Originally Posted by
Arcanum
You are very much mistaken. Virtually any rotational metal-on-metal contact (such as wheel bearings) in a mechanical environment are going to be oiled or greased. It reduces friction, which also prevents them from heating up and binding, and protects from water, which prevents rust.
You are very much blind. That is a picture of a steel wheel rolling a steel rail without any lubrication (or rust) between the two. You know, rolling as in "roller chain". Surfaces that are somewhat protected from the elements (such as wheel bearings) are an entirely different matter and irrelevant to radically exposed systems such as bicycle chains.
Originally Posted by
Sixty Fiver
So, you don't ride in the rain then... that's fine.
My friend works for the railway.. his job is to replace the train's wheels as they are subjected to epic amounts of abuse and wear and he is never without a great deal of work to do.
On the contrary I ride through every single one of those 45 inches, 365 days a year (366 on leap year), rain or shine. I have to because it's my only means of transportation. So yeah, if a relatively fair weather rider like yourself ever wanted to know about riding in real wet conditions I'd be the first person you should ask and if you say "pretty please" then you might even get an answer.
In the mean time I suggest you ask your friend if he ever lubricates the wheels where they contact the tracks. Maybe you'll learn something, unless you suffer from that uniquely persistent misunderstanding of all things mechanical that afflicts most bike "mechanics".