A lot of people have a dedicated rain bike- fenders galore, grit, grippy tires, and old grit. I had one, and it got washed every day, lubed every week, and was stored inside at night. A good life for a bike.
Now that I’m in school, however, my rain bike doesn’t get washed. It just sits outside and waits for the rain, sleet, or snow to stop. Other people know that they can ride it if they have the code, the disk brakes stop in any whether (including snow), and generally the bike gets a good deal of use.
Not that I recommend abandoning your local bike shop, but if you can find a good mountain bike with disk brakes for $300, I’d say go for it. At least I did.
But back to the rain bike, as I call my maroon Motobecane. Sometimes a bike gets loved through use, not through maintenance and pampering. Bikes like to get beat up, used, and enjoy that feeling of pedals mashing. They like to feel useful.
So go out and ride an older bike, leave it outside in a safe spot with a good lock so its always rideable, and let your bike get the most use it can.
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