53-11 alltheway

I planning on a ride today, but conditions are damp. What should a rider check on his/her bike if they do a lot of damp condition riding?

I am actually worrying about the wheel hubs more than anything else.

catatonic

chain condition....I found a badly worn chain,gearing set is more likely to blow off the cogs when it's wet out and your on a choppy road.

Also keep in mind if your bars are wet, if your tape choice will give enough grip, and be alert and brake early.

gcasillo

This week sold me on this fact: riding in the rain is awesome! If possible, give all parts of your bike a wipe down after a wet, damp ride. You don't have to detail it. Just a once over. I don't bother with spokes, but I wipe the rims and hubs as quickly as possible.

I do pay attention to the drivetrain though. Inspect the cassette, chain, and chain rings. Clean them as thoroughly as possible. Then lube. Always clean and re-lube the drivetrain after a wet ride. Your parts will thank you down the road.

I don't depair over the bottom bracket or hubs too much. I figure if they actually get water in them, I'll know soon enough or will have regreased them before it becomes a problem.

flyingasics

I love the rain too but down here in Alabama today there have been tornado warnings and some lightning, its a real downer not being able to ride and just puts me in a pissy mood. Oh and to add a little more, and try and dry out all the little hex nut screws that hold your shift linkage, brakes ect. together. All mine are rusted out on my OCR2 that I just got at the beginning of the summer.

53-11 alltheway

Yeah, I am figuring cassette and chain life are bound to be less in damp conditions. Even if you clean them after every ride.....the grit will eat them faster.

It's just that I normally don't pay any attention to the hubs......but I'll clean the chain and gears on a regular basis.

THank you guys.


I can't stand not being able to ride my bike....

"A ride every day keeps the low vo2 max away"

rwg

I rode in the rain on Sunday and my drive train is not good. I think the grit is "in" the chain between the metal plates of the links. It makes the "dirty" chain sound when you push it sideways without moving the gears. This is after I cleaned it with a cleaning tool, wiped it down, and re-lubed. I am going to try and soak it, but I don't see how soaking it in degreaser will remove sand/grit from between the metal pieces. It's not grease gunk that is the problem.

Besides that, I am still cleaning the bike 3 days later. I am a bit more anal than most people about vehicle appearnce (I am the same way with cars), but dirt gets EVERYWHERE.

Next time it rains, I am turning around and heading for home. The aftermath just isn't worth the ride. I will suffer on rollers instead.

catatonic

I use wax lube so I dont have to wory about my lube degrading in the wet....however...wax lubes are hell to clean up, and they build up into a real problem if you dont solvent dip your chain, casette, and rings a few times a year. The guys at my LBS actually charge extra to work on parts where they have to scrape all that crap off....it's not pleaseant..

...oh and wax is not as good a lube as teflon or good ole tri-flow...just more element resistant.

Oak Park Biker

I love to ride in the rain. Rock in Roll lube cleans the chain and lubes it in one shot. It usually takes me about half an hour to clean the bike with simple green after the ride.

Crunkologist

I rode in the rain tonight and then I sprayed my gears and chain with Liquid Wrench. I really need to get some chain lube and take better care of the components, but the fact that the bike shop I got it from just tuned it up for free and they still make weird ****ing noises and resist going onto the big chainring, pisses me off so that I kinda want Ultegra or 105 components.

53-11 alltheway

That's kind of funny because I'm thinking of getting a sora bike just to ride in the rain and not worry about so much (not that my current bike is a dream machine compared to some of these other guys).

Actually....I know how to take care of chain/gears/ derailleurs....It's the stuff I can't see that worries me (BB/hubs<-----what do I do with those?)

53-11 alltheway

I think sometimes people (me included) worry about bike so much that they don't ride it.....which defeats whole purpose of having bike (to get the miles)

I really need to make a "high quality beater" (I know it's an oxymoron)....cheap bike but runs perfect, but I don't care about.

Steelrider

I was in Oakland for business today...damp is an extreme understatement. Some of the freeways were close to being considered flooded. Took someone coming from Sacramento 4 1/2 hours to get there because of all the morons running into big rigs and each other...hope you got in a ride, but was a better day for a trainer.

You likely saw some of the other threads addressing this. Dave Moulton replied to one that stated the biggest problems were with the bottom bracket, although I'm not sure this addressed sealed or not. I've never had a problem with hubs.

catatonic

Heh, I had a nice side slide today on 1st st in SJ...ran over a manhole cover and the back wheel lost grip...next thing I know I'm nearly sideways....thank goodness for luck