Advice for biking in the rain

[Oblivious Recidivist]

I was very conflicted today: I needed the “fix” of a nice long commute into work, and I’ve biked in the rain before, although it’s always when I’ve been caught in the rain mid-ride, or biked into work and needed to get wet to get home.

I had a 90 minute ride in the rain last Thursday night going home, and I wasn’t uncomfortable. The soft shell jacket kept me warm and the helmet kept the rain off my head … but the bike did squeak and make more noise near the end, and that got me wondering: If I’m going to be truly hardcore and bike to and from work on rainy days like today, what measures should I be taking?

* Anything special to rain-proof the bike?
* Maintenance I should do more frequently?
* Recommended rain gear?
* Special safety measures?

I did take a slightly longer route home on Thursday to avoid a very narrow shoulder on a dark rainy road (Bradley Blvd), but as a newbie, I’m sure there’s more I should be doing.

Thanks for any advice!
Brian

Topic

[jabberwocky]

For the bike, the top thing is to relube the chain after rainy rides. Most chain lubes don’t handle rain well and will be mostly washed off. Second is all the bearings (depending on how well those are sealed). Headset, hubs, bottom bracket. Obviously not every ride, but pay attention to them; riding in the wet will accelerate the service intervals. Well sealed bearings can go a long time though, even with regular rain riding.

If the frame is steel, make sure it has been internally coated to prevent rust, and recoated at the recommended interval.

Rain can also be hard on cables (it gets into the housing and corrodes the steel cable, which increases resistance).

[Greenbelt]

Probably simplest thing just hose the bike off each night after a rain ride and relube chain (after it’s dry). Lots of grit and grime gets on your wheels and drive train in rainy weather. Also if you have rim brakes, just wiping them clean will help reduce brake pad wear if the hose down didn’t get off all the grime. If your cable are exposed under the bike, sometimes a bit of extra cleaning in there and a squirt of lube on the cable guides will help.

Disclosure — I’m really bad at remembering to do this this myself, since I mostly just want to shower and eat after a rainy day commute, and am too lazy to take the extra five minutes to hose off the bike, and as a result I tend to need more brake service and drive train adjustments than I should.

[Crickey7]

Try not to ride through standing water of more than an inch. That starts getting into sealed components.

[dasgeh]

On the safety question, I assume that I’m invisible to drivers. Ok, I almost always assume I’m invisible to drivers, but especially in the rain, drivers have reduced visibility and usually are more aggravated that normal, since car traffic is usually even worse than normal.

Practically, for me this means more lights, more reflective gear, changing routes to minimize driver interaction, making eye contact where appropriate and being ready to really shout when needed (e.g. Intersection of Doom this morning), taking the lane more often.

[Orestes Munn]

Bearing “sealing” is a relative thing and no axle seal is watertight, but using a good waterproof grease can make a difference. As an extreme example, I have a feathering prop on my boat, which is always well lubed after a season of soaking, spinning around and being dragged through, salt water. The product I’m currently using on it is especially tenacious. Grit, however, is not a problem in that application.

[jabberwocky]

@Orestes Munn 99833 wrote:

Bearing “sealing” is a relative thing and no axle seal is watertight, but using a good waterproof grease can make a difference.

A good grease can definitely help a lot, but well designed bearing seals help a lot too. I think a lot of road components go for seals that don’t seal as well because they are focused on low drag. MTB components tend to be designed for rougher treatment. I love my Chris King hubs on the road bike, just because they require almost no maintenance. Since I built that bike I’ve had to service the headset bearings several times and have replaced the BB once, and have never touched the hubs and they are fine. You pay for that though.

Cheap bearings (like the headset ones on the road bike) I try and use heavy marine grease when I service them the first time. It helps, but it does eventually get contaminated and washed out.

[vvill]

@Oblivious Recidivist 99814 wrote:

If I’m going to be truly hardcore and bike to and from work on rainy days like today, what measures should I be taking?

n + 1!

But seriously, I agree with all the posted advice above. (And it is nice also to have multiple bikes to choose from depending on conditions.)

[GuyContinental]

@jabberwocky 99815 wrote:

If the frame is steel, make sure it has been internally coated to prevent rust, and recoated at the recommended interval.

Any product/technique suggestions for this as a DIY measure? How about with a steel CX bike that’s never had it done and been ridden wet more than it’s been ridden dry? Can I apply over existing corrosion or do I have a “fun” winter project in front of me?

[DismalScientist]

@GuyContinental 99850 wrote:

Any product/technique suggestions for this as a DIY measure?

http://www.amazon.com/Weigles-Bicycle-Frame-Saver-Inhibitor/dp/B0012GO58Y

Probably shouldn’t go over corrosion. It’s a method to seal bare steel from water.
Of course, when I repainted my 30-year old bike, I used it without checking for internal corrosion. How would you possibly know you have internal corrosion?

[jabberwocky]

Framesaver is the popular commercial product. I used to use clear krylon from Home Depot. Worked ok. I solved the issue by breaking all my steel frames and switching to carbon.

[Harry Meatmotor]

If you find yourself consistently riding in the rain a junky craigslist score once every couple years will probably be your cheapest bet. keep reusing parts like fenders/racks and swap bike to bike. seriously, N+1 is usually the best route with regards to maintenance. constant, heavy rain kills bikes quick.

[GuyContinental]

@jabberwocky 99852 wrote:

Framesaver is the popular commercial product. I used to use clear krylon from Home Depot. Worked ok. I solved the issue by breaking all my steel frames and switching to carbon.

Just had someone elsewhere advise using phosphoric acid (Ospho paint treatment) followed by LPS corrosion-blocking lube. Acid halts the corrosion, LPS seals it. Any thoughts? Renyolds 853 is pretty thin stuff…

[Mikey]

My Chemistry degree tells me this sounds fishy. Molybdinum doped Steel (Reynodls 531 – Mn/Mo alloy) tends to resist phosphoric acid corrosion but acids by their nature do not “halt” corrosion. If anything phosphoric acid would be a good acid cleaner that would remove the top layer of oxidation, and make the surface shiny. For Mn/Mo steel, I believe the oxidation layer provides some level of protection from further oxidation, it just doesn’t look as shiny. The LPS corrosion-blocking lube is then keeping the surface protected from oxidation and Chloride (salt) pitting.

[GuyContinental]

@Mikey 99859 wrote:

My Chemistry degree tells me this sounds fishy. Molybdinum doped Steel (Reynodls 531 – Mn/Mo alloy) tends to resist phosphoric acid corrosion but acids by their nature do not “halt” corrosion. If anything phosphoric acid would be a good acid cleaner that would remove the top layer of oxidation, and make the surface shiny. For Mn/Mo steel, I believe the oxidation layer provides some level of protection from further oxidation, it just doesn’t look as shiny. The LPS corrosion-blocking lube is then keeping the surface protected from oxidation and Chloride (salt) pitting.

Sounds a bit fishy to me too- the oxidation may have kept the frame alive this long (2004) as a protective layer. Perhaps just a dry-out plus LPS (Marine rust inhibitor)

[Crickey7]

Even though I have a “dedicated rain bike”, I do try to minimize riding in heavy rain for the simple reason that I have to spend a fair amount of time after each such ride cleaning and maintaining the rain bike. I will say I would never own a rain bike that did not have disc brakes.

[Author]

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