Do we really need to wrap new bikes in cotton wool through the winter?

[slowmotion]

Isn't it just a question of the type of person that you are? Some are tidy, organised and like things to be just so. I'm a slob and always in a bit of a hurry as a result. The tools I own are not clean but they are used. When one dies, I get another without keening over the tragedy.

 

[Globalti]

Been thinking about this since my last post and I reckon the obsession with cleanliness and purity is the same part of cycling lore as the obsession with clean matching kit and leg shaving. As Matt Seaton writes in his excellent book The Escape Artist, if you turned up for a race with hairy legs you'd be laughed out of the peloton; the same would apply if you turned up on a bike that was anything less than pristine.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Just by the by, all this talk of salty roads needs to be taken with a pinch of ... er ... salt.

This winter has been quite mild down here in the SE and gritters have been a rarity. I do realise that in the grim hinterland and on the coast things may be a bit different.

 

[Mo1959]

I know we have become a throw away society and shouldn't encourage it, but I sometimes think it's quite nice to keep a really nice bike for the dry days and have something a lot cheaper for the wet, mucky days knowing that it is almost as cheap just to replace it in two or three years rather than spending any more on it.

 

[kingrollo]

Brought a used giant defy of ebay for £250. - I can put mudguards and any array of lights racks and things - that I just wouldn't want to do to my best bike. I would expect things to wear out quicker on this bike - partly because of the weather - and partly because of the nature of commuting, lots of braking, clicking in and out.
I could ride to work on my best bike - but feel a used cheaper bike is a more appropriate tool for the job.

I wouldn't wrap a best bike in cotton wool though - they are meant to ridden.

 

[KneesUp]

Brought a used giant defy of ebay for £250. - I can put mudguards and any array of lights racks and things - that I just wouldn't want to do to my best bike. I would expect things to wear out quicker on this bike - partly because of the weather - and partly because of the nature of commuting, lots of braking, clicking in and out.
I could ride to work on my best bike - but feel a used cheaper bike is a more appropriate tool for the job.

I wouldn't wrap a best bike in cotton wool though - they are meant to ridden.

Expecting things to wear out more when they are used more is fairly logical though?

I understand the idea of having a 'best' that you keep clean and so on. I have a suit in my wardrobe - it comes out for funerals these days. I wouldn't do the gardening in it - and I suppose the reason is that it wouldn't fulfil a key part of it's function if I did. My suit has a few jobs:

1) to cover the parts of me that are societally unacceptable to expose in public
2) to provide a degree of warmth
3) to 'look smart' and indicate externally that I respect the occasion I am attending

If I also wore it for gardening, it would most likely not fulfil criteria 3, so I wear old jeans and jumpers in the garden - knackered old clothes with tears and stains from DIY and gardening.

I guess for some, their bike has roles akin to a suit - it's important to them that it looks 'right' either to send a message to others, or for their own benefit. I suppose part of wearing a suit is also to make you feel like you fit in?

To others, their bike is like my gardening clothes - it' already less than perfect, so just use it until it's beyond useful or repair.

And for yet others - and I include myself in this - the bike is 'smart casual' - not precious, not pristine, but functional in most circumstances.

 

[kingrollo]

Expecting things to wear out more when they are used more is fairly logical though?

.

Yes - (I wasn't aware that I had indicated or implied otherwise ?)

 

[Johnno260]

with my job we deal with off shore sites so salt spray testing is a big deal with what we do.

Now Alu parts can be painted/coated/anodised etc for protection, the irridite coating we use for Alu I think most would dis-like as it stains the Alu a urine yellow colour! a hard black anodise would work for most.

With steel parts we use 316 and 316L very costly and heavy, but durable, we also electro-polish or passivate steel parts for additional protection, not sure these solutions would work on a spring as an example, but bolts etc you could spend more on these or titanium.

I do ride my bike in the winter, but I don't commute, and I will not ride if there is a hint of ice, but the bikes cleaned/lubed after each ride, and I still have issues, but as I stated before it's a trade off, I wouldn't use a turbo as I would get bored, as long as the frame and bolt threads are fine I can cope.

Some threads I protected with a small amount of copper grease.

 

[Slick]

Ultimately I think this thread is about the bike shop bloke's glib comment vs. the pragmatic view of bikes as a tool.

I can hear the probably young shop assistant expressing horror at the idea of exposing one's best bike to salt and I completely sympathise with this attitude, I have a valuable race bike and I simply wouldn't dream of riding it in salty or even wet conditions, it's too beautiful and perfect to be dirtied and rusted and I need it to last a good many years.

OTOH I have an all-weather bike that has lightweight mudguards in winter and that has to cope with everything it encounters on the road. I do clean it after a muddy or salty ride but I can see the steady deterioration.

Bear in mind also that in these litigious times local authorities are probably salting roads more than they did when some contributors were riding regularly.

Funny you mention the gritters, as I was paying a lot more attention to the terrain I was covering and despite it being only-2 when I left the house this morning the salt was thick on some parts of the road. I started to think that it's probably as much about the timing of our trips as anything else. It looked very much that I was the first vehicle to go over this salt since it was laid. I could be wrong, but I scrubbed the bike once home and sprayed the moving parts, so fingers crossed.

 

[boydj]

Light braking is probably the worst for wearing rims out, it's like holding an abrasive against a surface for a long time. Try waiting until you need to stop then braking normally, the pads will dry, warm up and then grip with little or no wear to the rim.

You misunderstand. I'm not talking about lightly dragging the brakes, but about reading the road ahead and minimising the need to use the brakes. I had 32 sets of lights on my commute and I would generally try to avoid having to stop. Clearly the heavier the traffic, the greater the need for speed adjustments, but riding to the conditions can still avoid lots of use of the brakes.

 

[Globalti]

My strategy for reducing wear on the rims in wet gritty weather is to use only the front brake, always bearing in mind the possibility of causing the front wheel to wash out. The front wheel gets hardly any water and grit whereas the rear is always filthy, which is why the rear rim and pads wear faster. When front wheel only braking I allow my weight to transfer forward and I only do it in a straight line.

 

[ColinJ]

My strategy for reducing wear on the rims in wet gritty weather is to use only the front brake, always bearing in mind the possibility of causing the front wheel to wash out. The front wheel gets hardly any water and grit whereas the rear is always filthy, which is why the rear rim and pads wear faster. When front wheel only braking I allow my weight to transfer forward and I only do it in a straight line.

I have been riding my Cannondale more than usual over the winter, but I took its usual Campagnolo Neutron front wheel out and replaced it with a much cheaper Khamsin. I do most of my braking at the front anyway. I'll put the Neutron back in soon.

 

[raleighnut]

You misunderstand. I'm not talking about lightly dragging the brakes, but about reading the road ahead and minimising the need to use the brakes. I had 32 sets of lights on my commute and I would generally try to avoid having to stop. Clearly the heavier the traffic, the greater the need for speed adjustments, but riding to the conditions can still avoid lots of use of the brakes.

Fair enough.