Oh The Horror!

Wednesday afternoon, I was over my friend's house, and he had to go over to the local shopping center to pick something up for his mom, so I let him use my bike, since walking three miles would have taken him a lot longer... Mother nature was out to get us: On his way back, he got stranded at a Dunkin Donuts due to a severe thunderstorm that had an insane amount of rain! Due to the store's rules, he had to leave the bike outside... In the rain...

Now, I didn't think much of it.. My bike getting wet wouldn't be the end of the world since it had protecting paint on it and all.. But the next day when I was about to go on my daily routine of riding around my area for my training, the gears didn't work exactly right: They were extremely hard to alternate, and when I got to lower gears, it was basically impossible.

I know I need to take my bike to the shop that I bought it from, (Keswick Cycles), but my dad is going to be furious since I haven't had the bike for two months! It's just a down right pickle of a situation, eh?

Try lubricating the pivot points on your derailleurs and lubing the chain. Also make sure that your cables and cable housings are dry, clean, and lubricated.

There is a whole different set of rule for bikes that have been exposed to rain, especially insane amounts of rain. Besides rinsing the bike off and drying it, you should lubricate all pivot points on your drivetrain (derailluers and chain) and the pivot points on your brakes. You should also remove your cables and spray some sort of lube through the cable housings to ensure that there is no water trapped in them. You should also spray some sort of dry lube on the cables themselves to keep them from rusting.

After all of this, you should remove your seat post from the seat tube and hang the bike upside down so that any water that got into the frame will run out. You should also talk to your LBS about getting a rust inhibitor sprayed into the frame. Since this usually requires a removal of the headset and bottom bracket, it may be best to let your LBS do it unless you are confident enough to do it your self.

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