The perils of cycling through floods

[al78]

A week ago Saturday on the way to Cuckfield for a meal out I came across a localized flood across the road just before Warninglid (it had been raining non-stop all day, and there is a significant dip in the road at that location). Given that there is no other convenient route to take I decided to chance it and cycle through the flood taking it carefully. The water was deep enough that it was comfortably over my feet at the bottom of the pedal stroke, and almost up to bottom bracket. I made it through ok and also made it back home without issue (the water had subsided a bit when I passed through it on the way home). Over the next week the gear changing started to become temperamental which I put down to cable stretch as new gear cables had been installed on that Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately despite my efforts I was unable to get the gears shifting smoothly, and recently they seemed to get momentarily stuck at times. I had a look at the cables this afternoon and discovered that both inner and outer were corroded and there was an awful lot of friction in the part where it loops into the rear derailleur. Bottom line is I have written off a pair of brand new gear cables in less than a week, so have to use the mountain bike this week until I get some more. The moral here is whilst cycling in adverse conditions might make you feel hardcore just bear in mind the consequences for your bike components.

 

[HovR]

Yep, you gotta remember to dry your bike off after going through flood water.

After cycling though bottom bracket deep flood water on the way home from a recent club ride the first thing I did after I got home was repack the hubs and bottom bracket, blow water out of the chain with compressed air and relube, remove and relube pedal threads, and remove and relube cables after pouring out the water!

All the running water flicked up off the roads, which then hits the mudguards and drips down, seem to have done no good to my freewheel either which will most likely need replacing.

 

[ian emmerson]

Know the feeling well.
Last Mondays floods here " up north" caused several floods which I chose to ride through, on 2 occasions I found the water level to reach headset level, I kid you not.
Result was me spending most of Wednesday stripping my bike down, greasing, lubing and cleaning.
fortunately doing this so soon has caused no real damage.

 

[fossyant]

One simple answer. Don't ride your bike through a flood.

 

[HovR]

Know the feeling well.
Last Mondays floods here " up north" caused several floods which I chose to ride through, on 2 occasions I found the water level to reach headset level, I kid you not.
Result was me spending most of Wednesday stripping my bike down, greasing, lubing and cleaning.
fortunately doing this so soon has caused no real damage.

Headset deep? You're a braver man than I!

An underpass near me was flooded, an underpass which is at the end of a fairly steep hill and around a slight bend making it hard to see upon approach. I nearly went straight in to it, but managed to brake in time! Good job too, as when the water levels lowered I found out the floods would have been over my saddle!

When you've been in water that deep you might want to ensure there is no water in the frame, especially if the frame is steel.

I'll go through any flood water that I have to go through to avoid a long detour, especially if I don't know the area well, but only if it seems to be below the hub level. Anything below that level is a fairly quick and easy job to clear the water out of.

 

[BSRU]

You should not ride or drive through flood water that is too deep as often the flood water has popped open manhole covers which you will not notice until your front wheel disappears down it.

 

[fossyant]

You should not ride or drive through flood water that is too deep as often the flood water has popped open manhole covers which you will not notice until your front wheel disappears down it.

It's also hilariously funny watching your mates try and cross a Ford on a road bike, when you can see it's not smooth tarmac underneath. Cue much laughing from clubmates and general folk in the area eating picnics !

 

[donnydave]

First day of bad floods I cycled through with water around the bottom bracket, for the rest of the week I got off and carried my bike. I re-oiled my chain but didn't do anything else, bike seems to work just as before. Wife did the same and her bike now sometimes "misfires" when changing gear (flat bar shimano shifter). I will now go and have a look at the state of the gear cables!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Having lived in parts of the country very prone to flooding and having learnt to drive in the same areas, there was a rough rule of thumb regarding the depth of flood water. Basically if you cannot see the road markings (such as a white line) then it is likely to be too deep to drive through (and you need to get out of the vehicle and check it the old fashioned way - depth of wellies - if it is deeper than them, find another route) OK you need white road markings and wellies and also the option of another route which is not always possible in some of the areas I have lived in, but I think the same rule could easily apply to bikes as well, just forget the wellies bit...

(now going off to see if I even know how to remove the bb on my road bike!)

 

[Norm]

There's a ford near me that the kids and I have spent many hours playing in, cycling through, falling of in, without an issue. I'm amazed that one flood has caused enough corrosion for the cables to be trashed within a week.

 

[Houthakker]

A guy I work with was cycling home and the road was flooded under a low bridge near his house. Knowing the detour was miles longer, and he was almost home, he decided to wade through it and carry his bike over his head. He knoew it would be deep and The water came up to his chest
His bike was fine, pity about the i-phone in his pocket though!!

 

[HLaB]

I was amazed when I went through floods and despite me being lazy, waiting a few days to clean things no surface rust formed.

 

[MisterStan]

I'm amazed that one flood has caused enough corrosion for the cables to be trashed within a week.

This - surely they must have been in a pretty poor state already?

 

[al78]

This - surely they must have been in a pretty poor state already?

No, they were brand new.