Prepare your bike for Winter


If the mere thought of riding in anything more than just a pair of shorts and a jersey is too much to bear and your bike is unceremoniously dumped in the garage sometime during Autumn, do you and your bike a huge favour and prep it for storage.  You’ll be thankful for the small amount of time and effort you put in now come Spring.

 

This may sound awfully obvious but clean your bike!  We all know it needs to be done but how often do we simply put the bike away and forget about it?  Or the misplaced optimism that we’ll get out ‘one more time’ means the bike sits there gathering dust, sitting in its own grime, by accident.

 

Follow our three stages for bike storage:

Cleaning

Lubricating

Storing

 

We have further broken these stages down into the Time-saver and the Dedicated.  The former wants nothing more than to get their bike into storage with the least amount of fuss, but with the bike still being ready to ride again when the time is right.  The latter are those who wish to unveil their bike in Spring and want to feel overwhelmed at how pristine their bike looks and feels.

 

Cleaning

 

For the time-saver:

-          Be sure you take the time to really clean your bike.  Get all the dirt, dust and grime off.  This includes the underside and around the bottom bracket.  Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean you can ignore it.

-          Take your time and bathe your bike in a warm, soapy, bath.  Use a combination of a soft brush and a cloth for the frame and contact points and also have a dedicated, stiff, brush for the drivetrain as this is where a large proportion of grime gathers.

 

For the dedicated (all of the above, PLUS):

-          Take your headset apart and clean out all the muck that will likely be lying in there.  If you have a non-cartridge headset take all the different components,  clean and degrease them.

-          Unscrew your cassette from your hub and clean each individual element independently with a degreaser.

-          Remove your bottom bracket and flush out whatever may be lying in there.  This is one place where dirt and grime really gathers and can wreak havoc on your bottom bracket.

 

Lubricating

 

For the time-saver:

-          Thankfully all the hard work is now over.  The rest is a relative breeze.  All that water can cause rust, so it needs removing and your shiny bits need protecting.  Once the chain and cassette are relatively dry, spray a water dispersant over them, the chainset, and derailleurs to remove any excess water and then wipe with a rag.

-          The drivetrain is now ready to be protected for the winter.  All you need to do is apply a coat of your chosen lubrication to your chain.

-          It helps to apply a coat of Bike Polish to your frame.  Not only does this make your newly cleaned bike look nice and highlight what a fine job you have done cleaning it but it also prevents dust and dirt from sticking to the frame over the Winter.  A bike with some polish on it is extremely easy to wipe clean come Spring.

 

For the dedicated (all of the above, PLUS):

-          If you have a steel frame you cherish, like a vintage Avanti, it may be worth rust-proofing it.  With the bottom bracket and headset removed now is the right time.  Spray the inside of the now dry frame with a water dispersant (eg Pedros Pro Strength Citrus Degreaser) and make sure the dispersant gets everywhere.  Then just let it dry.

-          When your headset has dried simply regrease all the parts with a bike specific grease and re-assemble.

-          No lubrication is required to reassemble the cassette to the hub.  If you wish to use some then use a silicon-based lubricant very sparingly across the hub’s cassette body.

-          The bottom bracket threads in your frame should be heavily greased and the bottom bracket reinserted and made firm.  Then re-assemble the crankset.

 

Storage

 

For the time-saver:

-          The ultimate time-saver would leave their bike propped against the wall and leave it be.  However, if there is one thing you should do it’s make sure your tyres are inflated as folded rubber tends to crack and deteriorate leaving you with a new, and probably unnecessary, tyre purchase in Spring.

-          If you have the room and can guarantee your bike won’t get knocked, a simple bike stand will keep your bike off the wall and let it stand proud.

 

For the dedicated:

-          A number of options exist for bike storage.  There are a variety of bike hooks that will allow you to store your bike either hanging from a ceiling or a wall out the way.  They take up far less floor space than a traditional bike stand, too.

-          The truly dedicated will dismantle the bike, wrap the frame in a sheet, place the wheels in dedicated wheel bags and store the whole lot into a bike box.

 

It goes without saying that if you come across any parts of your bike that need replacing, you should do it now, because as a season passes it’s likely you’ll forget which parts need replacing and cause more damage when you start riding on them again.

 

Other Alternatives

 

A second bike – this doesn’t have to involve purchasing a brand new bike for Winter but more recycling what you do have into a Winter bike and having a sparkling Summer bike.  A Winter bike can be made up of all the old kit you have lying around.  So long as it is safe and functional it will be perfect.  You can also worry about it less.

 

By default it will be heavier than your Summer bike, so good for training.  When the sun finally comes back out in the Spring and you jump back onto your Summer bike you’ll feel like Eddie Mercx on Peak Fuel.  It’s a wonderful feeling.

 

Visit an AvantiPlus store – let them do all the hard work for you!  Book in to your Local Store and get them to check over your bike ready for storage.  You’ll be secure in the knowledge that, when the time comes, you’ll be able to dust your bike down and get out there and it hasn’t been corroding away from the inside.  Peace of mind.

 

If you follow the advice above you should emerge out of Winter with a bike that is ready to ride and which you’ll feel inspired to be aboard.