Biking on the Beach: Bike After Care

We Floridians are extremely fortunate because we have a great place to ride: the beach. The sun, the sand, the sea air — it all makes for lovely bike outings. However, certain natural elements can be tough on bikes. Sand. Water. Salt. Those things can cause some problems for your bike. But taking the following steps can help you protect your bike from damage without giving up all that beach fun.

1. Clean it as soon as you get home. Take some detailer and wipe down your rims, frame and spokes to make sure any salty spray from the sea doesn’t sit on it and cause corrosion. You should also clean your chain to make sure there is no sand or grit in it.
2. Customize your bike with corrosion resistant parts. You know you’re not stuck with the parts your bike came with, right? You can swap our your existing rims with aluminum alloy rims, which are the best choice if you want to avoid rust. I suppose if you really want to protect your bike, you could hire a company to apply some corrosion resistant barrier coatings to it, but that would probably cost a lot and it might be hard to find someone to do that job.
3. Bike to the beach but not on the beach. One surefire way to protect your bike at the beach is to park it at a bike rack a safe distance away from the sea and sand and lock it up. Avoid bringing your bike onto the sand and letting it rest there.
4. Choose a wet chain lube. Our friends up north who ride in the winter use wet lube to avoid corrosion from road salt. I think this is a good idea for any of us who will be riding near or on Florida beaches also.

Do you have any other tips for protecting your bike while riding on the beach? Drop them in the comments!