Cougrrcj

Sealed bearings were available in the '70s, but they were rare. They became much more common in the mid '80s or so, in both wheel hubs and bottom brackets.

Back when my bike had loose ball bearings, I was somewhat fanatical about repacking my bearings. I was also riding a lot more than I do now, and getting caught in the rain more than I do now. At the peak, I was riding 10-15 thousand miles per year. After having my bike for several months (and several thousand miles), I built up a new set of wheels using top-of-the-line components. Sealed bearing hubs, 14/15/14 stainless butted spokes, and narrow double-wall eyeletted clincher rims. That wheelset was trouble-free and required not one bit of servicing other than a slight truing in over 20,000 miles.

That particular bike has somewhere north of 45,000 miles on it now. I am only now thinking of replacing the original bottom bracket - with a sealed unit!

Oldpeddaller

Hi Caribou007,

I live and ride in England - if I didn't ride in the rain I'd rarely ride my bikes at all! (Though to be fair, the weather was beautiful today and yesterday :-) )

To try to answer your last few questions: Bottom bracket bearings, hubs, headsets, stems and seat posts should be greased before assembly and during overhaul. Riding when it's raining won't wash out good grease but if water is allowed to collect it can weaken the grease (emulsify it) and start rust on untreated surfaces - or electrolytic corrosion where for instance there is an aluminium alloy stem or seat post in a steel frame. If these parts have been coated with grease before assembly it isolates their surfaces and resists the ingress of water in the first place. Therefore, no need to worry too much.

Steel stems and seat posts are just as likely to become stuck as alloy ones if this is neglected. (I'm trying to free off two steel MTB frames with stuck stems and seat posts at present - these had been left outdoors in all weathers - not by me!) A light wipe of grease on the stem shaft & expander and around the seat post before they were inserted would have avoided this.

WD 40 won't protect the grease, if it comes into contact with grease it will tend to dissolve it. However, WD 40 WILL displace water from exposed parts and leave a light protective layer on it, so it's useful to spray on exposed wet parts like the chain and sprockets after a wet ride - then treat them to a spray lube or a drop of oil ready for next time. So, when I come back after a long wet ride, before I go indoors and get dry I simply wipe the bike clean with a soft cloth, squirt WD 40 and chain lube on the chain, sprockets and derailleurs and lock it in the garage ready for the next ride. Takes about 5-10 minutes in total. If I ride to town to shop or work, then the bike is likely to stand outside all day in the rain anyway with just a plastic bag over the saddle and still waits until after the ride home to be dried off and lubed.

I tend to check and grease my hubs every time I remove them from the bike, it doesn't take long and I can adjust the cones at the same time - probably a couple of times per year. I've got 20 plus bikes so this is often enough!

Traditional ball race bearings can last a very, very long time (arguably almost indefinitely) if occasionally greased and adjusted like this. Sealed bearing BB's and head sets don't need so much attention but they do wear out after a while and are more expensive to replace than just popping new ball bearings into the older style units.

In my experience, headset bearings are more likely to suffer from the bike being transported at high speed on top of a car and the grease being blown out by the slipstream, than by a little bit of rain falling on the bike in normal use.


BTW, one 'old-timer's dodge' taught me by an experienced cycle tourist is to cut a length of old inner tube and stretch it so it covers the bottom half inch of seat post and seat clamp area - and the same for the base of the stem/ top headset cup and crown race/bottom headset cup. It looks a bit tatty, but certainly keeps the road salt, etc out during winter riding.


Hope some of this is helpful.

Grand Bois

My 1974 PX10 has never been wet.

RobbieTunes

[h=1]Do you not ride in the rain? Rust.. Headsets.. BBs..[/h]Only on carbon.

OldsCOOL

I refuse to ride in the rain. I have the "my radar" app to help keep me dry.

burnfingers

Adding my 2 cents, I ride a steel '68 roadie with half-fenders rain shine or snow and haven't had any problems. After a wet ride I usually take a few minutes to towel off anything that's not painted, or the whole bike if its really soaked, then it gets leaned up against the wall in the living room until the next day. Things have to stay wet to rust; Getting wet every now and then wont harm anything as long as you take care of it and keep it indoors where it can dry out. Grit and grime in the barings, that's your real concern riding on wet roads ime. Your best bet is to get a set of fenders on it, not only to protect you from wheel spray but to prevent your tires from spraying grit into your BB headset barings shifters calipers pads etc.

As to greasing, I usually check and regrease/repack all barings twice a year. Once in ~May (after the wet season) and once in ~October (after the dry season) to clear out accumulated road grit dust ect and keep things rolling nicely.

(unwrapped temp bars/lever, old pic)
(these came out of a MTB this summer, grease washed away and they basically chewed through their cage/eachother)

crank_addict

Doesn't take much effort or time to fog the inside of a steel frame. The components and chain are no big deal either. Spray and wipe. Takes a minute to remove the chain, soak in kerosene, wipe off and use your fave lube. As for riding in the rain, I sometimes welcome it especially in those burning hot Summer days.

Vonruden

I smile the entire time riding in the rain, just something about it that is fun. That said, rainy days I ride my beater.

Northwestrider

Lube the chain regularly, and once a year or so grease the wheel hub bearings ( it is easier than it sounds )

Drillium Dude 

+ a bazillion.

Not a fan of rain. Wet lycra (not to mention real leather shoes) is not comfortable, and fenders or no fenders stuff's going to get ucky and a proper cleaning takes awhile. But the real reason I abhor rain riding is the brake pad residue that stains my rims, spokes and pristine tan sidewalls!

