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timmyflash
Joined: 21 Jul 2009
Posts: 22
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 Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 9:47 pm |
Does riding a bike in winter damage it?
Pretty keen on buying my first proper road bike in next few weeks, but seen people talking about winter hacks, suggests they don't want to damage good bike so save that for fair weather. Am i way off the mark? Good idea to wait?
Cheers
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Slow Downcp
Joined: 12 Jul 2004
Posts: 2468
Location: Walsall
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Shmo
Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 171
Location: Swansea, UK
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 10:53 pm |
Lower headset bearing and rear hub on my bike nearly dissolved last winter . Hoping that the crud road racer mudguards along with a headset protector will save the bearing as I'm too lazy to drop the fork to clean in there regularly. Also hope that the rear wheel prob was due to crappy seals on Shimano RS-20 and my new Fulcrums won't suffer the same fate.
Only other thing that needed doing was new brake pads and some cables.
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mfin
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
Posts: 538
Location: on t'internet
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 11:45 pm |
Read this thread after just posting what might be relevant thoughts to your OP on this thread http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12661349
SYSTEM TOOLTIP:
You can put a crap sentence here that might help you give the
impression to others that you've got an interesting personality. |
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timmyflash
Joined: 21 Jul 2009
Posts: 22
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Posted Sun Nov 8, 2009 11:57 pm |
Hmm, cheers for that.
I currently have a specialized sirrus (first bike i've owned since was about 12. 16 years ago...), but thinking about it, i might sell this and replace it with something of similar value of gumtree or ebay. Reckon i could get £200, and pick something up for the same until spring.
Might give me a better idea what i'm after as well.
Money is burning a hole in my pocket though. Can i hold out from treating myself?! haha
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STEFANOS4784
Joined: 30 Jul 2008
Posts: 2576
Location: 'Down Norton'
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timmyflash
Joined: 21 Jul 2009
Posts: 22
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 8:58 am |
Joining the legion of people looking for a 1k bike.. so it's not a 'carbon art piece', but would obviously like to keep it 'nice.
Cheers all for input.
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keef66
Joined: 29 Apr 2008
Posts: 1042
Location: Noomarket, deepest Suffolk
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 10:18 am |
I bought mine last September, so only had a handful of dry rides before the clocks went back and the weather turned nasty. I carried on riding it all through the winter, and with a bit of tlc nothing's broken or dissolved.
It's a Racelight Tk with full mudguards, which makes an enormous difference to the amount of abrasive, corrosive road filth hitting the brake calipers, front mech, bb and lower headset.
I'm in the process of checking and greasing the bearings before winter; so far only done the front hub, but that was pristine, and judging by their silent operation, so will the rest be.
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mfin
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
Posts: 538
Location: on t'internet
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 11:01 am |
With a winter bike... for me its mainly having something I can ride in the wet and not feel I need to bother cleaning cos I don't value too much. If I rode something that was a grand upwards in the wet or mucky roads Id feel Id have to clean it all the time and look after it. In the winter that could mean washing a bike in the cold for half an hour 5 times a week for me and Im not doing that. Plus, of course, I can leave mudguards on it.
SYSTEM TOOLTIP:
You can put a crap sentence here that might help you give the
impression to others that you've got an interesting personality. |
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cougie
Joined: 21 Apr 2004
Posts: 11536
Location:
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 11:49 am |
Full guards willl help a lot. My mates shagged the finish on his ultegra groupset after riding it on gritted roads - so if I ever do that - I make sure the bike is sparkly clean soon after the ride.
Personally though in winter I love my fixed wheel. Full guards, lights, far less to go wrong and it was very cheap.
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giant mancp
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
Posts: 6895
Location: Essex and Lincs
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 12:16 pm |
A new bike for winter is a great idea imo, just make sure it's winter equipped with mudguards and lights, some tools in a saddlepack, stuff like that.
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Finding the right saddle is the holy grail of the cyclist - good luck! This may take some time ... |
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Grahamcp
Joined: 19 Nov 2002
Posts: 714
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted Mon Nov 9, 2009 12:49 pm |
Make sure you get a frame with mudguard clearance - for the good reasons above; also if you ride in a group, whoever happens to be behind you will thank you for it. The clip-on guards don't come down far enough to prevent spray being flciked up - so go for full guards with decent flap.
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skyd0g
Joined: 12 Jun 2009
Posts: 805
Location: Lancashire
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Philby
Joined: 01 Jun 2009
Posts: 28
Location: Bristol
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Posted Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:09 am |
Might be worth buying now, unless you are on the C2W scheme - there's a few 2009 models being discounted in the LBSs I have been in recently.
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The only reasons for a hack are so you don't have to worry about the cost of replacing parts so much if you neglect it, and crashing on wet/icy roads.
but a spesh secteur/allez with 105 will be fine over the winter, just look after it 
(Plus a set of Crudguards).