.

Rust, and whatnot can occur, depending on how the bike is dried off afterwards and the quality of he components.

I'm not sure if water will get through your bearing seals. Perhaps it is worth considering.

My old steel Colnago (which has too much rust already) is now my dedicated DRY weather bike. My wet weather bike is a Titanium Frankenbike.

bikemig 

There are parts of the world where people ride in the rain on a regular basis. I wouldn't sweat it but I would stay on top of keeping the chain lubed and clean.

wschruba

Put fenders on the bike if you'll ride it in the rain, it will go a long way to mitigating excess wear, and it'll keep you cleaner, to boot.

The stuff that falls from the sky is, more or less, clean, the stuff kicked up from the road is gritty, and will certainly accelerate wear.

Crankycrank

I'll agree with everything mentioned. Use fenders, clean more often and lube more often. Get some softer "wet" brake pads (unless you have discs or carbon fiber rims) such as from SwissStop or Kool Stop Salmons which will create less abrasive wear on your brake tracks yet still work very well for dry riding. If your Bottom Bracket Shell doesn't have a drain hole in it either drill one or check your BB frequently as water tends to collect there with nowhere to go and rusts out bearings. Hopefully you won't be expected to conserve water and skip hosing your bike down after an El Nino deluge this year. Don't know about you but living here in San Diego I welcome some rain for a change.

habilis

Years ago, I ruined a freewheel by riding in the rain. Road grit splashed into the FW and ruined the internals. It had a tiny gap between the freewheeling part and the part that threaded onto the hub. I could have prevented the damage by putting a bead of heavy grease around the gap. Check your freewheel/freehub and see if it has a rubber seal or other protection against water infiltration; if not, consider applying the grease.

As already suggested, a front fender will help protect your drive train. You can make it more effective with a mud flap cut out of a plastic milk jug and pop-riveted onto the fender.

FBinNY 

Bicycles are vehicles designed and built for use outdoors. So just like cars and trucks they need to be able to shrug off rain. I've ridden in the rain routinely all my life, or at least for the last 50 years of it, and have never - repeat NEVER - done anything extra in the way of maintenance. With all that careful non-maintenance, I've never worn out a bearing (except headsets and one rear hub that had specific issues) including those on a bike with over 50k miles on it.

So, if someone says that rain will ruin or damage a bicycle, ask them to sell you an outdoor bicycle instead.

Jeff Wills

Perfect answer!

Aaron's Bicycle would probably give you the same answer. They're in Seattle: Aaron's Bicycle Repair, Inc.

SalsaShark

Proper maintainence performed regularly during less than ideal weather will yield a finely tuned machine. Even my winter bike still spins like a top after riding through the salty slushy roads in Iowa. Get some fenders on there and go ride!

Gresp15C

I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but you will be a lot less visible in the rain, so if you're not already equipped for night riding, I suggest getting a rear blinky, and a headlight that can operate in blinky mode.

I regularly ride in the rain, and it's never been a problem for my bikes.

canklecat

Ask the mechanic about the specifics of the bearings. They'll know whether the hubs, cranks, etc., need special attention, perhaps a different grease, or are fine as-is with only the usual seasonal maintenance.

Other than that, ditto what everyone said.

The last time I cycled routinely in rain was 30 years ago with a cromoly frame bike. As it turned out the frame was remarkably rust resistant, despite the nicks in the paint, and needed only occasional attention. I cleaned and lubed the chain and gears often. But after trying various lubes I settled on Phil's green grease for the hubs, crank and headset. That stuff was waxy without being sticky, tenacious, and water resistant. Never had another problem with all weather riding after switching to Phil grease. But that was decades ago. No idea whether it's still considered the best.

Nowadays with an aluminum frame bike I'm mostly concerned about the simple Suntour spring suspension forks. I don't know how effective the seals are, whether they're considered only dust seals, and whether they're still good after seven years. So I'll probably disassemble it after a couple of wet weather rides to see how it's doing inside. But I don't expect to ride in the rain if I can avoid it.

79pmooney

People say fenders. Yes. If you really want to protect the frame, get full fenders AND see to it that the front fender has a deep flap that is stiff enough or heavy enough to stay down as you go through puddles. I make flaps for every pair of fenders I get, including taking the toy flap off the Planet Bike fenders and putting a real one on. (Rear flaps only help the guys behind you, not your bike.)

