Author Topic: Winter Bike Maintenance  (Read 2384 times)

GuitarStv

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Winter Bike Maintenance
« on: November 30, 2012, 10:37:50 AM »
Basically from what I've read, winter maintenance involves regularly oiling/cleaning the chain, removing grit and crap from your brakes (as well as replacing worn brakes), and rinsing/washing off the bike when it gets dirty.

Is there anything else that you should be doing regularly to keep the snow/salt from causing lots of damage to your bike?

Matt K

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Re: Winter Bike Maintenance
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2012, 10:56:45 AM »
Tip #1 use a cheap mountain bike you don't care about.

Salt does nasty things to the fancier metals used in mid to high end bike parts. Even the salt floating in the air 8 stories up caused serious damage to magnesium parts on my bike when I stored it on the apartment balcony one winter.

So, get a cheap but mechanically sound bike, keep it safe (clean and replace pads as needed), keep the chain kinda-clean (just as you suggested), and don't fret about the fact that after a few seasons it will be dead. Donate what is still working from it to a local bicycle recycler (if you have one), and move on to the next one.

I'm not calling a winter bike disposable, I'm saying that the entirety of a winter bike is a consumable.