Chad Carron rides in the rain a lot and wants advice on how this might affect his Bianchi, and how he should look after his bike after his wet ride. We have some important suggestions that might help you if you have to do a bit of riding in the rain
Question: I love to ride in the rain, and there seems to be differing opinions on how riding in the rain effects bikes. What is the truth? I was told to just be sure to hang my bike by the front tire afterwards. I ride a Bianche Virata and my main concern is the thin steel walls rusting.
Answer:
Hi Chad,
The first thing is I don’t understand how you can love to ride in the rain, its one of my hates in life, when the water starts to get under your clothes and runs down your back, it’s terrible.
Make sure you clean and dry your bike, and yourself
OK so you must ride, well that’s up to you, but don’t ask me to come with you! Your problems start with your bike when you finish your ride. Hanging your bike up by the front wheel will help as the water will run off, you hope.
After a ride in the rain, you need to have a shower and a drying off. Afterward, I suggest you dry your bike. Any water that is left on the frame and equipment is not going to do it any good. The best thing to do is to clean the bike after your ride; this will take all the grit, oil, diesel and other chemicals from the road which will damage your bike.
The best thing is a bucket, warm water, washing up liquid and a sponge. Give the bike a good soaping over then a rinse with fresh water.
Now you have a nice clean bike, but a wet one. So with a clean cloth give the bike a good drying. Most importantly you need to oil the chain, gears, brake pivots, and any other moving parts. This protects everything and the oil will displace any water that could cause any rust.
Water can get into the frame and rust it from the inside
Now your frame shouldn’t rust as long the paint is not damaged. Any scratches will rust if they are left wet. Water can get into the frame and rust it from the inside; this can be avoided by drying the frame after a ride, especially around the headset, where the seat pin goes into the frame and the bottom bracket.
With a frame of good quality like your Bianchi they treat the tubes inside and out before they paint the frame. This will protect the frame up to a point, but you need to take care of it by cleaning and more importantly drying it. Hanging it up is not enough on its own.
