Throughout the year, we experience many seasons. If you’re an avid lover of cycling like me, you may also find that cycling during spring and summer feels perfectly great.
It’s as if you’re riding with the wind. You feel like you’re on top of the world.
But cycling during the rainy season is a different ball game. You’re trying to have a great time, enjoy the weather, but it’s just cold, the road is slippery, and all sorts of muck get stuck on your bike.
Even despite this, you try to ride in the rain, but the mud and muck get splashed into your face. You get home and barely recognize yourself. In fact, your wife is on the phone in the next room, calling 911 frantically.
You look at your bike, and it is in terrible condition than your frat party day’s hangover.
Tips to Keep your Bike Protected during Rain
1. Get a Bike Cover
Bike covers are great if you don’t have access to covered parking. Not only do bike covers protect your bike from rain, but they will also protect your bike from dust, scorching heat, and cold too.
A bike cover can be packed in a small bag, unloaded quickly, and laid on top of the bike to cover it.
Owning a bike cover doesn’t cause any hassle for the rider either, as it is very lightweight and easy to carry. So getting a bike cover is a win-win in any scenario.
(Puroma Bike Cover, Source: Amazon.com)
2. Keeping the Chain Lubricated
Wet lubes are a must if you want to ride during the rain. Wet lubes stay on the chain and prevents moisture from entering the chain. Thus wet lubes protect your chain during the rainy season.
Be careful, as you must not use too much lube. Otherwise, the chain becomes drippy with lubes. Wet lubes also collect lots of dirt and muck, so you must clean them regularly.
You can buy Chain Lubrication Oil from amazon.com.
3. Use Mudguard
Mudguards are essential if you plan on protecting your bike during rain. Mudguards keep you and your bike dry during the rainy season.
You can fit mudguards to both tires. This will protect you and your bike from spraying and splashing mud from both sides.
Mudguards keep the mud and dirt off from reaching you and your bike.
4. Using Bike Lights
You might be thinking, how will light protect my bike during the rainy season? Well, the light will be your biggest asset during rainy seasons as visibility drastically drops down.
It’s always important to see what’s up ahead clearly when riding a bike so that you don’t get into any unwanted accidents.
Besides, the visibility of other vehicles drops, too, so it will be easier to let them know of your presence.
Fitting a bright LED light bulb in front and back of your bike will let other vehicles know about you and your bike during the rainy season.
I have reviewed few best bike lights for kids’ bikes in my other article: 8 Best Kids’ Bike Lights. You can check a suitable light for your kids’ bike.
5. Reduce your Tire Pressure
When your tire has higher pressure, not only will it be harder to maintain traction on the road? The tire’s contact with the ground is less when tire pressure is high. When you have to brake suddenly, the tire may slip and go out of control.
When your tire has low pressure, it will have more traction on the road. So during the wet season, it is actually helpful to decrease the tire pressure to prevent any accidents.
So, even in the case of emergency braking, you’ll have fewer chances of your tire slipping out of control.
I was hoping you could read my article to know the Optimim Tire Pressure for your bikes.
6. Wash your Bike Regularly
When you wash your bike regularly, you’re making sure there are no such substances that can cause rust to your bike. During the rainy season, mud, debris gets attached to the bike easily, causing early rusting or cut the tire.
When you wash your bike, all the mud and debris get washed away, and your bike will enjoy a longer riding life.
Just like a human being needs to be clean to maintain proper hygiene and be healthy, a bike also needs to be washed regularly to make sure that it is clean from mud and mucks.
7. Look out for Rusty Parts
A famous saying says, “None can destroy iron, but its own rust can.” When your bike starts showing rust, I’d suggest you go and change the part immediately because that rust will spread throughout the whole bike.
Otherwise, the rust will spread throughout the whole bike and destroy it slowly.
Rust is corrosion of iron. A rusty bike will have less elasticity, so that it will break more easily than non-rusted bikes.
You can use chrome plated parts, as they won’t rust. They will keep your bike in top condition. You can ride in the rain without any worry about anything happening to your bike.
8. Learn how to Ride in Rain
There is no better way to know how to protect your bike in the rain than actually to start riding in the rain.
When you ride in the rain, you’ll know “What to do” and “What not to do” during riding. In this way, you’ll have first-hand experience of things that must be done to protect your bike.
When you ride in the rain, you’ll know how much pressure is needed on tires, at what speed you must ride your bike.
There is no better way to learn how to protect your bike than ride it during the rain.
9. Keep your Bike inside Home
Whenever you are not using your bike, keep it inside your home. This way, you’ll not only protect your bike from rain, but you will also protect it from heat and cold. Your bike will last much longer this way.
Home is where you feel safe, so what better way is there to protect your bike from rain than to put it inside the safety of your own house. This way, you’ll make sure not only is your bike safe but theft-proof too.
Conclusion
Finally, after reading all these steps, I hope you can protect your dearest bike during the rain. By proper parking, covering, and lubricating the parts well in the rainy season, you won’t know any different performance of your bike.
