Advice for biking in the rain

[mattotoole]

Why We Don’t Need Rain Bikes Any Longer

[jabberwocky]

I commute in all weather on my carbon road bike. I’m religious about cleaning the drivetrain, but other than that it just gets dirty. The nice thing about a high end carbon bike is that its mostly materials that don’t care about water (composites, aluminum and titanium).

Chain is the one thing that you gotta watch. Rain kicks up all kind of crap, so the water washes away lube and dirt and grime get all over the chain. Will destroy a drivetrain fast if you don’t clean it.

[Crickey7]

@mattotoole 99870 wrote:

Why We Don’t Need Rain Bikes Any Longer[/URL]

From the article: “Fenderlines aren’t perfect, so the bike’s appearance is compromised.”

I can accept getting wet. I cannot accept aesthetic compromises. Style points count.

[dkel]

I agree with the article with regard to fenders. I worked hard to get a long, metal fender with a mud flap so as to protect my drivetrain as much as possible. I think this works pretty well so far: I don’t get that gritty drivetrain feel these days. I also like the Rock and Roll blue lube a lot, and don’t always even relube immediately after a rain ride, though I don’t wait more than a day or two. I did have the shop put in some Framesaver when they built up the Straggler for me, but word is that those Surly frames will last forever, and that it takes a lot of rust to cause a steel frame to give up. Also, my 1984 Schwinn seemed corrosion free when I took all the components off; I have no idea what kind of treatment it was given through its life, but I think having all the tubes plugged up with components goes a long way towards staving off corrosion. If there’s water inside the frame at the end of your ride, you’re probably doing something wrong, and you better get that water out of there.

[dkel]

@Crickey7 99869 wrote:

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.

+1 for discs. Wiping rims after every wet ride sucks. I do nothing to the discs after a rain ride.

[rcannon100]

Last year after an ice / snow / yuck storm, I biked the Holmes Run loop (one of my favorite). That ride convinced me to convert to Disc Brakes. I think I managed to dissolve my rubber pad brakes. All the sand and grit and crud on the road – the rubber disappeared as if it was rubbing against a cheese grater – and of course the rims were getting nice etchings.

Disc brakes are wonderful. Just replaced the rear brake pads for the first time (and by me replacing the brake pads, I mean I messed it up and took it to Bikenetic who did a fab job in no time)

[PotomacCyclist]

Capital Bikeshare is another alternative, depending on your location and destination.

I wear a running/baseball cap under my bike helmet when riding in the rain. Or you could switch to a helmet with a longer brim.

[hozn]

Yeah, I don’t give any special attention to my ti commuter post-rain-ride other than the chain. Certainly things like BB bearings do wear out faster on bikes that get exposed to the elements. But washing it off will only accelerate that. My bike is pretty creaky right now. I think these Enduro hub bearings have 3-4k miles. Maybe that is all I am gonna get, because creaking drives me crazy.

As for hubs my cheap BHS hubs with Enduro bearings were still spinning quietly after ~12k miles of all-weather commuting — and no maint — (before I built myself new wheels for unrelated reasons). So definitely can get durable wheels/hubs that don’t break the bank. I am on Hope Pro 2 hubs again now; these have always served me well on the MTB.

And of course disc brakes ftw.

[83b]

I always keep a full set of rain gear in my saddlebag. In addition to keeping me from getting caught out in a storm, it has saved me on more than one occasion when the temperature dropped suddenly.

The jacket is my favorite part; it’s a Marmot Speedlight.¹ The Gore-Tex is, as you’d expect, great for keeping you dry and ventilated. But the jacket’s hood is what really makes it stand apart from the other outdoor companies’ offerings. It’s roomy enough to accommodate a helmet, has a super useful wide wire brim, and great draw-cords to keep everything snug whether over a helmet or bareheaded.

The rain gear just goes on over my regular work clothes and gets hung on my doors hook once I get in. It’s always dried and ready to go by the time I’m headed home.

Also, I used to chew through at least a pair of dress shoes a year. Then I got a set of Rivendell’s MUSA Splats and my shoes last for MUCH longer. I’m still on the same pair I had during all the unpleasantness last winter! (The thing about riding in a suit and tie is that there are two sides to every coin. On the rainy days you transform from Dapper Biker Guy into Weirdo in Baggy Nylon Cocoon.)

¹Gracious, I just looked it up and it appears that Marmot jacked the price up on this jacket around 2013 when the latest Gore ProShell fabric launched. It used to be the best bargain you could find that used the more durable Gore-Tex. It may not be a bargain anymore, but it’s the jacket that travels with me pretty much everywhere and has proven as good hiking in the summer as it has skiing with a gross winter-mix pouring down. If it ever wears out I’ll be biting the bullet and getting another.

[dkel]

Less than 2.5 inches clearance between the mud flap and the ground.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]7026[/ATTACH]

(Or the wall, if that pic is sideways for you, too.)

[Harry Meatmotor]

@mattotoole 99870 wrote:

Why We Don’t Need Rain Bikes Any Longer

that’s one of the dumbest articles i’ve read in a while.

[baiskeli]

Oh, sorry, I must be lost. Could someone direct me to the “Advice for biking in the freezing cold” thread? Thanks.

[mstone]

@baiskeli 99925 wrote:

Oh, sorry, I must be lost. Could someone direct me to the “Advice for biking in the freezing cold” thread? Thanks.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Abikearlingtonforum.com+cold+weather

[dplasters]

@baiskeli 99925 wrote:

Oh, sorry, I must be lost. Could someone direct me to the “Advice for biking in the freezing cold” thread? Thanks.

What? No, I’m looking for “How to bike into a 20 mph headwind uphill” thread… where is that one? Walking? is that what that is called?

Ontopic – I will shamelessly plug my carbon drive bike with internal gear hub muwhahahahahhahhahaahhahahaha

[Orestes Munn]

I’ll take cold, even last winter’s variety, over rain any day. I have shaken the dead crickets out of my Lake winter shoes and just bought those neoprene Bike Mitt things for two bikes. If we have a mild winter you can thank me.

[Author]

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