[Poopadoop753]

I'm a college student up in North California. We have pretty mild winters, but sometimes when I'm in class, my bike ends up standing on the rain for 2-3 hours. How determinental is this to the bike, and what precautions do you guys think I should take?

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[Poopadoop753]

nobody knows?

[Ineedhelp]

I'm a college student up in North California. We have pretty mild winters, but sometimes when I'm in class, my bike ends up standing on the rain for 2-3 hours. How determinental is this to the bike, and what precautions do you guys think I should take?

All I can say is that I've had my old schwinn going on 20 years now. I bought it used and it was already rusted, so I've left it outside years on end--particularly when I commuted downtown and had to leave it at the train station for about 12 hours at a time, irregardless of rain, snow, etc. I even left it outside for over a year outside my house once--didn't have a garage at the time and the house was too small to keep inside.

Still rides fine and dandy--and I swear, there's not even a whole lot more rust on it than when I first bought it Yeah, I've had to replace tires, chains, various components from time to time, but even the old generator style light on the bike works as well today as the day I got it, and I've never even replaced a single bulb. Brought it in for a tune up a month ago and they were pretty surprised that despite the rust and bad paint job, overall, it's in good riding condition.

They do make plastic covers that you can put over your bike to protect from the weather--just like the covers they make for cars-- and that may be a consideration.

[Poopadoop753]

Thanks for the advice.

[MichaelW]

Prepare the bike for rain:
Clean and wax the frame and any exposed cables and bolts.
Ensure the bearings are packed full of grease to prevent anything entering.
Grease any metal-to-metal interfaces, particularly the seatpost, stem and the various bolt threads.
Ensure that any cable running through the cable outers is well greased.
If the frame is steel, then put some rust protection inside the tubes. You can get special "framesaver" wax, but I found that WD40 works well enough.
Ensure that the chain is kept lubed. If you ride back in the rain with the lube washed off, dont worry, the wet chain will be OK, but do replace the lube next morning. A dry chain with no lube will wear out quickly.
Put a plastic bag around the saddle.

Your bike will now survive any amount of rain.