I got hooked on bicycle commuting last summer. My office is a scant 3.5 miles from the house, and Chicago has an excellent network of bike-friendly streets. Unfortunately, weather and the holidays conspired to make biking in December a bit tough, so I rode the bus.

If bicycle commuting has taught me one thing, it’s that riding the bus sucks. The stopping and starting, the rude high school students, the oblivious, self-absorbed iPod listeners, the standing around at the bus stop—biking eliminates all of that.

Unfortunately, a combination of consecutive days of precipitation, slippery streets, freaky-low temperatures, holiday travels, and ample rust meant my bike stayed locked up on the sidewalk since Thanksgiving. Of course this period of neglect led to more rust, and a nearly ruined chain.

But it’s a new year, and its time to start riding again, dadgummit!

Thanks to being handy with a wrench and the lessons I learned from a basic bike maintenance course from West Town Bikes, I was ready to wrestle my ride up to my third floor apartment for a thorough cleaning and some basic maintenance.

A nice fellow in the north suburbs sold me a big box of bike parts last weekend, so I also had a set of fenders, a rear rack, some new-ish street tires, a lightly-used chain, and a seat bag to install in addition to the cleaning and de-crustification. Once all the work was done, the bike looked better, and was all set to ride better, too, but the weather forecast Tuesday morning gave me pause. Snow was predicted for the afternoon commute.

Having spent three hours disassembling, cleaning, adjusting, and reassembling my bike the previous nights, did I really want to take it out in the crappy weather and get it all gunked-up again?

Yes.

After all, I didn’t do all this work so I could gaze lovingly at my clean bike, I did it so I could ride the friggin’ thing.

But the wintertime elements are tough on bikes, particularly the chain, sprockets, and other drivetrain parts. I generally try to keep things clean and lubricated, but I live in third floor walk-up, so the bike stays parked outside both at home and at the office—rain or shine, or that bizzarro snow-sleet-ice pellety crap that we get from time to time.

What I need is a way to protect the drivetrain parts while the bike is parked, to preserve the cleaning and lubrication.

So here’s my million-peso idea...a big shower cap.

Well, not exactly a shower cap, but something similar that could provide protection from precipitation, salt-spray from passing cars, and dust while the bike sits at the bike rack. This obviously wouldn’t be a substitute for a well-maintained drivetrain, but it couldn’t hurt right?

It would stretch over the front chain rings, around the cassette in the back, and the springs in the rear derailleur would provide the tension to hold the cover in place.

The single-speed or fixie model would have to use elastic or a drawstring.

For the material, I’m thinking about rubberized canvas, or waterproof nylon. I need to do some engineering to accommodate the drive-side pedal and crank, the front derailleur, and the seat stay. I would also like to find a way to make it theft resistant—perhaps a large grommet to accommodate a cable lock.

My mother in law is coming to town for several days, and she’s really handy with a sewing machine, so a prototype may be coming soon. Stay tuned…