Bicycle Mechanics - When does a bike need to be inside?

Here's a kind of idiot question: is it okay to leave a bike outside overnight, if it's not raining (but there will obviously be dew and condensation)?

TIA,

My bikes are indoors whenever I am not using one of them ... period.

My bikes are indoors whenever I am not using one of them ... period.

Same here.

Me, too.

BTW ... to the OP ... on the idiot question meter ... your ? didn't even register.

Wanna' be more specific? Why WOULD you leave it outside? What's the temperature? Susceptible to freezing rain? Only one night?? We just talkin' about a booty call--that kind of thing??

Thanks.

My bikes are indoors whenever I am not using one of them ... period.
+ another

My bikes are indoors whenever I am not using one of them ... period.
Ditto. Out of sight out of a thief's mind

That would depend on the bike. I came across a titanium bike with carbon fiber rims, sealed bearings etc.. that was neglected for a long time and it cleaned up with no rust and no damage. A walmart bike however might survive a few rainy days before significant rust occurs.

Put the bike inside if you paid a lot for it and or care about, otherwise park it outside.

I would leave mine outside for an occasional night, if you are say crashing at a friends..
but leaving it in the rain/elements as long term storage solution is obviously going to cause more rust and degradation of parts.

My bikes are indoors whenever I am not using one of them ... period.

+7 If I'm not on them they are locked in my garage or vehicle.

Lock indoors the ones you want to keep.

Al

I'd go even farther and say to leave them in the house all winter rather than the garage. That is in unheated garages in the North. Ya park your salt-laden cars in there every night and by the end of winter the concrete floor is saturated with salt brine. The air in the closed garage is pretty damp and salty. As the spring thaws come and daytime temps rise and fall again overnight a lot of salt-air condensation forms on everything including the bikes.

Keep the bikes in the house all winter and most of spring (basement in my case) and avoid the salty condensation on the bikes.
alf
alf

Ditto. Out of sight out of a thief's mind

Word!

salt-air condensation forms on everything including the bikes

Salt neither evaporates nor condenses (at least at temperatures that one could find on the surface of the earth), so this is not a worry.

However, the spirit of the claim is correct: the kinds of temperature swings one can get in a garage in winter are going to put a lot of water on the bike. Not good.

jim

Salt neither evaporates nor condenses (at least at temperatures that one could find on the surface of the earth), so this is not a worry.

However, the spirit of the claim is correct: the kinds of temperature swings one can get in a garage in winter are going to put a lot of water on the bike. Not good.

jim

I heard years ago that it's bad to bring a steel frame in to a warm house from the cold because of condensation, the same way eyeglasses fog over when you come in from the cold, and that this condensation can cause rust. (Of course, if your frame is painted, condensation isn't much of a problem, and the room air won't get into the inside of the tubes to any appreciable degree.)

I'd expect an unheated garage is going to have less extreme temperature swings than what you'd get bringing a cold bike into a warm house.

(Here in the great northwet, we don't have to worry about salt from the roads!)

Me, too.

BTW ... to the OP ... on the idiot question meter ... your ? didn't even register.

Wanna' be more specific? Why WOULD you leave it outside? What's the temperature? Susceptible to freezing rain? Only one night?? We just talkin' about a booty call--that kind of thing??

Thanks.

I'd leave it outside for a couple of different reasons:

1. The commuter has to be parked outside for a couple of nights a week, because I'm crashing at a friend's, and there's no inside or garage storage.

2. The road bike might be left outside if it was on the car rack, I was going to ride it again in the AM, and it wasn't going to rain overnight. So, it's a bit of a convenience thing.

Theft is not an issue in either case.

Thanks,

My bike has it's own bedroom. It would never stay outside.

Booty calls! I think I'd still add one of these. For $15 (Nashbar) it's cheap insurance against rain
http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/medium/NS-PPC.gif

+7 If I'm not on them they are locked in my garage or vehicle.

Lock indoors the ones you want to keep.

Al


+1

When they are +150$.
I keep mine in my room!

Bikes - outside when I ride them - Inside when I'm not. My bikes 14 in all including wife and kid's bikes have thier own shed we call the bike barn. I keep my tools work stand and spare parts inventory in there with a few yard tools and my camping gear. I may put my MTB through Hell on the trail but at home or on the road, it is locked up and stored away from weather and prying eyes.

Even the beat up old 3 spd I use to go to the store lives inside, not so much because of the weather but because of theft. Left a beater in the carport (behind a locked fence) and it got stolen.

When it doesn't need to be outside.

vpiuva,

How well does that cover idea breathe? I'm curious about the "repelling the outside water, but creating and trapping the condensation" factor that cycling rain-gear can give.

When my old MTB HAD TO live on the porch, I "lean-to'd" a tarp over it, but made sure that air flow was good all the way around. Worked out quite well.

Your experience(s)??

Whenever you're not riding it

oh, and whenever the wife allows it

Put the bike inside if you paid a lot for it and or care about, otherwise park it outside.My bikes a never inside. I have no room inside - besides if I brought my bikes in my wife would bring her horse in :)

All my bikes are locked in a shed. It is unheated which imho is better that taking a bike into and out of a heated room in the winter.

Booty calls! I think I'd still add one of these. For $15 (Nashbar) it's cheap insurance against rain
http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/medium/NS-PPC.gifI have one of those. I LOVE it. I don't use it for storage, though. I multi-mode commute so when I lock my bike up at the bus stop, I cover it with that (even though the bike is locked under a roof). It helps keep the bike away from prying eyes. I really believe that this cover really helps to keep my bike safer.

vpiuva,

How well does that cover idea breathe? I'm curious about the "repelling the outside water, but creating and trapping the condensation" factor that cycling rain-gear can give.

When my old MTB HAD TO live on the porch, I "lean-to'd" a tarp over it, but made sure that air flow was good all the way around. Worked out quite well.

Your experience(s)??

My bikes live inside, but ask the poster just above this reply

My bike lives in my room next to my bed.

My bikes live inside, but ask the poster just above this reply

Okay.

HEY! POSTER JUST ABOVE VPIUVA'S REPLY!

How 'bout it?

TIA,
Neil

I commute from Baltimore to Washington by train, so I ride one bike to and from the Baltimore train station and another between the DC train station and the office.

The DC bike (Reynolds 853 steel) stays outside all night and all weekend in all weather. The chain gets lubed every couple of months, the cables get lubed once a year or so. So far, no rust except on the odd bolt and screw here and there.

My bikes are either inside, or under my butt.

My bike sleeps in my kitchen.

I would keep it inside when you are not riding it. for a couple of reasons: Security ( You don't want it stolen), and for moisture / rain etc.