It has been raining a lot around my parts training roads. I have been spending many hours out getting very wet. so what should i be doing to ensure that my bike is properly cleaned and maintained?

Prolonged use of your beloved bike in wet weather will mean that you need to do slightly more to it to “keep it in good health” This topic will go through a few of the things that i think are important.

• Bearings: you will find that with time in rain your bearings will need re-greasing. The more rain you ride in the greater the chance of getting water into the bearing grease. Once you have too much water in the bearing that will not work as good as they should. Notable bearings are Bottom bracket and Pedal. You will find that most new wheel hubs have really good well sealed bearings that will most likely not need opening and greasing. I suggest removing the bottom bracket and pulling off the caps that seal the bearings. Have a look at the grease and see how it looks, based on the color and quality of the grease you can make a educated decision on whether you want to re-grease them. You will be able to see little drops of water on the grease if the water has made it into you bearing. While you have the BB out the bike you must de-grease and re-grease the thread in the frame and the bearing cups. Having a decent amount of grease here will stop any creaks and also make removing and reinstalling the BB easier
• Cables: You will find that your shifting will become “loose” this is cause there is added friction in your cable housings. I suggest removing all the inners from the outers and then greasing / lubrication the inners. You can never have too much lube. Use a light grease or Teflon based lube.
• Rim Face: Extended use in wet weather seems to create a nasty black grease like brake dust that settles nicely in the grooves of your rim. you will also find this greasy dust makes its way all over your frame and most likely onto you. Rim face is best cleaned with a light scorer pad and some soapy water. DON’T SCOUR YOUR CARBON RIMS
• Frame: You should clean your frame to rid it off all the road grime it will collect from wet weather use.
• Chain: The last point i want to make is most probably the most important. Your chain lube will almost certainly be rubbed off leaving you with a nice dry chain. Even if you use Teflon “dry” lubes they will still be affected by the rain. Nothing is truly water proof. So clean and re-grease/lube your chain as soon as possible. Leaving it to “dry” from the rain water will help it rust. so don’t leave your bike lying around too long or you will need to replace your chain. for more chain topics see here and here and here

Keeping your bike clean and well lubricated will help it live a nice long healthy life even with extended riding in the rain

This post is tagged Maintenance, rain, Training