Ben

Darth Lefty 

It's not made of sugar

bradtx

jskash, I grew up having to ride a bike in the rain and the bike did fine for years. The only item I increased maintenance on was the chain with more often lubrication. The only real problem I had was when I rode through water deep enough to submerge the hubs and bottom bracket. I also had a bike on my trunk rack in FL and was caught in a thunderstorm, complete with wind speeds high enough to ruin the saddle, and following a complete teardown I found no water ingress.

Fenders are great in reducing the amount of spray from the road. I use a petroleum based chain lube when I expect wet weather riding and I'll clean rims and brake pads of any road grit.

Brad

Juha

This. If your LBS tells you not to ride in water, that's understandable as water will seep into hubs and bottom bracket.

dsbrantjr

The mud flap should reach nearly to the ground, especially on the front fender.

habilis

True - bicycles and their motorized cousins have always been intended for use in all kinds of weather. Modern sealed bearings are even more weather- and dirt-resistant than their predecessors.

I can remember replacing the wheel bearings on many cars I owned back in the day. Shop manuals told you how to hand-pack the new bearing with grease before you installed it, and put an extra bead around the outer aperture to repel water. Today, this ceremony is unknown to all but the owners of classic and antique cars.

I still own bikes built in the 1960s and '70s with loose ball bearings in their hubs, headsets, and BBs, as well as more recent bikes with combinations of sealed and unsealed bearings. One MTB (circa 2010) has loose bearings in the hubs protected with rubber dust shields - essentially the older technology but with a "raincoat."

When I salvaged the bike, I found that the rear hub not only contained water and rust, but the bearing races were also pitted. Time for a new hub when that happens. The bike may have once been at the bottom of a lake for all I know, but I think it was just stored outdoors for a while.

The sealed wheel bearings on modern cars require zero maintenance, and can last the life of the car (although I've had to replace one after about 70K miles). Same is true of sealed cartridge bearings on modern bikes.

The non-sealed bearings that still exist on bikes need periodic maintenance. Service intervals can be extended if we load the bearings with grease of the proper weight and add a bit around the gaps, especially if the bikes are ridden in wet or dusty conditions.

Unfortunately, I've bought a few new wheels lately that had only a thin smear of light-weight grease (looked suspiciously like Vaseline) in the bearing races. I wouldn't expect them to hold up well in bad weather if I hadn't re-packed them with automotive wheel-bearing grease.

rydabent

Of course riding in the rain is bad for bikes. Water carries grit into the chain and RD. Water will get into bearings and cables. As far as frames go, titanium frames are pretty much immune.

How ever many people need or have to ride in the rain. That means far more maintenance is needed.

Moe Zhoost

I ride daily to get to work and back, rain or shine. After a wet ride, I wipe the water off the frame, wheels, and chain, and that's about it. I do have full fenders (which I would recommend for any commuter) that cut down the road grit a lot. This daily rider is going on 45 years old, so I reckon that my routine is effective.

Ronsonic 

Increase routine maintenance. Just getting wet isn't a problem as long as you don't let it stay wet. A lot depends on other factors. Here in Florida riding in the rain carries a lot of fine sand/silt everywhere. Bottom bracket shells should have a hole in them to let this drain out. Otherwise just wipe it down for cosmetic reasons and lube things more often/thoroughly.

IrishBrewer

It helps to know what your bike sounds and feels like when in good running order. Pay attention to that so you'll know when something doesn't sound or feel right.

It helps to put your bike up on a stand from time to time and spin the wheels, operate the shifters, brakes, etc to look for potential problems.

If you ride in wet conditions, do this more frequently and lube more frequently and you'll be ok.

pdlamb

I just bounce my bike when I get in, and if there's a rag handy, wipe the chain off.

Things will rust. But most things can be replaced, and should be in the next 2,000-200,000 miles anyways.

cthenn

I generally ride my singlespeed in the rain, since there are far less moving parts on the bike. After I get back, I hose it down (yes, I hose it down in the rain) to get all the gunk/grit off the bike. Then I use a cheap spray lube to relube the chain. After every ride. Then I dry the bike off by leaving it in the warm, toasty house overnight. It's worked for me, though I can tell the front wheel is about toast now. Really gritty spin, and not very smooth. I have repacked the bearings, but they are starting to rust out. It doesn't bother me too much since it's a cheapo beater designated for rain days, when I'm not trying to kill it.

Also, ditto on the fenders, if for no other reason to keep the spray off of me, and out of my shoes! Also, +1 on the lights. Drivers do not expect cyclists in the rain, and there are far less of us out there, so be sure you're seen!