I am completely impressed by those of you who commute in any kind of inclement weather.

It was drizzly/misty when I rode in today and not only were the roads treacherous but the drivers were bonkers and I kept slipping off of my handlebar grips. I had to take my goggles off because I couldn't see through the wet but many of the other riders I saw were still wearing theirs. So now I have several questions:

1) How do I keep my goggles see-through in the rain? (Or do they just need to come off?)

2) What can I change on my handlebars to make them more grippy when wet? (They are currently a smooth leather decorative grip, not tape.)

3) Are there tires that are more stable in wet weather but also work for dry weather? (It's dry here 90% of the time.)

Do you have any other tips for riding when it's wet?

Thanks a bunch!

take them off
what kind of handlebars? Ergon makes grips that fit flatbars
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme
slow down when turning, get fenders and a rain jacket

I'm impressed by all-weather commuters also but I'm not one of them...

why would you wear goggles in the rain?

I think worse are triple digit temperatures. It's muggy and humid in the SE, combined with temps around 100 or 101...oy! I felt terrible the entire ride home yesterday

in rain i would ride slow and use wet lube for your bike. i degrease and relube the chain and moving parts regularly. if it's going to rain, i use wet lube. if it's dry, dry lube. - also cleaning up the rims/brakes when i can.

as for keeping the rain out of your face any eye wear doesn't really help. a visor is the best thing to help with that - at least for me it is.

with wet handlebars, i usually dry them before i place my hands. then i don't move my hands for the rest of the trip due to them slipping. also for pedals i have toe clips that reduce slippage on pedals and keep them on.

best of luck!

As came up in another thread, my chief motivation for bike-commuting is the enjoyment. So I give myself license not to if the weather looks too ****ty. Once something becomes a miserable chore, I'm out.

Two of my bikes were purchased specifically for rain commuting, a belt drive Alfine 11 Raleigh Misceo and a shaft drive Alfine 8 Dynamic Tempo.

Neither uses a chain or derailleurs and both are built for stability (that means they are HEAVY) and run 35 to 40 mm tires (Schwalbe Marathon Plus on the Raleigh and Kenda Courier on the Dynamic)

Both have flat bars with Ergon or Rideout grips -- no advantage to drop bars in a rain commute where IMO visibility is even more important than in dry conditions and where speed and aerodynamics are not even secondary considerations. Ride slow and be able to stop at will is the key in the rain or snow.

Both have full coverage fenders and are decked out with multiple spoke, seat stay, rack and headlights.

Both run disk brakes and I know the Raleigh has hydraulic Alfine brakes, I THINK the Dynamic has hydros too but they might be cable.

Eyewear is essential in the rain IMO as you will be blinded otherwise by rain in any significant descent. I use Tifosi glasses with water repellent lenses but there are many similar options. Don't think I would use full coverage goggles because of the fogging.

There are sacrifices made, both bikes are very heavy and run very heavy tires so they both get used mainly as winter bikes, I use much lighter and faster road and hybrid derailleur bikes for nice weather commuting.

I guess the point of my post is that to make winter/rain commuting enjoyable you either should consider a bike specifically set up for that purpose or be prepared to make significant modifications to your summer bike to get it ready for rain commuting, almost all of which will compromise the riding enjoyment of that summer bike compared to its summer setup.

I'm guessing you haven't been commuting by bike all that long?

Like many things, it's a skill... and you get better at it. You learn what works. You learn what not to try. You figure out what equipment works best.

Goggles are good against bugs, dry snow, and bitter cold. Not much use in rain.

A helmet visor can be good in the rain, but hurt my neck by making me hold my head up straighter than I wanted.

Bonkers drivers? I shifted my schedule so now on my morning commute I hardly see any drivers. There are drivers in the afternoon, but they're all on an early schedule as well, not too impatient yet.

If your hands are slipping off the handlebar, maybe your handlebar is in the wrong position? When my hands are on the bar, they're where they want to be, and they don't slip off.

If you live in an area where it doesn't rain much, a little water is likely to make your roads very slippery. I don't know what it is, but roads are slick when the rain first starts. After they're thoroughly wet traction improves again. I don't blame my tires; I ride cautiously.

youngbull - I took a bee to the eyeball last week while riding at about 20mph. It hurt like crazy and reminded me that eye protection is super important. You never know what a car is going to kick up.

rhm - you are correct, I am new to commuting which is why I'm coming here, to the bran trust for insight.

