Seattle Forrest

Anyway a rain bike beats using a trainer or running. And that's all there is to it.

mprelaw

Typically, it's more about the age and price of a bike than what it's made of. It's just that the vintage bikes that we look for as "rain bikes" are chromoloy steel models from the 1980s or 1990s. They were designed for either 32 mm or 1-1/4" wide tires, and often have fender mounts. You could also call them the "I don't give a crap if it gets all beat up" bike instead of the rain bike.

Plus, old steel is a safer buy than old aluminum or old carbon, when it comes to spotting possible frame defects.

Maelochs

it is hard on the Internet to gauge the mood of the poster--sarcasm and dry humor can be missed in face-to-face encounters, and online ... I never know if someone is upset or not by my posts.

I generally don't take anything I post very seriously, even if I really mean it, because it is just BSing on the Internet. I tend to have a pompous, pedantic style (hence, "The Bloviator") because I find it funny as much as anything else--but people take me seriously (online, at least.)

I try to post however I want to and at the same time try not to annoy other posters inadvertently. If there is/was any misunderstanding of the tone/tenor of your posts which has led to unpleasant feelings, I apologize.

Or maybe I am just kidding.

gregf83 

They are SRAM force levers and as you appear to be implying are not really appropriate for linear pull brakes. They have too much mechanical advantage. I have a set of Avid shorty ultimate brakes that I'll use once I use up some more of the pads I have. The brakes work fine and are very powerful but they require adjusting more than I'd like. I bought the bike used and that's what it came with.

jfowler85

Never heard any of those terms during my tenure in Orange County. No one there had a rain bike, they just rode. It never rained enough to warrant the apparent disgrace of being seen on the type of bike frequently ridden by bums and college kids. If the boutique race bike got dirty, it was off to the shop for a couple days so some poor sucker could earn $10/hr to wipe it down and lube the chain.

Oh, and you weren't a real cyclist unless you drove at least a 3 series bimmer with a Thule or Yakima locking roof rack. I thought I left that crap when I moved to the Midwest...then I found a local cycling group full of middle aged men who clearly have geographical problems as they all think they live in OC/LA. Great, just what I need. Middle aged men pining for the glamour of Long Beach bottle service, who can "afford" payments on the largest Mercedes, fake boobs, rx pill popping, and niche boutique bike shops with an espresso bar which serves a $7.50 single origin Americano that tastes like crap.

What were we talking about again? Oh, rain. Yeah, rain is wet.

jfowler85

It depends on the length of the brake's arms (brake, not brake lever). I've been using 102mm v brakes with cross levers only for the last year and it works fine. No pulley (travel agent) needed.

Tektro/TRP, Box/Promax, et al make v brakes with shorter levers for varying degrees of personal preference and tolerance for brake pull length.

I'm about to put some TRP cx9s on my ride...next bike though, will be disc.

winston63 

it's all a matter of perspective, isn't it? I'm about to buy my first ever non-rain bike: I've never owned a bike that I didn't add fenders to because that would be far too limiting around here. However, I'm now at the stage where I think it would be nice to have a light, fair-weather road bike even though I won't ride it nearly as much as my year round bikes.

But as you say, steel is just fine for year round riding as long as it can be stored somewhere dry and you practice some basic maintenance/cleaning & lubricating.

ColaJacket

I thought people in Seattle had "Sun" bikes, not "rain" bikes.

cwar

That gave me a good chuckle. I'll have to remember that one.

I guess that's why my rain bike is decked out in Di2 and my sun bike just has Ultegra (e.g. the rain bike is better than the sun bike).

66Satellite

Funny thing is I'm a Nor Cal transplant. When I moved up to Seattle I expected everyone to ride in the rain. But not many people do. Cycling has really exploded up here in the last ten years or so but it's still mostly fair-weather cyclists. I mostly have the roads and MUT to myself when it's raining. So I actually prefer riding in the rain these days.

66Satellite

Nice! I almost went with discs but still prefer the simplicity of calipers (plus I don't need to buy more wheels). Love discs on my mtb though.

Long Tom

Rain bike is the bike that takes the abuse of water and especially road grit in the drivetrain.

Mine rain bike is AL, has fenders, 28's, and 105 components and cost $800. My regular bike is carbon/Ultegra with 25's and cost $3600. I try to keep the nicer bike nice.

Stev8del8

I've been wanting to build a rain bike simply because I like to build bikes. In the central San Joaquin valley, with the drought, there wasn't any need.

With the El Nino promising the end of the drought, maybe I should get busy.

I do love the rain.