bike cover?

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any of you commuters keep your bike outside? I usually bring it out & put it away in my basement. but sometimes I get lazy & it's out

MTB in rain.JPG


wouldn't mind throwing a fitted bike cover over it. anyone use such a thing?

Puroma Bike Cover
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
I use one for my shopping bike (Elephant Bike/ Pashley Mailstar), it's outside all year round in damp UK weather. It's a good-enough solution for me. I have a steel locker for my other bikes but the Elephant bike is too large to fit. Security isn't too much of an issue where I am- it's behind a security gate and out of sight. Some bike covers can get shredded by the wind after a while- I bought a cheap one for a friend from Wilkinson's and it didn't last a year- worth going for a fairly heavy-duty one.
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
Won't the time saved by leaving it out be negated by the time wasted in digging the cover out, covering the bike and securing the cover so it doesn't blow off?
 
I'm quite probably mistaken but I always imagined covers speed up the rusting process, since condensation that forms isn't easily blown away by the wind. If you're doing it to keep your bum dry, a saddle cover should do it?
 
any of you commuters keep your bike outside? I usually bring it out & put it away in my basement. but sometimes I get lazy & it's out

View attachment 560262

wouldn't mind throwing a fitted bike cover over it. anyone use such a thing?

Puroma Bike Cover
I live in a first-floor apartment, ie one floor up on ground level, so a cover is the only place my bikes have to stay dry. Ish. I find saddles are hygroscopic, which can be uncomfortable, and isn't helped greatly by a plastic bag either.
I'm quite probably mistaken but I always imagined covers speed up the rusting process, since condensation that forms isn't easily blown away by the wind. If you're doing it to keep your bum dry, a saddle cover should do it?:eek:
Having left my Trek uncovered, and then covered, it definitely doesn't promote rust, but is definitely nowhere near as good as indoor storage.
 
Actually, thinking about it logically you wouldn't expect much if any condensation, as the temperature under a light cover shouldn't differ much inside or out. Only rapid changes in air temperature would promote condensation on the frame, and that would probably be unavoidable anyway with our without a cover, but then the cover would limit ventilation, to what degree I'm unsure. It's probably a wash!
 
Won't the time saved by leaving it out be negated by the time wasted in digging the cover out, covering the bike and securing the cover so it doesn't blow off?
good question. been on the fence for a while, I don't think so. in my case I have to remove a tarp off my bulkhead, go inside, down stairs unlock the bulklhead, cary the bike down the basement steps, lock the bulkhead, go back outside & put the tarp back on

bike and bulkhead.JPG
 
I'm quite probably mistaken but I always imagined covers speed up the rusting process, since condensation that forms isn't easily blown away by the wind. If you're doing it to keep your bum dry, a saddle cover should do it?
yeah I've heard that, for me it would be for long term. I do have saddle covers, so this is more for the rest of the bike & to keep the birds from depositing stubborn you-know-what on my new fork stancions, but not limited to just that. snow is in our future & some times I'll bike a cpl days in a row. so I'm hoping it will save some in&out labor & time
 
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