Any tips/tricks on keeping a bike that stays outside in the best possible shape? Rust prevention and stuff like that? This is the first bike (and it’s a steel bike) that I’ve ever kept locked outside all the time. Just got tired of lugging it into my too-small apartment and taking up space when I use it every freakin day. Bolts and nuts are beginning to get a little coating of rust and I just want to see if there’s some sort of extra step I can make to prolong the non-beater-ness of my bike (that doesn’t involve bringing it inside).
are you sure you want to leave it outside? sounds way too risky to me. i live on the back side of a cramped and crowded 40 year old apartment building and i have to walk or ride my bike under a set of stairs, around the big mailboxes, around the broken coke machine, corner hard while watching my toe overlap, and cut past chairs and dogs to get to my door. then once i get to the door, i don’t have enough room to swing the bike in straight, so i have to walk it in the door at an angle while trying not to trip on the cats that greet me. and i won’t leave my bike outside for 5 minutes, not even my beater.
the plus side is that my neighbors are all cool, my rent is decent, and i’m 5 minutes from the river and downtown.
anyway…
a light coat of WD40 will help keep your hardware from gathering surface rust, as well as prevent chrome pitting. or any other light oil for that matter. keep your chain and your hubs/pedals/BB grime-free and well-lubed where appropriate (much like normal, but with a sense of urgency) and you should get decent life out of them.
does that help?
bikes don’t belong outside.
don’t leave it out.
same situation.
i have too many bikes to fit in my tiny (half of a duplex+room mate) house.
i got a big tarp and nailed one side of it to the top of the fence in the back yard that i keep my '77 schwinn typhoon under. it used to be in awesome condition til i left it out.
the side on the ground has bricks holding it down (that do nothing in violent storms and the bike gets all wet). still not the greatest protection. it makes me feel like im doing something to preserve the bike and keeps the paint from getting destroyed under the texas sun at least.
Build a shed. Or at least a lean-to. Just cover any ply wood with tar paper.
…or quit being a pussy and just lug your bike into your apartment everyday. i put my couch outside just so i had more room for my bikes. priorities buddy…
Put it inside.
I have to use a bike shed where I live though, parents won’t allow it 
Stores 3 bikes easily though 
Something like this:
Yeah, Bring it in, dog!
there are eight bikes living in my apartment!
If you’re too lazy to have a bike, you don’t deserve to have a bike!
move
Stop being poor.
Well this thread was practically useless. You all bring your bikes inside? Damn. There are already two bikes in my apartment. I can’t fit any more. Even $2600/mo rent doesn’t get a very big space.
You can fit more!
Get creative, or throw away a bunch of stuff you really don’t need.
I really just want to leave it outside.
Buy a bike rack. I have 6 bikes (3 complete, 3 incomplete) on mine in the space that 2 bikes would normally occupy.
Holy christ. I just want to leave it outside. I know I could sell my couch and install some sort of bike garage… but I just want to leave it outside. It’s a bike, not furniture. I ride it through all sorts of shit on the streets and I don’t really want it in my apartment. I just want to leave it outside.
leave it outside. get the frame powdercoated (make sure to cut off derailleurs and cable bosses) and replace all the nuts and bolts with AL (preferably anodized)…it might still rust, but at least it will be tarck
Wait wait… I know!
Maybe he can leave it outside?
There are chains that have a rust resilient coating on them now. Maybe you could check out one of those?
I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to bring your bike inside. Safer from weather, thieves, and somebody playing hide a dook with your saddle.
[quote=“ryand”]
I still don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to bring your bike inside. Safer from weather, thieves, and somebody playing hide a dook with your saddle.[/quote]
Right now it’s about 5" away from me, outside, and I can see it directly from most of my apartment. To get it indoors, it needs to come through 3 locked doors that it doesn’t fit through, down stairs, then around a corner it doesn’t fit around and then through a door it doesn’t fit through. It’s a giant pain in the ass to get it inside my place because I live in the half-basement of a 60+ year old building with narrow everythings. And there are cops hanging around here pretty much all night. If someone is using a power tool to cut through my lock 2’ away from my open bedroom window, I’m proooobably gonna wake up. If not, renter’s insurance is buying me a new bike!
I’ll definitely look into the chains and AL bolts and crap!
so you live in a basement apartment that cost $2600 a month? you have bigger problems than a rusty bike…fix them first