Road bikes and winter

Why not buy a beater bike to keep at school? Alternatively, make friends with the guys on the maintenance staff. They should be able to find you an indoor storage spot.

I kinda have a "beater" here already, although I hesitate to call it that because it wasn't exactly cheap back when I bought it and it's still in decent shape. The problem is that it's a full suspension mtb, which is not exactly conducive to commuting over paved streets and terrible for long rides.

Anyhow, mtb or not, being on the bike for an hour or two total each day has re-kindled my love for biking, and I feel it would be both more enjoyable and more efficient to have a bike that actually works well for what I'm using it for.

So yes, I do have a bike I'd have no problem leaving out and / or riding all winter. I just wanted to know if the cold is harmful for the road bikes, espeially because the tires are glued on the rims. They just seem so fragile compared to the burly, heavy mtb I'm used to.

1) for the steel part (in case of), remember that water corrodes them. So all the steel balls of the steering, of the bottom bracket will suffer. They'll become unusable... 2) The glue of the tubulars should not have troubles - if it's of good quality! Anyway after winter it would be best to re-glue the tires.

Anyway, you'd better buy, at least, a plastic veil for the bike, such as this http://cgi.ebay.it/Telo-copri-bici-bicicletta-NUOVO_W0QQitemZ270172532503QQihZ017QQcategoryZ16143QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem it is cheap and it saves you many dollars...