Oakman

I'm looking to relocate along the central Florida Atlantic coast. Is there a certain distance from the coast where damage from salt is minimal? Should it even be a factor?

Flip Flop Rider

not sure but seems a bicycle is pretty tough

fietsbob

Warmer the water the higher the salt contents it can carry , so Florida is not where you want to be.

No place in the state is far from the sea..

biketampa

it shouldn't be a factor if you at least occasionally wipe down/rinse your bike.

Stormsedge

I kept my mtb chained to a picnic table outside my RV about 300yds from Tampa Bay for two years (motorcycle and pickup as well). Covered the seat and shifters with plastic grocery sacks. Sprayed it down with the hose and WD40/chain lube every once in a while. No worse for wear. It's a bike.

Wheever

I've ridden my Fat bike on beaches and even through salt water. Just rinsed it down with a hose after, toweled it off and then lubed stuff and it was fine. Don't worry about it.

TimothyH

I'd be more concerned with elevation and storm surge than proximity and salt air.

700

Probably this:

CliffordK

I'd think your impact from the sea would be minimal in a place like Orlando. It would be easy enough to see. Just visit the city, or Disney World, and see if every hinge and scrap of metal visible has deep corrosive rust on it.

Your issue, of course, is that you'll probably not just stay in Orlando. How boring would that be to be 100 miles from the sea in either direction... and never going to visit.

GlennR

Carbon fiber doesn't rust.

I'm 200 yards from as inlet and 1/2 mile from the open bay.

Kedosto

I live in San Leandro and commute past the marina, along Alameda island and am literally a stones throw from the water. Heck, I suppose if I wasn't careful on the Alameda bridge I could find myself IN the water. I ride steel bikes and have done so for many, many years. I've never had a single issue with rust. Never.


-Kedosto

Steve B.

I'm 1/3 mile from a tidal inlet, store 3 steel bikes in a basement, where it's cool. No issues in 20 years.

I'd be more concerned about the house flooding from hurricanes and would want to be well above the flood zone.

WNCGoater

You're moving to Florida and worrying about rust? As others have said, more things to worry about... like hurricanes.

PdalPowr

jon c. 

Bikes that sit on the screen porch at our beach house a few hundred yards from the gulf do develop rust problems. But they're almost never ridden and never cleaned. I live 25 miles from the water and we have no problems at all. Not really an issue unless you're very close to the water and even then as long as the bike is being ridden and maintained I don't think it would be a major issue.

McBTC

It's no worse on a bike than on the millions of cars and door knobs... nothing to worry about-- just don't be so close you get sand in your chain.

FBinNY 

The distance you're talking about is measured in yards, not miles.

The pounding surf puts some salt into the air, where it may blow inland a ways before the salt settles out and back to earth. Humidity is also a factor as is wind direction, but a few hundred yards makes a world of difference.

What you have to worry about a bit more is riding through road puddles close to shore, since those will be salty.

This isn't anything to obsess over. I have bikes in Cozumel which is about as bad as you'd find anywhere, and there's no serious issue. Likewise, there are acti9ve cycling communities along both coasts of Florida, and if there were a material issue, there'd be all sorts of discussion about it, and products made specifically for it.

ramzilla

No worries. Just get used to hosing the bike off with fresh water and letting it dry off in the garage. I've got a steel bike (Trek 700 something or other) I've been riding up and down the beach here in Amelia and BITD Daytona since 1992 that's in great shape. Not a spot of rust anywhere. Hose it off with fresh water and fuhgetabowdit.

Oakman

What's this about hurricanes? I was wondering why so many houses for sale there have new roofs on 'em.

Thanks for the tips. I don't believe we will end up too near the beach, but hosing down the bike regularly sounds easy enough. And while I am an old steel fan, the idea of using the corrosion issue for justifying a carbon bike is a good idea. Even my wife would believe that.

MikeyMK

I rode on a beach once, new mountain bike in the late '80s, on the flats. No problem with sinking in the flat damp sand, as long as i didn't stop completely. The tide was well out, but i went out far enough to get the sea water spraying everywhere - it was great fun.

The next morning i went out to do the same again, but no. My bike was solidified. The chain was just one solid piece of steel. My dad wasn't impressed. We went and got a wire brush and some WD40, and i spent a few hours saving the thing.

So......well, about 100yds out on the flats.

bikecrate

...and horrible drivers and bad infrastructure.

wschruba

I'll add to all the above stuff--I used to ride one of my bikes (not regularly, but, you know) right next to the beach on awful, blowing days. Steel bike, aluminum spoke nipples, you know, all the stuff that people say will destroy it. Anyway, it was rinsed off maybe once a week, with no corrosion problems years later. One bike that gets pretty much only that treatment whenever it is ridden has a rusty chain, but that's it. It rolls/runs fine.

That said, it depends on the use of the bike. If it's hopping to the bar? Do what the locals here do: ride it, put it away wet, and buy a new one in 4-5 years when it needs to be repaired.

If it's a valuable/desirable bike, well, rinse it off when you're done.

John_V 

I live in Tampa, about 15 miles from the bay and about 35 miles from the Gulf. I do a lot of rides along the beaches and never have hosed down my bikes after a ride. No rust on any of the metal parts on my bike. My frames are carbon so I don't even concern myself with rust on them. I also have a hybrid bike that hardly ever gets ridden and it sits under a plastic cover in our backyard shed. No big rust issues with that one either. Unless you plan on riding on beach along the water, I wouldn't worry too much about rust if you clean your bike on a regular basis.

John_V 

I think we have the worst of the worst.

DasBlunderbuss

I'm in Daytona Beach, half a block from the ocean and ride the beach a few times a week. Quick wipe down and lube every now and then and rust hasn't been an issue for me. The 15 miles of hard packed beach is one of the nicest rides over here.