Winter Cycling - Will daily bike cleaning be necessary?

If the road is normally filled with sslush (melted snow + mud) and salt, would I need to hose down my bike everyday in order to avoid corrosion?

What do you normally have to do to maintain them? Any corrosion-preventive coating which you can apply?

thanks :)

I hosed off my bike whenever iit had been exposed to salt. I've had no significant corrosion issues over five years of daily use as a result. If you can get a warm water hose, it works even better, as most of the water evaporates before it freezes on your cables and whatnot.

If it's more than a few degress below freezing, you'll need to put the bike somewhere heated to dry off to avoid icing.

Polish your bike frame with car wax. It help to protect the frame and keep it clean.

thats all fine advice. but if you are riding a steel frame remember to do a full overhaul come spring to get rid of all the condensation or what not inside the frame. where i live (toronto) the winter weather oscillates quite a bit, so condensation can and will get inside the frame. I had a dawes touring frame literally rust out from under me earlier this year.

thats all fine advice. but if you are riding a steel frame remember to do a full overhaul come spring to get rid of all the condensation or what not inside the frame.

What about aluminum frames? And what kind of full overhaul?

thats all fine advice. but if you are riding a steel frame remember to do a full overhaul come spring to get rid of all the condensation or what not inside the frame.

What about aluminum frames? And what kind of full overhaul?

so since i have a detached garage, I guess I should bring the bike in the house in the winter- at the very least until it dries...

and what abotu the the chromoly types?

after I wash the grunge off with a hose, I clean my bike with WD40!

WD40 should keep your areas of concern from corrosion.

I might even put new cables on for the winter...cheap enough to do.

Me I keep lube on the chain and hose it off in the spring. That why I ride an old bike converted to fixed gear.
Craig

If it's well below freezing, just leave it outside, then clean it once on the weekend, and very thoroughly (pull the seat tube out, and hose down the inside, then spray with WD-40) come spring. Corrosion accelerates in warm temps, but as long as it stays cold the rate of corrosion is quite slow. I think that if you bring it in, warm it up, and flush diluted warm salt into all the crevices, you'll do more harm than good.

Before winter comes, prep your bike with wax on the outside and Framesaver or WD40 on the inside.
A drain hole in the BB shell will let condensation drain out.
Be careful about spraying WD40 on the outside of your bike, if it gets into the bearings it can dissolve grease. With Shimano cartridge BB units, this will destroy them.

What about aluminum frames? And what kind of full overhaul?


aluminum doesn't rust.

aluminum doesn't rust.
Aluminum may not "rust" but it does oxidize and corrode giving the right conditions, and high concentrations of salt in water seems to do the job. An aluminum frame probably won't have much of a problem except in all the threading. The Al corrosion can freeze any bolt in place. My fixed gear wheels from last winter were nearly destroyed from last winter. The stainless steel cog and lock ring were frozen on to the Al hub and most of the spoke nipples were also frozen, plus the hub was badly pitted. I've also had brake pivots and derailer joints corrode so badly that they ceased to work. So make sure you have some kind of antiseaze on all the bolts and keep the pivots and joints well lubed.
Ofcourse the great thing about a fixed gear is that the bike was still useable despite all the problems.
Craig

true, but on a commuter (though i have no idea if the OP was talking about his commuter), I don't worry about stuck bolts as much as a rusted-through frame, and I think without serious neglect any aluminum frame will stay structurally sturdy after a few salty winters.