Soggy bikes and breathable covers?

[tguil]

Soggy Bikes and Breathable Covers. I was working in my garage on this warm and wet spring day and I noticed that stuff seemed a little damp. My garage is new. It is not in the shade and it is in the path of lots of dry Nebraska wind. For some reason, I decided to check out my two bikes. Each bike had been stored for the winter under breathable covers. Both bikes were covered with moisture. Fortunately both were very well waxed and fortunately I checked things out before any damage was done.

I`ve read about this happening but didn’t really believe it. I do now!!! Any suggestions for preventing this from happening again? The walkout basement in my house was finished last year. The bikes had to find a new home.

Tom :cool

[CharlesW]

Your experience mirrors mine.
The same thing happened to my bike the first winter I used a breatheable cover. The cover may breathe, but it doesn`t seem to help with the condensation.

Solution?
I have none. I just leave the bikes not covered, hit them with the CCD a few times during storage and hope for the best. It seems to work for me and I feel a lot more comfortable this way. One has been treated that way for about 19 years now and still looks new. The one year it was covered was probably the hardest winter of its life.

Charles

[Poorboy]

I agree with Charles..leave the cover off.... covers are great for when there is extreme conditions like sand blowing in the wind or for people who have no indoor storage...if there is a roof over it`s head just give it a quick QD and wipe it down once in a while:D

[kimwallace]

Haven`t had a bike for a number of years ... BOO HOO HOO :-(
I would cover mine with a cotton sheet ... it didn`t cover it so tight that it couldn`t breathe but it kept a lot of dust and crap off of it.
I don`t know about Nebraska but here in Northwest PA our ground is quite damp so whenever cement is poured in a basement or garage a vapor barrier ( like thick plastic) is placed on the ground prior to pouring. If this isn`t done, moisture constantly comes through the floor.

[tguil]

I`m pretty sure the moisture is somehow related to the concrete floor. There is no vapor barrier. I don`t seem to have this problem in the summer. We`ve been in a long drought. I`ve read somewhere to put a plastic sheet on the floor where you park the bike. That might help some, but I think that I`ll not cover them long term again.

Tom :cool