Originally Posted by
Banzai
So I really think I want to go back to a derailer, and a triple crank. How bad is it in the ice and snow, really? Are there tricks to keep the mech from turning into a dangling hunk of rust? Tricks to keeping things shifting? And honestly, if a couple of cogs skip a lot, it will still be doing as well as my Alfine.
I haven't found them to be that bad for the 35 years I've winter commuted. If you want to avoid rust, don't use steel components. That's a bit tough for the chain but not so much for the rest of the bits. Also rinse them off once in a while. I realize that's harder in St. Paul than in Denver but it should be impossible.
As for the chain, I used a KMC X9 Eco Pro Teq chain (it comes in other widths as well) on a couple of bikes last winter. It's a corrosion resistant chain and it does exactly what it says. It resists rust quite well and is only a bit more expensive than a regular chain.
As for the rest of the bike, I'd suggest titanium for as much of it as you can afford. Titanium is resistant to chloride corrosion unlike aluminum (which is bad) and steel (which is worst).