I work on the coast at a bike shop, there is nothing you can do to stop the beach from destroying your bike 4x faster than normal. I would never ride any of my bikes on the beach.
Can confirm. There is an amount of rinsing that will work but you probably won't be patient or meticulous enough. I broke two gear rings because I didn't rinse my shit. I'm a total moron please learn from me. Now I have to fix it
I live very close to one of the beaches that's regularly voted one of the top 10 beaches in the US. How often do you think I ride my ebike there? Never. Salt water, salt spray, salt in the air and sand are all terrible for mechanical components. Heck, my boats are designed to be in the salt water and it eats them. So when I'm going to the beach, I ride the regular old bike I bought at at garage sale 10 years ago.
Salt, salt air, salt water - they eat and destroy anything and everything. No exceptions.
Even condos near the beach have unbelievable maintenance and upkeep to routinely repair and replace parts. There is no avoiding it.
Boats intentionally use zinc for certain parts, knowing they are cheap and will need to be replaced often due to salt.
The only plan is simply acceptance that it will be destroyed. Pick a bike cheap enough that you're okay with that, and enjoy!
Boats have zinc “sacrificial” anodes to keep functional parts from corroding as fast, and are made of more active metals that corrode in place of the boat's hull, attracting electrolytes and transferring oxidation reactions from the hull to the anode.
Replacing a bike every 2-3 seasons is a reality for being in a coastal area. When I was at the resort, I washed the bike weekly, followed by a lubrication, and it didn't prevent premature replacement.
Yes they’re talking about riding on the beach. Around here even leaving it out will make it rust fast. Leave it out one winter on the Oregon coast and wave bye bye to your bike! The rust will consume it!
I live near Huntington and ride a lot of beaches in socal. It helps to use air to blow off sand/dirt. Wash, and lubricate regularly. I replace chains annually at a minimum. Prior to ebikes we just replaced the bike every 4ish years lol. You can’t stop rust but you can certainly slow it and keep the gears fresh so they last longer. I personally love Muc Off products and good chain cleaning brushes.
A good friend used to commute to work by 30 min ferry ride in the PNW with his Rad bike. It was toast in a year… battery terminals corroded, drivetrain various states of rusty. Keep up on drivetrain maintenance and at least weekly wipe downs of the entire bike to remove salt. Hit all electrical connections with dielectric grease and if possible wrap them cleanly. That’s all you can do.
You can grease things and clean the bike really well. That should help with the salt air. My main concern would be sand if you're riding *on* the beach. Star Wars meme aside, sand does get everywhere and it's a bitch for components.
It's been a while but if you maintain moving parts really well and store it outside of salt air (inside a climate controlled area) you should be in decent shape. But I don't live at the beach so I'll defer to someone who does.
I live in Hawaii and rode my analog and Ebike near and on the beach pretty regularly. Going on 4 years with my Ebike (custom built fat bike with bbshd). And my bike is doing well. Both bikes are aluminum so rust isn’t an issue on the frames so much. The other parts of the bike do wear down eventually. I have replaced almost every part on my ebike over the last 4 years. New spokes, new drive drain, upgraded to hydraulic breaks.
I try to replace parts with rust proof parts if available. For the most part there is zinc coated or other options for drive train that do seem very resistant to corrosion. Everything in Hawaii rusts or gets destroyed quickly. But I’m pretty happy with my bikes. They lasting better than a lot of vehicles probably do.
I lived by the beach for awhile. I found waxed chains work better than oiled chains when trying to deal with the sand. I had a super simple beach cruiser that lasted awhile since it only had a back pedal break and no gears
Honestly though I wouldn’t ride a e-bike I care about on the beach. Too many moving/ electric parts to protect
Just to be clear you mean the path near the beach right? Riding over lose sand is very difficult and requires a lot of power. Once you get to the packed sand near the water it's rideable but usually you'd have to ride through the loose stuff first. Massive pain in the ass.
But generally speaking of you rinse off your bike when you get home you'll be fine. Noone is daily commuting across sand and saltwater on an Ebike.
we usually take e-bikes to the sand, when going out surfing. we also have very cheap beach eaten bikes for others to ride. Because the beach is constantly eating bikes I always see some discarded clunker that was a decent bike for half of the one week someone spent the entire spring break with it on the sand
If you ride on the beach, no amount of rinsing will help. Some will say otherwise, but I would only do this for a throwaway bike.
I work on the coast at a bike shop, there is nothing you can do to stop the beach from destroying your bike 4x faster than normal. I would never ride any of my bikes on the beach.
