I ride in rain all the time. I commute daily in the pacific northwest.

It rains, its water. The bike is an inanimate hunk of metal. It gets wet, big deal. My car sits in the driveway getting wet too, it still works.

I think most of the refusal to ride in the rain is pshychological. I was thinking of starting a thread on just that. Most people grow up equating anything in the rain to miserable and uncomfortable. Once you have decent gear, you get slightly wet sometimes, then again what cycling hasnt gotten soaking wet from sweat on a hot day ?