What is the concern of road bikes in the rain?
 

Last week I went on the BRAN and with the weather, I saw many bikers be really concerned about leaving/having their bike out in the rain. I'm not quite following what the issue is of having your bike sit in the rain. Yes, I understand that it's best not to let things get wet that could cause rust and such, but if you ride through rain, what is the difference?

Michael

i don't know, but i've been riding my 3 month old bike in the rain a bunch lately and now the rear wheel sounds dry and grindy. i'll probably have to replace the bearings. i've never had a modern bike and i thought sealed bearings were bullet proof. i got this bike REALLY wet though.

Riding in the rain is worse on the bike. The road grit gets into things and wears them out faster.
Letting a bike stay wet invites rust. Which is worrisome to someone who is otherwise warm and dry and trying to enjoy a beer.

Not to mention riding a road bike in the rain requires some caution since the tire contact patch is so small. Easier to lose traction (and consequently wreck)

Based on what was on my legs after a ride in in the rain this morning, I know I should do a decent cleaning and re-lubing when I get home tonight. That's not a road bike thing, though some bikes and components are more tolerant of being crudded up than others.

Wet feet. Actually, I hate a mucked up chain .

Be careful around railroad tracks,paint stripes, and not every pot hole is an inch deep! Other than that,keep your bike clean and it will last forever.

Funny, to clean my bike, I give her a good hose-down, then spray some "water displacement-40" around, then wipe it off with a clean rag, then lube with chain lube and triflow. Then another wipeoff with a rag.

Rain isn't the problem, its the lack of after-rain care that is the problem.

The less it's in the rain the better. It's not a big deal, some people are just anal.

That's true for all bikes. The lack of tread actually improves traction on wet cement/asphalt.

For me its that my Slick tires (Specialized Tri-Cross) are well, slicker when wet. Makes cornering a MUCH slower ordeal. That and my road bike is a steel frame, so aside from grit in the components I don't need frame rust.

And the more you spent for your bike, the more anal you get.

I don't want a soaked saddle.

If your bike's components are good quaility it isn't an issue, might need to lube the chain. OTOH, roadies have their quirks :lol:

Some bikes have a better water resistant paint finish, they can handle the rain, a perfect example would be the Trek Valencia, I love this bike. I am not too worried about it, things can rust if the frame gets nicked, but just be sure to watch the bike, oil all the parts and never let the rain sit on the bike. I am a "Raw Rider" and I could care less about the rain. Bring it on!

Non-aluminum parts will tend to rust. A few miscellaneous bolts on my bike have rust spots on them from staying out in the rain.

Well, yes, but road bikes do tend to have the smallest contact patches. As such, when I'm expecting extreme nastiness, I generally don't ride my road bike, favoring my hybrid with 37mm tires (at lower pressure).

Also, the main issue (for me) as far as traction isn't the water on the ground - it's the light sand and gravel that the water brings onto the road with it. It's just a little more stable with a longer wheelbase and more rubber on the road.

It's not like I won't ride through a shower if it pops up, but I do exercise a lot more caution, and end up going slower than I would on my hybrid anyway.

:thumb:+1

Rain doesn't bother me. Getting swamped by a cager driving through a puddle too fast does though.

Some people, mostly roadies, are just wimps! :-)

However, rain does get into things you wouldn't expect. I road in the rain, then a week later got a flat and took off my tire - the tube by the stem was still wet from the rain ride a week ago.

I think refusing to ride your bike because it's raining is silly, but leaving it sitting outside in the rain just seems unnecessary.

glass on the road sticks to wet tires...

Having ridden through several icy and snowy winters, rain is not a big deal from a traction standpoint, on a road bike or otherwise. Beware of wet leaves though ;)

You do have to exercise some caution. I ride my skinny tire road bike typically from April through November, so naturally rain has been part of many commutes. The biggest problem traction wise that I notice is almost zero braking ability from the rear tire if you're going at all fast. I take corners a little more slowly. I don't throw it in "53-11" for the downhills, etc. But for the most part, riding in the rain doesn't make me at all nervous and doesn't add to my commute time unless it's really coming down. Actually, riding on a wet road seems a bit faster to me. Somebody else pointed out in another forum that some record setting TDF stages have been on wet roads.

I think people with mountain bikes/hybrids just assume because of the terrain that they're used on that a little mud, water, and dirt aren't going to hurt the bikes. Roadies don't ride in the dirt ;) They are also a little more performance minded so they worry more about grit messing up their drive trains. They don't want to be carrying any extra grams of sand that might end up on their bike either.

Just watch out for man hole covers.

:roflmao2:

So true... So true.

I hate riding in pouring rain because it really jacks up my drivetrain and gets grit, grim and all sorts of nasty crud all over the bike even though I've got fenders... Not to mention the added road hazards: slick conditions, limited visibility, deep potholes hidden beneath a seemingly shallow puddle that can swallow your wheel hole, slow cornering, etc. And on top of all this I have a steel frame! Can you say "RUST MAGNET"? Ugh. :notamused:

Meh, people think their bikes are made out of sugar. Some people think their bodies are too.

I have a $350 bike, I ride it in the rain whenever it's raining, I don't even bother cleaning it unless it's actually caked with mud, and then I just power wash it. Sure, lots of the components have surface rust on them, but you know what? The bike works perfectly. I ride 4 miles each way of gravel road and my bike is often covered with wet dirt and sand. I don't even clean and repack bearings, and even with my crap components I've never had a wheel bearing go out or make noise, although to be fair I've only run an axle to a max of 15000 miles (broke an axle at that point, and I replaced the front at 12000 when I went to discs up front) so I don't have a HUGE data set to work from.

If buying expensive components means you have to baby them, I'll stick with my $30 derailleurs.

These two posts are at the opposite ends of a spectrum. I feel like I am in the middle. I ride my $1500 steel road bike in the rain all the time... but I take care of it. I soaked the inside of the frame with motor oil, then a few years later I stripped it down and gave it a dose of frame saver. Also, all my fasteners live in a nice blanket of anti-seize.