Road Cycling - Keeping Bike outsite, Weather issues?

Hi all,
I have a steel framed road bike with aluminum parts that I have to keep outside (on bike racks outside my dorm room). Are there any extra precautions I should take? I'm in colorado where it can get very sunny a lot and in the winter very sunny and cold, and frigid cold at night sometimes with snow added in. Anything extra I should do to the bike, such as use special lube or anything or should it be fine? Thanks

Hi all,
I have a steel framed road bike with aluminum parts that I have to keep outside (on bike racks outside my dorm room). Are there any extra precautions I should take? I'm in colorado where it can get very sunny a lot and in the winter very sunny and cold, and frigid cold at night sometimes with snow added in. Anything extra I should do to the bike, such as use special lube or anything or should it be fine? ThanksGet a disposable Huffy to keep outside.

Yeah, I'm thinking a $100 target or walmart campus bike might be the best solution.

JP Weigle's Frame Saver

From the website...

"Modern steel frames have thinner tubes and often develop internal rust problems. Left untreated, rust can rapidly degrade an expensive frame from the inside. Frame Saver is easy to apply and will protect your frame from internal rust. Simply spray into open tubes and let dry. Designed for steel or cro-moly bicycle frames but widely used for general rust inhibiting on road and marine equipment, yard machinery and household items. Quickly gets into enclosed areas and prevents rust from forming. Will not harm painted, clear coated, or bare metal finishes. A 4 ounce (132 ml) aerosol can provides 3 to 5 frame applications. Ideal for use on all old or new frames. Safe to apply over light rust. We recommend it as inexpensive insurance for all steel frames. Proudly made in the USA."

Good stuff.

55/Rad

You can also apply a few layers of car wax to the outside of the frame (and exposed cables) for extra protection. All wax is best applied during the warmer months . If its too cold for a wax treatment, then squirt a little WD 40 inside any frame openings (esp the small pin-holes). This may screw up expensive bottom brackets with replaceable cartridge bearing , but the std Shimano units are resistant to this treatment. A drain hole in this region is a good idea.
Ensure that all metal-to-metal contact is greased: stem, seatpost, bolts, even the BB to chainset interface (OK some folks prefer a dry, surgically clean contact but not for an outdoor bike).
Std lubes are fine.
Keep a plastic bag over the saddle.

I'd be more worried about theft and vandals.

Where can I find JP Weigle's Frame Saver?

There's a lot of bikes on the racks and mine doesn't really stand out. I also will keep it locked well so I don't think that should be a problem. Weather is difinately the biggest issue I think.

Is there a rule saying you can't keep the bike in your dorm room or just not enough space?

Do everything others have said, then when your done, get yourself a Barbeque vinyl cover from any home improvement place (their cheaper then buying a bike specific bag and they fit). Place the bag over the bike and tie the bottom off by using the loops-this will prevent the wind from blowing the bag off and landing on a car's windshield doing 70mph down a freeway causing the driver to go blind and crashing into something! OK that's a bit extreme, but tying it will prevent the bag from flying off; but most importantly it will keep the bike from being rained on.