I used to ride a 1980s butted, chromoly steel roadbike with long drop calipers and fenders. It lived outdoors 24/7 in a damp coastal town with regular rides through sea spray. I never had a problem with rust. If you prep the frame well with wax or whatever you don't have to worry.

I rode my aluminum frame/Cromo fork cx bike 8 miles in the rain yesterday; should I be doing anything to prevent rust or other damage?

Roadies wimps? Not any that I know. If you don't ride in the rain in this corner of the world, you don't ride (at least not much). All the roadies I know have a separate rain bike with fenders and flaps. Come race season, if it's raining, your race bike gets wet.... really wet. If you think it's bad riding alone in the rain, ride in a large pack of 50-70 cyclists; spray coming off everyone's rear wheel. You'll be cleaning grit out of EVERY orifice you have for a day or two.

After reading this thread I am somehow more confused. Is it bad for the bearings? I commuted home in the rain the other night and now my real wheel doesn't spin nearly as freely as it had before. Is there something I can do for this?

None.

I've been riding a pair of ultegra road hubs on my cross bike for ten years. I have gotten them soaked hundred of times. I have never serviced them. They still spin just fine. Worry less.

Bikes are made to be ridden in the rain. If you consistently ride in the rain (like we do around here in the wintertime), you just have to pay a little more attention to drivetrain maintenance. Otherwise, just let you bike dry off after the ride and it will be fine.

If you are leaving your bike outside in the rain 24x7, well that's a different story.

"Worry less". So true.

a wider tire with a lower pressure will provide more flotation due to the fewer pounds per square inch contacting the surface. traction is a combination of things including tread, etc. all other things being equal increasing your contact patch will give you less traction, however all things are not always equal including turning and leaning, meanine a lower pressure tire with tread can provide better traction on wet slick surfaces than a narrow high pressure slick doing the same lean. especially over painted roadway markings

my concern with riding in the rain is a much increased stopping distance if I can stop at all, and hidden potholes under smooth looking puddles, which can wreck a nice new wheel

that may sound plausible, but in the real world, a 700 x 32 high pressure slick gives a bicyclist both greater traction and a larger traction patch than a 700 x 23 high pressure slick.

if any of you have ridden 700 x 23s in the rain you likely know the feeling of the rear tire washing out in the corners, an unsettling circumstance that can be hazardous to your health.

MY concern riding in the rain isn't the bike so much but the other road users that cannot see as well thru the stormy weather. Rain and fog on a december commute is an exercise in limited visibility.

Rain and Metal don't mix... you need to be more careful riding over train tracks, bridge expansion joints, and manhole covers. Otherwise...

Let's try that again...

If you are going to ride your bike in the rain, put fenders on the thing. Road crud picked up by tires is no fun when it is slathered all over your crank, feet, drivetrain, and up your back.