Here's how to enjoy cycling in the rain and what to watch out for.

The good things about riding in the rain

For some reason, riding in the rain is exhilarating.

I thought it was just me, but many of my road bike friends who have experienced riding in the rain agreed.

Of course, not many people would go out in the rain on their main road bike, but they seem to enjoy it with a secondary bike, such as one they used to ride.

Rainy day wear

For city bikes (mamachari), many people seem to wear raincoats or ride with an umbrella in one hand, primarily as a measure to "avoid getting wet."

On the other hand, for road bikes, even with the same raincoat, it's more about "preventing body temperature from dropping," so something more form-fitting is often chosen.

And surprisingly, many people choose to wear a cap.

When it rains, it can be difficult to keep your eyes open if rain hits your face directly, making it dangerous due to impaired visibility.

By wearing a cap with the brim facing forward, the rain still hits, but it becomes much easier to keep your eyes open.

Using goggles in combination further prevents rain from directly hitting your eyes.

However, if you use goggles without a cap, water droplets can make it even harder to see, so be careful.

△ICAN Wide Rim Carbon Wheelset

Rainy day bags

When riding with a bag in the rain, choose a waterproof bag.

This is because even if you bring towels and a change of clothes, the entire bag will get soaked.

In addition to using a bag made of waterproof material, wrap towels and changes of clothes in plastic and put them in the bag.

Gloves are important on rainy days

Gloves are important when it rains.

Normally, they reduce vibrations from the ground and prevent your hands from slipping when gripping the handlebars.

Additionally, they help prevent a drop in body temperature when wet from the rain, and prevent a decrease in grip strength due to that drop in body temperature.

This grip strength is very important, as a decrease in grip strength can make it unsafe to ride.

Lights for rainy days

Lights are necessary when riding a bicycle every day.

While not needed during bright daytime on a sunny day, when it gets dark at night or when it's raining, lights need to be on even during the day.

Especially in the rain, it's safer to have a light with waterproofing.

Ordinary ones can sometimes get water inside and then break.

According to my research, you can buy a waterproof light for around 1,000 yen through online shopping, so it's not that expensive.

Be particular about oil on rainy days

I haven't researched which part of a bicycle rusts first in the rain, but the sprocket and chain are usually among the first.

Neither the sprocket nor the chain is bare iron; they have some kind of surface treatment to make them resistant to rust.

However, when water gets on them, transferred rust from other places can occur and develop into actual rust.

By the way, the surface treatment is often "plating," and for inexpensive items, it's often "blackening" or "Parkerizing," also known as "zinc phosphate plating."

Their rust resistance is low.

Although I wrote "plating," strictly speaking, it's a surface treatment that changes the properties of the metal surface, but here I've broadly included it as a type of plating.

More expensive chains may use plating like nickel plating or electroless nickel plating.

Both are chromium-containing platings and have the effect of making the surface more resistant to scratches, making them stronger than the zinc phosphate plating mentioned above.

Both nickel plating and electroless nickel plating are silver in color, but the latter is stronger and is used for precise parts.

To protect these from rust, oil is important. If possible, apply oil before riding in the rain, or if not, after riding, dry off any moisture and then apply oil.

There are two types of oil, wet and dry, but for rain, the wet type seems to be more effective.

There's a lot to learn about oils, and their performance varies greatly by manufacturer.

Try looking up reviews from users by searching with "product name + review" to help you with your purchase.

△ICAN Wide Rim Carbon Spoke Wheelset

Watch out for these on rainy days!

On rainy days, the asphalt parts of the road are slippery, and so are the white lines.

Try to avoid them as much as possible when riding to prevent falls.

Also, be careful of gratings.

A grating is one type of cover for a gutter on the side of the road, which looks like a metal mesh.

Recently, various improvements have been made, such as reducing the contact area with tires, but it's still slippery, so caution is necessary.

Wipe it down after riding

If you ride your road bike in the rain, wipe off the moisture, even if it's just a quick wipe.

It's unlikely to rust immediately just from getting wet.

You can prevent rust by wiping it down before it rusts.

Since "carbon" evokes the image of elemental carbon, it's often thought that carbon doesn't need care, but since it's the resin that binds the carbon, it becomes quite weak when water gets in.

Even with carbon frames, if you ride in the rain, make sure to wipe off the moisture afterward.