Well, I don't know how this happened, but it rained in California the other day...just what am I paying my property taxes for?

I like riding in the rain. I commute year round, and I've never really given it another thought, but is it really that bad to ride in the rain? My bike sits either in my heated office or in my dining room when it's not being used. Is this still something to worry about? (I mean, I'm not worried about getting food on my bike - isn't central heating enough to dry out the bike?)

I searched and read some horror stories about frames filled with water, etc etc...but I just find it so hard to believe - how could my frame get water inside? Down the seat post? Is it _really_ a problem?

I keep my bike shiney with liberal coats of WD40 wiped and sprayed on, and since that is actually designed to keep stuff safe from water, I'm assuming the outside is safe.

Should I go to the extreme trouble of striping my bike and coating the inside?

as long as you dry it off, its fine.

Try winter riding in the midwest with salted roads and bikes that spend a lot of time outside (like on a college campus)...THAT is what kills frames

it's never a bad idea to coat the inside of the frame tubes with frame saver or WD-40, but considering that you keep your bikes in climate controlled spaces all the time, i wouldn't worry about going to those lengths.

frames can and do collect water, but mostly from being left in the rain and from being ridden without fenders. if you don't leave your bike out in the rain, and you have fenders, there's really little chance of water accumulating in your frame. many frames have drain/vent holes in the seat stays, fender stays, and fork blades, but what is often overlooked is the bottom bracket shell. if any water is to accumulate anywhere, that's usually the place. it's like a catch basin.

if you left your bike out in damp weather (like in a shed) or you rode in the rain often, i would do it. but since you don't do either, i really wouldn't bother.

Oh I hear that! I have a Murray mountain bike that I use during the winter and I have absolutely no guilt in abusing it.

Weigle's Framesaver, sure, but WD-40 for inside the tubes? Not AFAIK. My understanding of WD-40 is:

1) it's a good short-term rust inhibitor because it drives away moisture, so it's OK for external use, cleaning and maintaining.

but:

2) it's NOT a good long-term rust inhibitor because it evaporates away, leaving no long-term protective coating. So the inside of the frame is better treated with Framesaver, which dries on permanently.

Aside from Framesaver (which I suppose is never a bad idea, but may not be urgent in a dry climate) the measures I'd take are:

- Wax the bike with carnauba car wax (once a year in a dry climate could suffice, maybe more for a bike you ride a lot)

- I think you're right that maintaining the outside of the bike with WD-40 is fine. But if you start waxing the bike now and then, I'd switch from WD-40 to Pledge. I don't think Pledge will remove the wax coating, while WD-40 will.

- After a ride in the rain, hang the bike from a ceiling hook by its front wheel so any water collected in the frame drains out the holes near the dropouts, instead of pooling in the BB.

All of these are good suggestions, but more importantly - RELAX! All this nonsense about a steel frame suddenly rusting away to nothing if it gets breathed on wrong is just that - nonsense! How many rusty cars do you see on the road around you? How many rusty bikes? Not many, I would guess. Riding occasionally in the rain in San Mateo won't hurt your bike one little bit. Don't worry about it. If the bike is ridden and left outside year-round in, say, Detroit - then yeah, you might want to take special precautions. In San Mateo? Nah......

If you do ride without fenders, the biggest culprit is the seatpost, the ones with the open top. The spray from the rear tire hits the underside of the seat then drips down though the opening of the post. This is one time that you literally want to stick a cork in it, then seal the edges with caulking.

One other concern, though it may not be so big in California, is condensation. In more northernly climates, if you store your bicycle in a heated room, then take it outside into the cold, the warm, moist air inside the tubes, will condense. This is a major concern for winter commuters in northernly climates.

The alternative is to ride an aluminum or carbon fibre frame. However, as previously noted, winter road salt is extremaely harsh and pits aluminum. Not sure about carbon fibre. (Maybe we've finally found a valid use for the stuff. )

My understanding of WD40 was that it was wax and oil, neither of which, I assumed, would evaporate. I know it sucks as a lubricant, but I thought it would do what it was designed for - prevent rust - well.

I'm not trying to hijack my own thread - I know WD40 is discussed thousands of times on these forums - but it seems like a perfect solution, and it leaves the bike all shiney!