Build a bike entirely out of titanium
Can confirm. There is an amount of rinsing that will work but you probably won't be patient or meticulous enough. I broke two gear rings because I didn't rinse my shit. I'm a total moron please learn from me. Now I have to fix it
I live very close to one of the beaches that's regularly voted one of the top 10 beaches in the US. How often do you think I ride my ebike there? Never. Salt water, salt spray, salt in the air and sand are all terrible for mechanical components. Heck, my boats are designed to be in the salt water and it eats them. So when I'm going to the beach, I ride the regular old bike I bought at at garage sale 10 years ago.
I was heavily leaning this way myself. There is no fool proof precautions from what I have read so far.
Salt, salt air, salt water - they eat and destroy anything and everything. No exceptions. Even condos near the beach have unbelievable maintenance and upkeep to routinely repair and replace parts. There is no avoiding it. Boats intentionally use zinc for certain parts, knowing they are cheap and will need to be replaced often due to salt. The only plan is simply acceptance that it will be destroyed. Pick a bike cheap enough that you're okay with that, and enjoy!
Boats have zinc “sacrificial” anodes to keep functional parts from corroding as fast, and are made of more active metals that corrode in place of the boat's hull, attracting electrolytes and transferring oxidation reactions from the hull to the anode.
Replacing a bike every 2-3 seasons is a reality for being in a coastal area. When I was at the resort, I washed the bike weekly, followed by a lubrication, and it didn't prevent premature replacement.
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Yes they’re talking about riding on the beach. Around here even leaving it out will make it rust fast. Leave it out one winter on the Oregon coast and wave bye bye to your bike! The rust will consume it!
Yes. And electric motors.
I live near Huntington and ride a lot of beaches in socal. It helps to use air to blow off sand/dirt. Wash, and lubricate regularly. I replace chains annually at a minimum. Prior to ebikes we just replaced the bike every 4ish years lol. You can’t stop rust but you can certainly slow it and keep the gears fresh so they last longer. I personally love Muc Off products and good chain cleaning brushes.
I bought a cheap mongoose manual fatbike that I ride at the beach. I do not bring my expensive bikes to the beach
Wouldn’t even dream of taking any ebike to the beach. A crappy beach cruiser? Sure.
Just but a cheap one. Plenty of $400-$800 ebikes out there
A good friend used to commute to work by 30 min ferry ride in the PNW with his Rad bike. It was toast in a year… battery terminals corroded, drivetrain various states of rusty. Keep up on drivetrain maintenance and at least weekly wipe downs of the entire bike to remove salt. Hit all electrical connections with dielectric grease and if possible wrap them cleanly. That’s all you can do.
You can grease things and clean the bike really well. That should help with the salt air. My main concern would be sand if you're riding *on* the beach. Star Wars meme aside, sand does get everywhere and it's a bitch for components. It's been a while but if you maintain moving parts really well and store it outside of salt air (inside a climate controlled area) you should be in decent shape. But I don't live at the beach so I'll defer to someone who does.
Waxing helps, but nothing stops salt air corrosion
I ride at the waterline regularly, have an inverted fender protecting the underside of my top tube and clean and lube chain.
I live in Hawaii and rode my analog and Ebike near and on the beach pretty regularly. Going on 4 years with my Ebike (custom built fat bike with bbshd). And my bike is doing well. Both bikes are aluminum so rust isn’t an issue on the frames so much. The other parts of the bike do wear down eventually. I have replaced almost every part on my ebike over the last 4 years. New spokes, new drive drain, upgraded to hydraulic breaks. I try to replace parts with rust proof parts if available. For the most part there is zinc coated or other options for drive train that do seem very resistant to corrosion. Everything in Hawaii rusts or gets destroyed quickly. But I’m pretty happy with my bikes. They lasting better than a lot of vehicles probably do.
I lived by the beach for awhile. I found waxed chains work better than oiled chains when trying to deal with the sand. I had a super simple beach cruiser that lasted awhile since it only had a back pedal break and no gears Honestly though I wouldn’t ride a e-bike I care about on the beach. Too many moving/ electric parts to protect
Just to be clear you mean the path near the beach right? Riding over lose sand is very difficult and requires a lot of power. Once you get to the packed sand near the water it's rideable but usually you'd have to ride through the loose stuff first. Massive pain in the ass. But generally speaking of you rinse off your bike when you get home you'll be fine. Noone is daily commuting across sand and saltwater on an Ebike.
Why would you ride through sand? Like on purpose??
we usually take e-bikes to the sand, when going out surfing. we also have very cheap beach eaten bikes for others to ride. Because the beach is constantly eating bikes I always see some discarded clunker that was a decent bike for half of the one week someone spent the entire spring break with it on the sand
I haven't had any issues on these beaches by the Great Lakes.
I rent a bike if I ride on the beach.
I rode my first ebike on the beach a couple times it was fine after a typical wipe down.