I cycle year round in Montréal and abhorr salt. However, you should keep this in mind:
- Awfully salt slush exists about 2-3 weeks (total) per year. Winter is actually dryer than Summer and there are often long periods between storms.
- Fenders are, I think, a must. They are more useful in Winter than in Summer. Quite often, there is a light salty mist that is thrown around by the wheels. However, good fenders and mudflaps contain it all and keep the bike clean and in good shape. The front mudflap even protects the bottom bracket.
- My commuter is used 365 days per year, including during the worst times, when I wouldn't like to drive around. With studded tires during icy periods, knobbies otherwise. In late fall, I apply grease under the bottom bracket and grease the chain, and the bike remains in good shape all Winter.
That bike doesn't look as goo as it used to, but I bought it in 1980 and have travelled more than 70 000 km with it. It now has its second set of wheels (one was crashed, the other I broke it) and its second cransket.
- The touring bike is used throughout most of Winter, for longer runs. I usually don't do long trips during the worst weather (I'm not that crazy), so it suffers less from the elements. BTW, I use a rear knobby in Winter but never install studded tires on that bike. It has full fenders and mudflaps and there are no special maintenance issue.
As for "I love my bike! I better not take any chances that I'll harm it, and drive to work all next winter", think about it this way:
- Full fenders and mudflaps protect the bike from the elements, except during the worst of times. Fenders are easily replacable. You can't say that about fenders on a car.
- $1500 (CDN) buys you a really good bike, $500 buys you a very good bike if you select carefully and $200-300 buys you a very good used bike or a decent new bike (in some categories). Even if your favourite bike is a $5000 road bike and you were to buy a $1000 bike every 3-4 years, it would still be much cheaper than the wear and tear on a car.
- If you are fussy about a "performance-oriented" position on your road bike, you will find that you'll prefer a slightly more upright position in Winter, because of bulkier clothing.
Regards,