And I definitely blame my tires because they are not exactly grippy.

Thank you fall for the tips!

ShortLegCyclist - can I PM you about your Rodriguez? That's my dream bike.

I like riding in the rain. I think it's fun. And I've learned that it washes off.

Having fenders vastly improves things. When I get caught in the rain on my fenderless bikes I notice that 80% of getting wet comes from the water kicked up from the wheels. And unlike the water that is falling from the sky, the water off the wheels contains mud, rocks and sand that turn me and the bike into a mess. I arrive a lot less soaked and a lot cleaner if I have fenders.

It's rare that the rain is coming down so hard that if affects my vision. I just wear my usual sunglasses, or if it's darker out my clear safety glasses. Occasionally I'll wipe them off on my shirt when I stop. There have been a few times where it's rained hard enough where it was easier to see if I just removed the glasses altogether. In those situations I wind up riding a little slower anyway.

Never had a problem with my hands sliding off my grips. On my rain bike I'm just running the stock rubber grips, so they're nothing special. Do your hands slide off when they get sweaty too? May want to change grip material.

Haven't had any trouble with traction. My main rainy-day bike runs 32mm tires, so not super thin but not extremely wide either. After I read Sheldon Brown's analysis that physics won't allow bicycle tires to hydroplane until somewere north of 100 miles per hour I gained a lot more confidence in my tires staying planted on wet pavement. Manhole covers and railroad tracks are another story; avoid them in the rain.

I normally carry all my stuff in re-usable cloth grocery bags which I then place in my panniers. That makes it easy to carry everything too/from the bike. My panniers are rain resistant, but not waterproof. When it's really coming down hard I'll wrap those grocery bags in plastic grocery bags which keeps all my clothes nice and dry.

As far as motivation I always tell people that when it comes to bike commuting, "Deciding to do it is harder than actually doing it." Whatever the weather obstacle, be it rain, cold, ice, snow or extreme heat, I can easily come up with excuses not to ride when I'm looking out the window. But once I'm a mile down the road I always think, "Hmmph. This is no big deal!"

Sure, love my Rodriguez, but it cost way too much to mixed mode commute with unless I am sure I can catch the train. I really don't want it sitting on the rack in front of the bus for 40 miles.

But I would use it for a 12 mile or less commute (because that's about as far as I can get in a hour in urban stop and go traffic conditions) without hesitation all year long as even though it runs a chain, it's otherwise pretty weatherproof with the Rohloff hub, fenders and 26x1.5 tires.

I chose a chain for it because the intention is to tour internationally with this bike and replacing a Gates belt in Asia or South America or Africa could be a big problem whereas replacing a chain should not be. That's the same reason it has 26" wheels.

I'm still new to commuting. Started this summer and have done about 4 rides or so. I've been caught in the rain twice, but it was light both times.

1. My cycling sunglasses haven't fogged up or anything in the rain. When the weather is hot and humid outside, my regular glasses will sometimes fog up when I go into an air conditioned building. My cycling sunglasses have not done this.

2. I didn't have slipping problems with the grips, which are covered in some kind of faux-leather tape.

3. My bike came with wide (1.75 ") "all weather" tires for handling potholes, gravel, and sand as well as road, so they're fine on wet pavement. I suspect I'd have to be more careful if the bike had skinny road bike tires. In any case, I try to ride slower if it's raining, and try not to put myself in any situation where i'd have to brake suddenly.

I'm comfortable commuting by bike when the forecast calls for rain. What I avoid is thunderstorms - nobody seems to have any good answers for riding when lightning is in the air, other than to seek out a bridge of some sort and wait out the lightning; or just don't ride at all (drive, take bus, take subway, etc.).

Thanks, ShortLegCyclist!

No eye wear in the rain (though you could get some anti-fog spray).

I run Gatorskin slicks dry and wet. Just take it a bit slower through turns and leave yourself extra stopping distance, just as you would in car.

I really enjoy riding in the rain. It makes me feel like a kid jumping in puddles. Just remember to have a dry change of clothes at work.

