bonz50

for me, if I were going to have a 'rain bike' it would just be a CX style or gravel bike with the appropriate SKS fender/guards on it.... I can use it for MUP trail, rain, etc when I don't wanna use my Synapse. it would be a "rain" bike, but it would still be used for dry rides for other purposes. just how I would do it....

indyfabz

But they are in a lot of other places. Having a foul weather bike is a small price to pay for living in an area that sees enough rain to warrant such a bike.

BTW:

https://www.weather.com/storms/severe...izona-20140803

https://news.azpm.org/p/local-news/2...izona-highway/

Scooper

My main ride is also my rain bike. It has a stainless steel frame, and only takes a few seconds to install/remove SKS Raceblade fenders.

BoSoxYacht

Are you a little slow?

As I mentioned earlier, we get rain occasionally but not often the type sane people want to ride in. It rained Friday + Saturday(a 30 minute downpour each time), but the roads were dry an hour later(other than the flood basins).

joejack951

Pedal Force CX2. Here's my CX1 with Winwood full carbon disc fork (it's a lot dirtier now after ~25k miles)):

dalava

because n+1

Seattle Forrest

A rain bike should cost less than a DA or Red cassette. And you don't want to wear that thing down with all the grit you pick up riding in the rain. Also, fenders and wider tires.

Maelochs

My understanding is a rain bike is the cheapest bike you can ride comfortably for all your rides on days when the weather is terrible and your main ride would endure unnecessary abuse.

This is not a "jewels vs. tools" thing, it is about properly caring for your tools. Riding in the rain eats bikes, not because of rust, but because fine grit gets pushed into every bearing surface and juncture, from the bottom bracket to every link of the chain, and then grinds away at all your mechanicals. Also, you don't want to be swapping fenders on and off your regular ride after every rainy day.

Plus, it is a reason to own yet another bike (n+1 as was noted above.)

No difficult concepts there.

f4rrest

Got caught in the rain today. Rain bike was at home. Doh!

Had to wash the good bike and pick grit out of the brakes when I got home.

LesterOfPuppets

My rain bike is painted steel.

My sun bike is raw steel.

Slackerprince

So, it rains more in Burbank, than it does in Glendale?



S

f4rrest

The worst of it hit me in Pasadena and Eagle Rock today.

Camplex

In some sense, it is counter-intuitive. However, many object to the use of carbon in road bikes and will not ride such a thing, for reasons of safety, aesthetics, ride, etc.

Ti is expensive, not as common as steel, and introduces other issues. I'd love to ride one for a length of time some day though.

Aluminum has its applications, like Ti, and I have an aluminum bike. It's a fast bike but not the strongest or most rugged, so in that sense, I'd prefer my "rain" or "outdoor" bike NOT be aluminum.

Steel, IMHO, offers the better ride of the available options, has been used the longest and has been proven to be the most durable, rustable or not.

Now, I have more than one bike, but I never looked at such things so binary - rain bike and non-rain bike. These choices presume much of course. I tend to avoid heavy rains, due to the grit mentioned earlier, but a light rain is fine. I don't ride a beater in the rain, but a nice touring bike that I've specifically prepped a bit for the elements - all stainless hardware, marine grease, fenders, etc. Now, someone that commutes and has no choice in the matter, may want something that can be punished with a bit more punch. An old aluminum MTB would likely work very well...

grolby

Done both, quite extensively. Race Blades (or Planet Bike Speed EZ) are fine. They do require occasional adjustment, but so do full fenders in my experience. Metal fender hardware also rattles loose. My complaint with the Race Blades is totally different: ride in the rain or on roads wet from snow melt, and sand gets in underneath the mounting pads where the fender is secured to the seatstays. Where it then proceeds to scratch up your paint job. Luckily the bike already had dings and scratches all over it - it's my race bike, not a "rain bike" and I ride it in pretty much all conditions - so it wasn't heartbreaking or anything. But it was a little disappointing. So now I'm using a fender that clips on to the seatpost.

