I hate getting my bike wet
04-05-17, 10:38 AM
#1
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I hate getting my bike wet
Driving down the Interstate and get passed by an SUV with a very expensive carbon bike on the back. It rides on an expensive rack and looks to have carbon wheels. The bike is all yellow so it either has had the decals stripped,or a repaint. It could be a custom bike, or at least the owner has more interest in the machine than just plunking down the money. We're going through a downpour the bike isn't just getting wet like it would on a roof rack,but road grime and grit is entering every nook and cranny.
My Miyata 721 is snug and warm in my back seat. It's likely worth a couple of hundred on a good day, but I've dodged a half hour of cleaning and possible grease contamination by putting it inside my car. It's my winter bike that I'll ride on roads that have been sanded and salted, but I never get any bike wet needlessly. Generally if I ride in the rain, I made an error.
Do you try to prevent your bikes getting wet?
My Miyata 721 is snug and warm in my back seat. It's likely worth a couple of hundred on a good day, but I've dodged a half hour of cleaning and possible grease contamination by putting it inside my car. It's my winter bike that I'll ride on roads that have been sanded and salted, but I never get any bike wet needlessly. Generally if I ride in the rain, I made an error.
Do you try to prevent your bikes getting wet?
04-05-17, 10:50 AM
#2
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nope
04-05-17, 10:52 AM
#3
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Mine rides in the car to keep it safe.
I'm not concerned about the wet and dirt, because if you ride it enough, its gonna get wet and dirty. I just don't want to be waiting at a red light and have the kid, who's texting behind me, rolling into the bike on a hitch rack.
Last time I road in the rain.
BTW... carbon doesn't rust...
But they might shrink
I'm not concerned about the wet and dirt, because if you ride it enough, its gonna get wet and dirty. I just don't want to be waiting at a red light and have the kid, who's texting behind me, rolling into the bike on a hitch rack.
Last time I road in the rain.
BTW... carbon doesn't rust...
But they might shrink
04-05-17, 10:55 AM
#4
LBKA (formerly punkncat)
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Screw the bike. My momma told me not be out in the rain. Might catch cold or something. Don't be silly!
04-05-17, 11:05 AM
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My after work riding bike lives in the back of my car, simply because I can't deal with parking decks with it up top and with a 90-some mile RT commute, it kills the fuel economy to a noticeable level.
On weekend rides, though, it goes up top in any weather.
On weekend rides, though, it goes up top in any weather.
04-05-17, 11:15 AM
#6
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04-05-17, 11:18 AM
#7
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no
04-05-17, 11:20 AM
#8
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Doesn't rain much where I live so rain one day is a passing thing. I'll wait one day then ride in the dry conditions. No sense riding on a rainy day adding an hour of cleaning up the bike when all I have to do is wait one day.
But getting the bike wet as in driving with the bike on the car rack is no big deal (easy wipe down dry). Riding in wet gritty conditions is what gets my bike thrashed.
But getting the bike wet as in driving with the bike on the car rack is no big deal (easy wipe down dry). Riding in wet gritty conditions is what gets my bike thrashed.
04-05-17, 11:29 AM
#9
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Yay! First with "it's a tool, not a jewel!"
04-05-17, 11:43 AM
#10
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No need to expose it to the elements when not being ridden if possible. Plus, my frame has a ceramic coating so touching up a chip caused by something like flying debris on the highway is not possible. One reason I bought a Subaru Forester. Even my relatively large bike can fit in the back with both wheels on.
04-05-17, 12:06 PM
#11
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I try to avoid getting my Prelude too wet, but its not a huge deal if it does get wet. The clean up is definitely different between riding in the rain and just having it on the rack in the rain...IME anyway. I use a spare tire rack on my SUV and it sits up high enough so I'm not too worried about it getting much crap from the tires, if any.
I did pull over and back up into/under some large bushes/trees just a month or two ago though during an especially horrible downpour that was bringing hail and flooding...thankfully the hail missed us by a single street though. The clean up was still easier than had I been riding - Only had to dry it off. Its just water.
I did pull over and back up into/under some large bushes/trees just a month or two ago though during an especially horrible downpour that was bringing hail and flooding...thankfully the hail missed us by a single street though. The clean up was still easier than had I been riding - Only had to dry it off. Its just water.
04-05-17, 01:41 PM
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I use my bike for transportation and live in the Pacific Northwest.
It gets wet. A lot.
It gets wet. A lot.