Forgot to mention footwear. Biking sandals are great in warmer weather, and waterproof shoe covers in colder weather.

I prefer not to ride in the rain but sometimes you can't help it when commuting. I almost always wear sunglasses or other eyewear to protect my eyes and see clearly. However, when it's raining hard or foggy, I sometimes take them off. I also keep a bandana handy to wipe off my glasses when they get wet.

For handlebars, I have found that cork tape is still grippy when wet, and the same is true for other types, such as Lizardskins.

Regarding tires, there are various brands of tires that are marketed for having better traction on wet roads, such as Continental GP 4 Seasons, Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech III, and many others. I have ridden dozens of different kinds of tires on wet roads and have not noticed huge differences, but I slow down and ride more cautiously, particularly when cornering.

Fenders will help more than anything when riding in the rain. I have found that rain jackets can be very effective in cooler temperatures, say below 60 F. However, in hotter temperatures you might get as wet from sweating as you would from the rain.

My opinion, FWIW, is that lightning is overrated as a risk to the bicycle commuter. Sure a handful of people get hit by lightning every year. Maybe even some of them might be on a bike. But compared to the number of people in the world, the number is staggeringly small.

If I was in a car/bus, what's to say it doesn't have the same risk of being hit by lightning that I do on my bike? Perhaps even more because it's a bigger target? Being in a vehicle hit by lightning can also be lethal, but we don't seem to have the same aversion to being out in an electrical storm if we're in a steel cage. I suspect being isolated from the elements gives us a false sense of security?

I'll play the odds and keep riding. I realize that not everyone is comfortable with that decision. But in the grand scheme of things getting hit by a car because of poor visibility is a much greater risk than lightning. And that's pretty small too.

I'm mainly referencing this thread, in which the consensus (not including joke posts and the like) seems to be "get under a bridge" or "just don't ride" - if you don't agree, feel free to jump in, as it's still a live thread - you wouldn't be alone, btw - there was at least one other person who said he'd "just ride":

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...derstorms.html

My hat's off to the truly hard core commuters who will ride no matter what, lightning or not. Never claimed to be one of them myself and the record will bear this out.

I'm a california boy, so take that into account. But before our drought, when we'd actually have some reasonably wet winters I found the act of THINKING about riding in the cold and rain seemed nearly insurmountable. Yet with just a tiny bit of preparation, once you are out there it becomes relatively easy. Sure, cold fingers and face, and some wet discomfort, but I would just kind of focus on riding and usually just end up smiling... Running out of dry clothes/shoes would get old, though.

Absolutely agree with this. When it's just pouring down I'm not super-enthusiastic about commuting in, but I have to regardless as it's my only way to work save having my wife drop me off (which I haven't yet resorted to). About two minutes out the door, however, and I'm completely fine with my decision to ride. It's actually somewhat fun.

For fogged goggles, there are anti-fog applications that can help. I'd maybe even try standard Rain-X and Fog-X for the respective outer/inner surfaces.

For slipping, I'd probably just change tapes, though I haven't noticed any problems with my grips/tape.

And for slipping, I just tend to go slower, especially on the turns. No real insight on particular tires that perform better in wet conditions. I do use 28s on my cross bike and 2" on my cargo, so maybe forgo 23s or 25s if that's what you're running.

Good clothing helps. Got gloves to grip? I like the panaracer passelas in 700x 35 for good grip. And HTFU.

Big difference between getting hit by lightning on a bike and in a car.

In a car you are surrounded by the metal that transmits the electricity to the ground; on a bike you are part of that circuit.

FWIW, I heard a news story on the radio the other day that said the safest place in a lightning storm is indoors and the next safest is in a car...

Amen to that!

It's been unusually humid here in SoCal and I hate it!

As for rain, I just don't like the feeling of being rained on while riding, and the spray kicked up by passing cars is even worse.

Also, I'm OCD about my bike and hate the idea of subjecting it to those conditions...

It's because the water interacts with all the car oil and junk that gets trapped in the pavement when it's dry, and turns the road into an oil slick. With enough moisture, the oil and dirt wash away, which is why traction improves, but light moisture just brings it all to the surface.