grolby

I have yet to experience a bike getting "eaten" by riding in the rain. Yeah, it picks up a lot of sand. The answer to this problem is cleaning and maintaining the bike, which you need to do with a rain bike anyway unless you enjoy the sound of grinding sand. I've been riding my steel race bike in rain and on wet, salty winter roads for four years now and it has yet to be eaten. I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea of a rain bike if you want to have one, but I do think it's a false economy. Taking care of your tools is cheaper than buying more tools to just abuse.

rmfnla

Or Isla Vista bikes...

rmfnla

Maelochs

First off, "cleaning my bike" to me does not involve removing the bottom bracket, pedals, headset and fork ... and certainly not disassembling the hubs, all of which will likely suffer more on a bike frequently ridden in rain.

But the biggest thing is: Lighten Up. I am just not that serious about all this stuff ("My new component in .02 grams less than yours so I am better!!") It really is a matter of preference, preserving a nice bike with a little less effort, and really an excuse to own more than one bike.

As for a false economy ... depends what you buy (or don't sell) as a "rain bike. But since it is really "a bike" it has nothing to do with economy--it is about owning and riding bikes, which (around here) is way more about emotion than reason.

Here I might get a little more serious.

For a commuter, maintenance is often done weekly (I used to leave at about 7 a.m. and get home at 11 p.m. or so, eat and sleep and do it again five or six days a week.) A cheap bike is useful in a rainy spell in that case because likely it won't even be washed for a week, and likely it will be raining for a few days in a row.

I wouldn't own an expensive bike for an urban commute anyway unless I had an indoor lockup, and then it is useless for post-work errands, classes, etc. because not many stores or classrooms let you bring your bike inside. Theft, potholes, and collision are too real an issue in an urban environment (IME.)

Of course (as others have mentioned) the rain bike can also be set up with fenders. A commuter is not likely to want to have to get up every morning, guess if it will rain, and attach or detach fenders depending.

But for the most part I have never taken this thread seriously--as I noted, there is Nothing hard to understand about people wanting a second bike, a cheaper bike, or a bike to set up for inclement weather.

The whole thread seems kind of mildly humorous to me--I certainly don't want to get anyone riled up with my half-baked opinions.

cwar

Here in Seattle we see quite a bit of rain. Having a rain bike, while not a must, is definitely nice. My rain bike has fenders and hydraulic disc brakes and I much prefer ridding it in the rain over my nice weather bike. If you are going to live by the N + 1 rule then why not have a rain bike? It's just an excuse to have another bike.

fietsbob

I rarely take my Not Raining Bike out any More ..

I have an old MTB I leave the studded tires, on even though ice is not a consistant annual road feature..

banerjek

My rain bike is actually my best bike for the simple reason that it gets the most use.

It's steel, but what I like about it is that it takes fenders (just barely -- when I had it made, I told the builder I only wanted room for 23's since I never ride anything else), you don't have to be careful with torque, and I can be hard on it. The bike itself is only 21 lbs, so it's hardly a tank.

I do run cheaper wheels on it than on my other bikes because I destroy my rims. My commute to work has over 1000' of climbing on pretty steep roads so I never get more than 2 years out of a set.

Rust is a nonissue. You can put tens of thousands of miles on over a period of years and might get a little, but not enough to mess things up.

Standalone 

How do those brakes work??? What kind of levers are those? Linear pull brakes take a different type of lever AFAIK.

66Satellite

I live in Seattle. It rains here. The best way to handle rain is with fenders. Also, I prefer slightly fatter tires (bigger contact patch) and a slightly longer wheelbase. Steel is fine if you treat the tubes from time to time. I had this frame built recently as my ultimate rain bike. Before that I was using a Surly Cross Check. Anyway, riding in the rain is great if you have the right bike and clothing.

ThermionicScott 

Californian cyclists are so adorable when they try to discuss "rain" and "winter"...

grolby

I think if you're reading my post as "too serious" in tone, you really need to look at yourself and not at me. Legit puzzled by your admonition here.