Some of you from North America and Europe may be experiencing the first signs of winter and may have headed for the warmer confines of riding in the woods, or are focusing on 'cross, or maybe just indoor training.  Personally I ride the roads through the winter as long as they are clear of snow and ice (this gets dicey in Massachusetts in Jan and Feb).  I dedicate a bike for this duty (Part 2 forthcoming) so i put my warm-weather road bikes away for the winter.  Before I put them away, they get a thorough cleaning so come April, I'm jumping on a pristine bike to begin the warm weather training.  What's my method?

Frame:  After I rinse it down with a low pressure hose, I use a bucket of warm soapy water and a scrub brush.  I do this on the stand with the wheels off.  After it's been thouroughly washed and rinsed, I remove all hardware like brake bolts, derailleur clamps, cable stops, bottle cages etc.  These areas are absolute dirt magnets and soaking the hardware in a cleaner/degreaser and re-applying some fresh grease/thread compound will help prevent rust as well as ensure nothing freezes up on you.  After everything is cleaned and re-assembled, i wipe it all down with some armour-all wipes. I used to use Pedros Bike Lust, but really it seems to be essentially armour all anyway.  The wipes make it easy too.  At this point I am also checking for paint chips and reparing these as needed. 

Wheels:  Wheels get the same basic treatment as the frame.  I remove the tires and tubes and inspect the rim tape, but also make sure it's dry and clean inside (you'd be surprised at how much water can find it's way in here).  I remove the skewers, lockrings and cassettes to clean the freehub and hubs.  I confess that I haven't planned to repack my bearings on the hubs.  Perhaps next winter, but mileage was light this year and evenly split over a couple pretty new wheelsets.  I don't rplace tires until the spring since the old ones will see roller duty over the winter.  I don't toss them until they are really killed.  Plus spring time doesn't exactly mean perfect road surfaces, so the fresh rubber doesn't come out until the more important rides approach. 

Drivetrain:  I like to start the year off with a fresh chain, so I don't spend a lot of time cleaning the one on there (just a toss it in a tupperware of degreaser and shake it a bit, wipe clean, re-lube).  I do however remove the cassette and soak the cogs in degreaser and wipe until they shine.  While it's apart, I will also clean the deraileurs pretty thoroughly, especially the jockey wheels (some cleaner/degreaser on a brush).  I check to make sure the springs and hardware are rust free as well.  I also like to remove the BB, for cleaning and reapplying thread compound as well as remove all the crankset hardware and rings for a thorough cleaning.  Overkill? Maybe, but again, it's all apart and this hardware is a great collection spot for dirt as well.

Cables: I'm pretty anal about my cables year round, so I don't target winter as a time to strip all cables/housing and replace, however I would certainly suggest that everyone takes the time to inspect cables for rust or fraying, check housing for cracks/splits and make sure the ferrules are free of corrosion.  I like to spread a fine layer of grease on the cables under the housing to keep them smooth.  Grease can be a dirt magnet, so i do not apply to the exposed cables.  I have taken part in more than a few early spring group rides delayed due to neglected cables.  It's particulary alarming when someone loses their rear brake's abilty to stop.  Take a few minutes here please. 

Other, saddle, post, stem, bars, pedals. 

Post: The seatpost hardware as well as clamp is another area that is in the line of fire for road spray.  I treat this hardware just like everything else.  It gets removed, cleaned re-greased and re-applied.  I remove the post from the frame as well and clean the seat tube as well as the post.

Stems: I remove each stem bolt and clean the holes our with a q-tip, and re-apply the grease here.  Fortunately with 4-bolt face plates and 2-bolt steerer clamps this can be done one at a time without having to lose your bar position.  None of my bikes have a compression plug (the C-Dale has a star nut and the Opera has an epoxied insert with a bolt hole).  I remove the top cap and bolt and clean/regrease as well.  2 things here.  1) Carbon and grease don't play well together, so any grease used around my carbon steerers needs to be applied very lightly and just to the threads.  2)  some of you may have a compression plug (or bunge) in here to pack your headset.  If you aren't comfortable with removing it yourself, don't.  I have removed these many times, but not all forks use the same system.  Reynolds and FSA compression caps allow for removal of the top cap without pulling the whole plug out or affecting the postion/torgue.  Again, just wipe it clean inside, and maybe a little grease on the threads.  I really just like to make sure that I can remove the cap, so it isn't frozen in there. 

Pedals:  remove, clean threads, re-grease and re-apply.  I use this time to grease the innards of the speedplays as well. 

Other:  I apply some armour all to the saddle to keep it nice and shiny too. Also, I like to wash the bar tape with some warm soapy water.  i don't replace until it's really worn so this can occur at any point not just  winter.  I use the winter time as well to replace other items like cleats, brake hoods or pads. 

Now when April rolls around your bike will be in great condition even if the rider isn't .

Anything I've missed or your own thoughts would be appreciated.