This is another post oriented toward Seattle-area triathletes
looking to train outside through the winter for the first time. Specifically,
it addresses the Rain Bike.
Rain bikes are sacrificial bikes. When Winter starts throwing
the rough stuff, a rain bike lets you do even long training rides outside
without thrashing your nice equipment. If you have an early season race like
Galveston or Coeur d’Alene, it’s another way to get off the trainer on
wet-pavement weekends.
This year, we had a good run of fair weather through
mid-autumn, but we’re still left with a stretch of dim, drizzly months before
the turn of the seasons brings regular sunshine. Our winter weather isn’t always
predictable, except in that general “it’s going to rain some time”, but it is predictably rough on bicycle parts. From
your bike’s viewpoint, wet weather is trouble because everything sticks. Even when it’s not actively raining, wet road
dirt gets thrown all over the drivetrain, wearing out your chain, cranks and
cassette, and sand sticks in the brake pads, scraping your rims hollow. That’s
where the sacrifice part comes in. With your rain bike, you get outside and the
nice bike stays home.
It doesn’t take much to make a rain bike. The only real
requirement is that you have to be okay with this bike getting wet, dirty,
covered in sand and flung worms, and you have to be okay with parts getting
obnoxiously worn out. You can take any old bicycle, ride it as is, and as long
as it’s saving wear and tear on your other bicycle, it’s a legitimate rain
bike. Nothing else needed. Technically.
However…
When it comes to outdoor winter bike training, there are
some things I’ve found to be Very Convenient (and I think other people would
agree), and some things I’ve found to be Absolutely Vital (and I think other
people would agree here, too). I’ve listed these items below with some notes
about each.
Item 1: Fenders
I rode in the rain for a while without fenders. Then I
bought fenders and saw how foolish I had been. I use a set of Tanaka hammered
aluminum fenders because I got tired of my plastic fenders wearing out and breaking.
Also, metal fenders look classy. Keep in mind that if you install fenders on a
rain bike, you probably won’t be removing them on purpose.
Portland Design Works makes a lovely, though not cheap, aluminum fender set that fits road bikes with 700x23 tires. Tanaka, Velo Orange
and Honjo have aluminum sets for wider tires and some different wheel sizes.
SKS and Planet Bike make plastic fenders in a variety of
sizes. You can get some pretty cheap plastic splash boards, but a full fender
will block a lot more spray.
Item 2: Mud Flaps
These are a soft extension of your fenders. The rear flap is
to protect friends behind you; the front flap protects your feet from front
wheel spray. I don’t ride in the rain much with other people, so I just have a
wide front flap. Just like with the fenders, I rode without a mud flap for a
while, then put the thing on and said, “How foolish I’ve been.” Most of these
are pretty cheap and easy to install.
Item 3: Lights
The cost for lights depends on how powerful you need them to
be. The common blinky light, front or rear, doesn’t cost much, but a headlight that
you can see with on a dark road can cost
quite a bit. I limit any long riding to daylight and evening hours, so I have a
decently bright Serfas headlight to be seen
by, but it wouldn’t be enough for nighttime training rides.
Lights, by the way, classify as Absolutely Vital for me.
Even if I think I’ll make it home while it’s bright out, I take lights, because
it never pays to be the Bike Ninja.
Item 4: Tires
Ridden at a somewhat lower pressure, wider tires will give
better traction. And traction is key. A lot of road bikes will take up to a
28mm wide tire. Most will take a 25mm. It’s usually more comfortable to ride
wider tires around Seattle roads anyway, but even outside the city, more grip
means more security when turning and braking downhill.
In Part 2 of this post, we’ll continue the rain bike theme,
and I’ll also go over some frame choices for rain bikes.
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