What kind of maintenance should I do before putting my bike into storage for the winter? Are there any special considerations for storing it? Does temperature matter? If it's hanging on the wall from the rim all winter long, will that affect the shape of my rims? Any other winter storage advice would be nice to hear.
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1What kind of bike do you have? Are your rims particularly delicate?– Goodbye Stack ExchangeOct 7, 2010 at 3:50
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2storage? keep riding!– D'Arcy NormanOct 7, 2010 at 5:02
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Related: How to store bicycles during winter– Goodbye Stack ExchangeSep 20, 2011 at 18:35
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There are at least 2 other questions on this site regarding storing bikes over the winter. Both have good advice; my advice? combine both answers into one good one on a community wiki.– user313Sep 21, 2011 at 0:37
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@wdypdx22 My question is about storing indoors, while one of the others is about storing outdoors. While they could be combined into 1 question, they are different enough that they should probably remain as separate questions.– KibbeeSep 21, 2011 at 0:47
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3 Answers
- Wash it. Dry thoroughly. You can even wax it if you truly love your ride...
- Lube the chain
- Lubricate all pivot points (derailleurs, brake handles, etc)
- Loosen the tension on the cables and put a small amount of grease on the cable ends.
- If the hubs haven't been overhauled in a while you can do that.
- Remove the seatpost and if metal apply a light coat of grease and re-insert but leave the seat clamp a little loose. If carbon fiber, remove, clean and re-insert (no grease). Remember to tighten again in the spring.
- Inflate tires to full recommended pressure.
Store your bike in a warm place and check the tire inflation periodically. If they deflate and it's cold your sidewalls are likely to crack when you pump them back up in the spring.
If hung, you may want to periodically take it down and spin the wheels (and the crank) and then hang it again. While it's unlikely that hanging the bike will result in pitting on your hub cones, spinning them a couple of times over the months can't hurt.
I store my bikes in my unheated garage and hang them from the ceiling. I hang them from the frame and not the wheels to make sure that there are no issues with the rims deforming over that time. Otherwise, I don't do much else to them. I don't go out of my way to clean them up as I'm never quite sure when I put them up if it's just for a week or the whole season. I've never had an issue come spring with any parts corroding or not working properly.
I have always stored my bike hanging from a beam in my attic. I remove my wheels, deflate the tyres and remove all items attached to the bike that are not integral (bike bag, lights, bottles, etc.). I hang the weels from seperate hooks.
I always leave a tray of dehumidifier near the location to make sure that any stray moisture in the air is soaked up.
I always remove my seat post and apply some form of a carbon paste/grease to the post before popping it back in.
Below taken from Calfee
"Thankfully! An opportunity to dispel the myth that one shouldn't grease a carbon post! I don't know where the myth started, but carbon composites are not affected by grease. Our advice is simple: If the seatpost fits tight, grease it. If it slips, de-grease it. As has been known for many years, when aluminum and carbon fiber contact each other, galvanic corrosion can start. That is why Calfee uses a fiberglass sleeve as a seat tube shim. Aluminum seat tube (or sleeve) and a carbon post will result in corrosion of the frame and possible seizure of the post within the frame. A carbon sleeve on an aluminum post will result in corrosion of the post. Salty environments accelerate this corrosion. Anodizing merely slows it down. About the only common chemical that will hurt carbon fiber is paint remover (which attacks the resin between the fibers). But there are many solvents that will dull a nice paint job. Craig Calfee"