And, yea, I ride with fenders when it's looking like rain.

Thx for the reassuring words. I didn't think it was that big a deal, as long as I took some basic precautions.

Ya, I am still kicking myself for not cleaning my Super Champion rims after riding in salty slush last winter. New
rims with rusty eyelets .

A couple of questions...

I'd always heard that fenders were more for keeping the person dry than the bike. My understanding was that fenders really don't do much for bicycle care.

How does titanium do for winter riding and the condensation?

same here. i rode one of my vintage bikes in slushy salty icky weather once last year, and didn't have the chance to wash it all off for about a week. much of the hardware got rusty just from that one exposure.

as T-Mar mentioned, spray from the rear wheel enters the seatposts (the open kind). also, wheel spray from the front wheel enters the steerer tube, although that's less of a problem because it drains right out again without entering the frame. it also gets all over the bottom bracket, spindle and cranks. lastly, wheel spray just generally gets all the external hardware coated with road guck (and in the winter, salt and sand-- yuck). fenders keep all that nasty spray off the external hardware, and the frame and external parts only get wet with clean rain.

so, fenders are for more than keeping the rider dry-- it keeps road guck off the bike.

In my opinion fenders help, but are limited. The most susceptible area of a bicycle is the bottom bracket, which will receieve a direct spray for the front tire. To prevent this, you have to have long fenders or an additional mudflap.

Any material will be subject to condensation, the question is how severely it reacts to the condensation. Titanium is one of the least reactive metals when it comes to both water and salts.

I remember visiting my family in Boston when I was a kid, and they were all about Coors beer and California cars. I could understand the rust-free cars, but the Coors I could never figure out.

fenders are probably the best thing you can put on your bike as far as care besides air in your tires and oil on your chain. it dramatically reduces all the road grit that shoots up on your bike from your tires. that means less dirt on your bottom bracket, crank, chain, cassette, and headset. now imagine how much easier it would be for the crap to get in there with water!

as far as Ti goes...well that's a great frame material that isn't going to rust.

but as other posters have stated, there are millions or people in china riding steel bikes in awful conditions and i'm sure not many of them are using "framesaver".

The trouble with wiping the bike down the bike with WD-40 is that the solvent in it removes wax.

The downpour we had this week caught me by surprise. I was on a ladder cleaning out my overflowing rain gutters during the worst of it.

As others have said : don't worry as long as your bike doesn't 'live' outside; make sure to wipe it off after a rainy ride and you'll be fine (I should know, it rains a lot in Belgium and I too commute all year round).
The one thing too avoid is buying secondhand bikes with obvious signs of having lived outside (rusty chain, chainrings, freewheel, spokes, etc.) - you just KNOW you're buying trouble in that case. Anyway, a bit of surface rust here and there really won't make your frame suddenly disintegrate!

Joseph

+1
In fact, when I used Weigles Framesaver on a steel bike a year ago, guess what the instructions recommended to use for removal of overspray? WD-40

I live and die by this link:

https://www.wunderground.com/radar/ra...9&avg_off=9999

I see where the rain is, I see how fast it's coming, I can see a break in the rain long enough for me to get home... I default to carrying rain clothes, but I don't bother putting them on unless I see yellow coming towards me on the radar map...

I don't coat with WD40-- in fact I avoid getting it on painted surfaces if possible. WD40 will soften or remove certain types of paint, especially in prolonged exposure.

At the shop where I worked, every bike that was worked on was wiped down with WD-40 to remove the mechanics greasy figerprints.

I think thats what one of the local flippers does....he deosnt get near them with a wrench but they appear to be wd40'd.

I running a test right now comparing 6 different products in regards to rust prevention. It should be completed by Monday.

The oil components of WD40 do not evaporate. The solvents evaporate quite quickly (as in you can watch a thin layer evaporate) but the petroleum sticks around. It is not a very thick or heavy oil, which makes it awful for lubrication since it just gets pushed away but for sitting on an untouched surface to keep it from rusting, it will stick around.

The reason the other poster mentioned using WD40 to remove excess framesaver is that WD40's solvent properties are so good (while the oil can just be wiped away)