The exception would be the Davidson as all the revolving parts have sealed bearings, and it's not like I'll have a choice during my WA to AZ ride in June. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed on that one.

DD

Ankheg

I try to have fenders on all my bikes, because riding in wet weather with fenders is vastly preferable to riding in wet weather without them. I repack hubs and bottom brackets annually, save the bottom bracket and silly FFS on the Schwinn, which gets seen to twice a year because of its dumb design. Haven't had any problems so far. Despite what some of the racer types on the bike trails around here seem to think, lubricating the moving parts on a bike isn't a sin. Keep everything well-lubed, wipe the bike off when you get home, and you're probably good to go.

On most of my bikes, fenders or no, I stick a rubber cork stopper thingy in the top of the seatpost. Keeps dirt and water out. (And on the old three-speeds with the cottered cranks, it keeps the oil I dribble down the seatpost in, as well.)

RobbieTunes

I twice drove in the rain, once to a triathlon, once to a biathlon.
Each time, I had 2nd thoughts, but figured I'd better not be a Nancy.

Registered in the rain, changed into kit in a porta-jon, racked my bike in the rain.
It sucked, but something inside me held out for a dry ride.

Swam in the rain, ocean, and people were vomiting in the water, so I swam on my back.
Ran in the rain in the biathlon (1st leg) and it got cold and my nipples got raw.
It sucked, but something inside me held out for a dry ride.

Rode in the rain, blowing wind, on a bridge over the inland waterway.
Probably peed myself, but didn't know it, because I was already soaking wet, in the rain.
Rode the biathlon leg in the rain, blowing wind, open fields with no protection.
Darn near dropped it at the turnaround, and they made us dismount before the finish and run across the mats.
It sucked, and something inside me said "oh, you are so stupid."

At my age, I have decided not to do things I really don't want to do.
Deal with morons if I'm not getting paid for it.
In-laws. Eat things I don't like. Watch The View.
Text. Eat at buffets. Rum. Ride in the rain.

rootboy 

I like it.

Only deleted one, to adapt for my own usage.

kickstart

Mop & Glo to protect, Boeshield T-9 to displace moisture, protect, and lubricate.

Paramount1973 

Rum? Each to his own.

Caribou007

What are indicators of sealed/non-sealed bearings?

bradtx

Sealed bearings have some device like rubber or plastic to separate the races and bearings from the outside elements. There are images if you search the web.

The worst any of my bikes have been subjected to was when I was caught on the interstate with the bike on a trunk rack. Winds upward of 70 MPH and monsoon like rain had all traffic stopped for the better part of an hour. In spite of my saddle being ruined there was no water in my unsealed headset, which would've/should've received the worst of it.

Riding in the rain is more problematic with dirt and grit from road spray.

Brad

crank_addict

Usually you can see the part number or maker id on an outer seal. Non serviceable and some call them 'cartridge' replaceable type. IMO they don't offer any advantage other than minimizing maintenance. That is a huge plus for the majority but if your picky about maximizing efficiency, lower rolling resistance and perfecting end-play, I'd go without sealed bearings. Many late 70's and up use sealed cartridge hubs and bottom brackets.

Aemmer

Worried about water damage to bike by riding in the rain, seriously?

Don't move to the Pacific NW.

TomJD

Decent grease is.... water repellent! Nor will it adsorb any significant quantity of water. Assuming you have generously packed your bearings, and aren't blasting away at your hubs, bottom bracket, headset with a pressure washer, you aren't going to going to have any issues of water penetration or corrosion of these bearings and races. As others have stated, repacking of your bearings once a year or so should be more than sufficient to clean and restore these bearings.

Absolutely do not spray WD40 on your greased bearings... the solvent in the WD40 will dissolve the grease and remove it from where it is providing protection and lubrication.

Chains are a different story.... they are completely exposed and generally use a much smaller amount of a less viscous lubricant that is more easily removed. That's why you clean and relube your chain more frequently than your headset, wheels, etc.

Think of the extra grease in traditional bearings as a renewable seal that you are responsible for. It works very well. Stop worrying. Do your routine maintenance and just ride.

Dfrost 

I don't like to start a ride in the rain, but there have been plenty (note my location) that I've finished in the rain. I prefer washing the bikes as soon as possible after a rainy ride, and make a point to wet-brush clean the rims and tires. That's what gets most filthy after riding in the rain and that grey grime is aluminum oxide - the same stuff that is used to make sandpaper! My wheels tend to last a very long time - still using a rim that I built up in 1992 and it shows very little sidewall wear. The chain lubes I use (Boeshield, Pro Gold) both seem to hold up well out here.

Nearly all modern BB's are sealed bearings these days, as are many headsets. That doesn't mean that they are completely impervious to water entry, but better than the older types that had exposed bearings. I haven't had to replace and of my BB or HS yet, but I always use higher quality brands and models.

Decent hubs (most mid-range and above Shimano, at least) have good labyrinth seals. I've purchased old RX100, LX and XT hubs that probably had no rebuilds in their history, and still felt fine. I typically rebuild them with fresh grease before using them on my own builds, but haven't had to rebuild one of those a second time yet, so I'd say that 3000 miles would be unnecessary. Sealed bearing hubs would be a better, but not required IMHO. BTW, WD-40 won't protect anything. In fact, if you sprayed it on a greased bearing, you run a risk of removing the grease you're worried about protecting.

Stems and seatposts should always be greased when installed, and that will prevent water entry from above. For quill stem expanders, I also liberally grease the bottom of the bolt and all of the expander surfaces.