04-05-17, 01:58 PM
#13
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04-05-17, 02:49 PM
#14
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04-05-17, 02:51 PM
#15
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If I kept my bike dry, I would be deprived of too much fun.
I clean it with furniture polish in a can. That makes the cleaning easy, and it leaves my floor clean and waxed. We live in an apartment with wood floors, and my wife doesn't even mind.
I clean it with furniture polish in a can. That makes the cleaning easy, and it leaves my floor clean and waxed. We live in an apartment with wood floors, and my wife doesn't even mind.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
04-05-17, 02:52 PM
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04-05-17, 03:41 PM
#17
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Running errands on this rainy day In Madison Wisconsin, I pause at a 4 way stop and wave a crossing cyclist on so I can look at his shiny lugged steel bike. Pristine in beautiful red and chrome, the Waterford looked brand new. The cyclist tried to have me go first, but I yelled that I wanted to look at his bike. A soaking wet Waterford! Maybe it was it's maiden voyage and rain wasn't going to prevent it.
04-05-17, 05:20 PM
#18
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Should be riding the bike, not driving it around. Of course, it's more impressive on Strava that way.
04-05-17, 10:14 PM
#19
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04-06-17, 03:55 AM
#21
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04-06-17, 04:22 AM
#22
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Isn't inclement weather one of the reasons for n+1**********
04-06-17, 05:00 AM
#23
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I hate getting my bike wet
Earlier this year, I posted:
Whenever I need to transport my bike(s) via car, it's in the family station wagon, or a rented mini-van. (Fortunately for long distances, the family prefers to fly, and I like to drive, such as about 700 miles from Boston to Michigan. "The family that travels together, unravels together." 
)
…We're going through a downpour the bike isn't just getting wet like it would on a roof rack, but road grime and grit is entering every nook and cranny.
My Miyata 721 is snug and warm in my back seat. It's likely worth a couple of hundred on a good day, but I've dodged a half hour of cleaning and possible grease contamination by putting it inside my car. It's my winter bike that I'll ride on roads that have been sanded and salted, but I never get any bike wet needlessly. Generally if I ride in the rain, I made an error.
Do you try to prevent your bikes getting wet?
My Miyata 721 is snug and warm in my back seat. It's likely worth a couple of hundred on a good day, but I've dodged a half hour of cleaning and possible grease contamination by putting it inside my car. It's my winter bike that I'll ride on roads that have been sanded and salted, but I never get any bike wet needlessly. Generally if I ride in the rain, I made an error.
Do you try to prevent your bikes getting wet?
After 40 years of cycle commuting on a year-round minimal one-way 14 mile route [and road cycling and touring], I have [last] year finally assembled IMO, the perfect bicycle fleet:
So I recently bought the Specialized Diverge Elite aluminum bike as a wet weather beater, and it rides nearly as nicely as the S-Works.The ride and shifting of the Diverge is as smooth as the S-Works, but the feel is more "solid," with 30 C tires. I think this is a great all-purpose bike…[to include 30 C studded tires]
So now, the Cannondale will be reserved completely for only miserable,studded-tire riding, maybe about 3 to 4 weeks during the winter and my riding needs are completely met. I liken my three bikes to a Lamborghini, a Lexus, and a Humvee.
- One nearly year-round dry,clean-road bike (carbon fiber road bike,except for deep winter with lingering salt)
- One year-round wet,dirty-road bike (aluminum road bike, just recently acquired) [outfitted with 30 C studded tires for winter, fully outfitted with trunk bag with fold–out, panniers, computer, clipless pedals and fenders]
- One winter bike for anything (steel mountain bike with Marathon Winter studded tires always on, for the least possibility of ice
So I recently bought the Specialized Diverge Elite aluminum bike as a wet weather beater, and it rides nearly as nicely as the S-Works.The ride and shifting of the Diverge is as smooth as the S-Works, but the feel is more "solid," with 30 C tires. I think this is a great all-purpose bike…[to include 30 C studded tires]
So now, the Cannondale will be reserved completely for only miserable,studded-tire riding, maybe about 3 to 4 weeks during the winter and my riding needs are completely met. I liken my three bikes to a Lamborghini, a Lexus, and a Humvee.
)
04-06-17, 05:44 AM
#24
Senior Member
If possible my bike goes inside the car. If it's my vintage Pinarello, it's not negotiable; it goes inside the car and somebody else gets to strap themselves to the bike rack. If not, well, I suck it up.
