What to do after riding in the rain??



BHOFM

Well-Known Member
Aug 8, 2010
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Other than normal maintenance, any thing special to do?

The last two mornings I have had some rain, just enough to wet
the pavement and make a few puddles.

I cleaned and oiled the chain, blew out the cable housing and put a
drop of oil in each and then blew a bit to get the oil down the tube.
Wiped off the road scum and oiled the pedal shafts, and caliper arm
pivots.

Wiped off all the excess oil.

The wheel bearings and crank have marine grease in them already.
 
This is all quite sensible, though lubing the cables after each wet ride is probably overkill.

If it's been particularly wet I might also remove the cranks and BB bearings and check for collected water in the BB shell. Many makes of bike have a drain hole but they are often not sited well and many do not have drains at all.
 
Assuming all (or most) of the bike's highly-torqued threads are properly treated with grease or some some or anti-corrosive stuff (particularly the bottom bracket and pedals), I'd say the most important things are the chain, rims and brake pads. A chain can quickly rust a little if it's left wet. I guess a bit of surface rust is no big deal, especially since chains aren't a permanent part of the bike, but it looks **** and kills your motivation to keep it clean. :D ]

It's handy to clean the pads and rims, because grit left on pads and the rim braking surfaces acts like sandpaper, dramatically increasing the wear on the rim. The braking surface on the front rim on my 'wet day' bike is worn a lot more than my other front rims.

So, all i usually do after a ride is immediately whipe the chain with WD40, then oil it right away, if I can be bothered. If I'm freezing and suffering, :) I'll just oil it, so it won't rust, then clean it later, or the next day. Then, i'll give the pads and rims a quick whipe. If I'm really keen, I'll check the pads for embedded aluminium, like in the pic.

If a rainy ride gives me tonnes of heavy roads spray, I'll take the seat post out to see if any water comes out of the frame, then I might undo the screw on the cable retainer under the bottom bracket.

Also, sometimes the tyres -- assuming they're clinchers -- can get lots of water in them after riding in heavy road spray

pad5.jpg
 
531Aussie said:
Assuming all (or most) of the bike's highly-torqued threads are properly treated with grease or some some or anti-corrosive stuff (particularly the bottom bracket and pedals), I'd say the most important things are the chain, rims and brake pads. A chain can quickly rust a little if it's left wet. I guess a bit of surface rust is no big deal, especially since chains aren't a permanent part of the bike, but it looks **** and kills your motivation to keep it clean. :D ]

It's handy to clean the pads and rims, because grit left on pads and the rim braking surfaces acts like sandpaper, dramatically increasing the wear on the rim. The braking surface on the front rim on my 'wet day' bike is worn a lot more than my other front rims.

So, all i usually do after a ride is immediately whipe the chain with WD40, then oil it right away, if I can be bothered. If I'm freezing and suffering, :) I'll just oil it, so it won't rust, then clean it later, or the next day. Then, i'll give the pads and rims a quick whipe. If I'm really keen, I'll check the pads for embedded aluminium, like in the pic.

If a rainy ride gives me tonnes of heavy roads spray, I'll take the seat post out to see if any water comes out of the frame, then I might undo the screw on the cable retainer under the bottom bracket.

Also, sometimes the tyres -- assuming they're clinchers -- can get lots of water in them after riding in heavy road spray

pad5.jpg

The stuff that Shimano puts on their chain will repel water for pretty much the life of the chain - unless you do the silly thing and wipe that good stuff off.

WD40 - it'll work well on chains with no lubricant whatsoever but it's very good at degreasing and it'll leave enough residue to where the lubricant (I'm guessing you use oil) will kinda float around ontop of the WD40 that's on the chain until you wipe it off, which leaves not that much oil on the chain.

Even though I work for a different oil company, I just use Mobil 1, very sparingly, in dry weather - it's what I use in my cars and hence it's handy.

Repsol motorcycle chain spray works great in the wet for bicycle chains and will not wash off unless you run it through something like the park chain cleaning tool with an agressive chemical degreaser. Good luck getting it off with the 'green' biodegradable stuff. The repsol stuff is cheap and comes in a spray that doesn't require a silly straw.

You could do what a few protour mechanics do and clean, oil and then grease the chain... but its a pain in the butt and works no better than the repsol.
 
swampy1970 said:
The stuff that Shimano puts on their chain will repel water for pretty much the life of the chain - unless you do the silly thing and wipe that good stuff off.
.
I've been working up the courage all day to admit to you that yes, I AM one of those guys who cleans off the stuff that comes with the Shimano chians! :D It's just that it's so tacky and farkin everything sticks to it, even little sticks! I think I once even had a chicken bone stuck on there! Anyway, doesn't it soon come off after a few sprays with WD40 and a few re-lubes?

I find the balance between keeping a chain spotless and squeak free pretty tricky.
 
531Aussie said:
I've been working up the courage all day to admit to you that yes, I AM one of those guys who cleans off the stuff that comes with the Shimano chians! :D It's just that it's so tacky and farkin everything sticks to it, even little sticks! I think I once even had a chicken bone stuck on there! Anyway, doesn't it soon come off after a few sprays with WD40 and a few re-lubes?

I find the balance between keeping a chain spotless and squeak free pretty tricky.

If you use WD40 then it'll come of faster than if you'd used oil... Most of WD40 is a solvent not too disimilar to diesel. It used to have LPG in there as the propellant but that's been replaced by CO2. Only a small amount of WD40 is actual lubricant that hangs around to do anything. Interestingly the MSDS sheet states that chemical resistant gloves should be used. Are you using Nitrile rubber gloves (not the regular latex ones)?

Given the apocalyptic cost of chainrings on the new Shimano stuff and the already less than cheap cost of cassettes I'd argue more than chains are fast becoming a rather expensive, but expendable, item. Even to the point that if you can detect any hint of chain stretch then it's been on the bike too long.
 
I would agree with the above that the chain, rims and pads are the main areas to really worry about. I will often just brush of the frame once the dirt has dried. Look at the cassette to make sure that there isn't large amount of grime caked in there as well.
 
swampy1970 said:
If you use WD40 then it'll come of faster than if you'd used oil... Most of WD40 is a solvent not too disimilar to diesel. It used to have LPG in there as the propellant but that's been replaced by CO2. Only a small amount of WD40 is actual lubricant that hangs around to do anything. Interestingly the MSDS sheet states that chemical resistant gloves should be used. Are you using Nitrile rubber gloves (not the regular latex ones)?
.
I try to get any of that stuff on my hands.

I find that different aerosol degreasers evaporate at different rates. I reckon WD40 has to be used very frequently to provide enough lubrication. Lately I've been using Bostik 'no more squeaks' spray lube, which smells a lot like WD40, but seems to leave behind a tiny bit more lube
 
The war of the chain lube!:D

Thanks for all the input. I had not thought about water getting in the wheels. I'll
check them Sunday during my regular maintenance thing.

I use mineral sprites to clean the chain and cogs, then blow it dry and apply 3 n' 1
to the chain. It doesn't seem to pick up trash and stays oily for the whole week.

Thanks.
 
The road spray has gotta be pretty heavy for water to get in the tyres, so don't be disappointed if there's none in there :)
 
531Aussie said:
The road spray has gotta be pretty heavy for water to get in the tyres, so don't be disappointed if there's none in there :)

Damn, I was all excited about it!


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