I’m relatively new to the midwest and salting the roads in winter. It looks like a lot of people on the forum avoid riding in winter because of the salt. Assuming I wipe down my bike afterward (carbon/aluminum), what danger does the salt present? I have some new winter riding clothes and am eager to get out there, but I’ve only got one bike and I would like to keep it operating.
Yes they use too much salt on the roads. It’s nuts here in the Toronto area. Every year they say it’s really bad and they need to cut down - it’s an environmental problem and doing damage to road structures and what not, but every winter they seem to use more and more of it. I think they use so much salt because people have forgotten how to drive in the winter. Strange, because it’s really easy to do - slow down and drive the appropriate speed for the conditions!!!
As for your bike. My suggestion would be to hose the bike down thouroghly after your ride with fresh water, and then dry everything as best you can.
It isn’t just a matter of wiping the bike down. The little granules get into about everything eventually so you are best served to give the bike a good rinsing.
It’s funny you mention this as we were discussing carbon fiber and road salt today and decided that carbon fiber seems impervious to road salt. It’s your aluminum components I think you have to worry about.
The bigger concern is the reason the salt is there in the first place: Ice. Verglass. Black ice. Nasty stuff that can take you down in less than the blink of an eye. I live about seven blocks from the bike shop and crashed twice riding home one evening. That was when I hung up my bike below 32 degrees fahrenheit for this season. I darn near boght it this afternoon running when my right foot hit a patch of verglass (nearly invisible ice).
If you decide to go out use caution and rinse your bike down.
like Fleck said, hose it, wiping might grind the salt into your paint job!
although i think salt is the least of my worries when it comes to riding in midwest winters!
Here in Madison it’s supposed to be in the upper 40s over the weekend. The road calls.
I share the concerns about the amount of salt used. I see the salt trucks, think about the local lakes, and cringe.
yeah 40 i’ll take! but when it’s under 30 and windy, no thanks. not to mention black ice, snow mounds, etc.
i know some municipalities use calcium chloride, but don’t know if it’s less harmful? either way i don’t see that stopping any time soon, so long as everyone has to go to work etc
I live in Milwaukee and purchased a “winter bike”–an old mountain bike that’s been rusting ever since it hit the salted streets. I love my road bike way, way too much to submit it to that environment. Until the first good rain that washes the salt away, my road ride is limited to the rollers in the basement.
Do yourself a favor and get a winter bike. I’m thinking something second-hand with bomb-proof wheels and tires. It will pay for itself when you consider the cost of replacing your components/cables.