Seattle Forrest

I'm guessing most of you prefer being on your fair weather bike over your rain bike, when you can. So how do you decide which one to take? If the roads are wet but it's not going to rain, which will you be on? If the weatherman says 30 % chance of rain, do you roll the dice?

No real reason I ask, just curious how other roadies decide which bike to grab.

Spookeay Bird

Well if it's a 30% I will take the road bike. If the storm has passed it's only going to get dryer No problem on the road bike. The big problem is riding in building or constant water for me. Then I take the Hibird. Most of the time I just don't ride in the rain. My bikes are wall flowers when not on the road therefore, I don't what the rust and grime so no ride in the rain.

ravenmore

What is rain?

kbro1986

it has to be wet...

pallen

what's a rain bike?

Seattle Forrest

It's the reason we have trees instead of dying tumbleweeds and parched dirt.

tadawdy

Rain bike?

Rain wheels I could see.

surgeonstone

My rain bike is my main bike. Sheesh, it's made of CF, Ti,Stainless steel......I think it can handle rain in any amount.

palesaint

We get maybe 20 days of moisture here per year.

I just don't ride those days.

kayakdiver

It's the same bike I ride on nice days... HTFU It's the Northwest, my bikes are used to it.

dalava

If it has more than 40% chance, I take the rain bike (my cyclocross-based bike with disc brakes and Conti GP 4Season 28mm tires, and soon to have Conti TopContact winter tires for snow/ice). If the road is wet but very little standing water and the rain's stopped, I will take the road bike out.

Seattle Forrest

Oh, I go out in the rain, no HTFU needed. But I'd rather wear down an old 9-speed groupset than a new 10-speed. And I'll have carbon rims soon, which don't brake as well when they're wet, and cost an awful lot to replace.

I've been riding more than usual lately, thinking I might not get much chance to take my nice bike out for a while, and better take advantage of the dry.

dalava

Dude, I feel sorry for you living in Seattle, as a cyclist in winter. I know how the weather can be such a ***** to ride in, wet and damp for a long stretch of time. I rather take the winter here than Pac. Northwest.

roadiejorge 

Any time I head out where there's a chance of rain I take my rain bike and do so because it's best equipped to minimize my need to get grit off the bike since the fenders keep it off. I also have Conti 4 Season tires on it to have a bit more resistance to flats.

Seattle Forrest

I went hiking instead of riding on Saturday. Lately I've been heading to the mountains for a hike every other week. Anyway, it was nice to get out of the rain for a while, and falling snow is actually nicer to be in than constant rain at 40 deg F.

Sunday was cold and blustery, and kept threatening rain; for the first time since I can remember, I just wanted to be done with the ride. But the alternative is sitting on my ass, and even with good friends, I get cabin fever.

I have mixed feelings about fenders, but changing a flat in the cold rain is miserable!

Brian Ratliff

All my bikes get wet. My rain bike is simply the one I use between the months of November and March.

eippo1

My rain bike is my commuter bike and so it has crud fenders on it all the time. I'll take them off for crits and that's it.

patentcad

Damp.

roadiejorge 

Fenders have been great at keeping me and the bike fairly clean. I use the Crud MK2 fenders since my bike doesn't have eyelets to accommodate full fenders, but they're as close to it as you can get. Changing a flat in the cold rain is indeed miserable especially if you're alone but what I dread most is changing a flat in the very cold weather (20s - low 30s), dealing with freezing hands is tough enough but the rubber becomes stiff so taking off and mounting a tire is really tedious.

david58

My new road bike is getting pulled off the road as of getting a trainer - not because I am afraid of the rain, but just because I am lazy and don't want to have to be cleaning it up after the Saturday ride so I can bring it in the house. The commuter, my CX bike, is now the winter bike. It was the summer bike, until fall came, when it was the fall bike. Dethroned for about a month, now is back to getting the majority of the miles till spring with more daylight arrives.

kayakdiver

The HTFU was said "tongue in cheek" Riding in the Northwest can be a drag... For me it's more about what it's like when I get on the bike than what happens after I've been riding for a while. I throw on my tights, my Shower Pass jacket and just do it. PS... Like mentioned above, those Crud Racer fenders really do work pretty well and don't look all that stupid either.

justkeepedaling

I use the same rule of thumb that I use in bed, if she's wet to the touch, it's go time

carpediemracing 

My rain bike is my sun bike is my trainer bike.

This reminds me, I need to buy the salmon Kool Stop pads. The black Kool Stops really don't do anything in the wet, especially on carbon rims.

idc

I only have one road bike, and it's not great in the rain. I'll take my chances though up to about the 30-40% probability range. I have a beater MTB commuter I'll use for really wet weather though.

Six jours

Every bike is a rain bike. Buncha sissies.