I'll be living on the west side of Oregon starting next month. During the winter months it rains a lot and might not be able to get my hands on a second bike to be the 'rain' bike. I'm going to tough it out in the rain with my nice bike, i'll be real good with drying, cleaning and lubing the bike. But with the wheels would it be smart to pick up a cheap pair and not worry about ruining a nice pair of wheels? If so, what's a solid pair of wheels for a decent price? Keep in mind, i'm a poor grad student and I weight around 190+, hopefully that'll be down a bit.
Thanks

How nice is your nice bike?

I realize this is outside the scope of your post, but if the rain ever freezes, I recommend picking up a used mtn bike-- with disc wheels. I live in a similar climate where it rains daily for a few months in the winter, and rarely freezes. When it does freeze, I use studded tires-- of course, then you want two sets of wheels so you don't grind down your studs when it isn't freezing--- and the price of good studded tires costs as much as a cheapo wheelset. I also use fenders, of course. Discs stop much better than rim brakes when wet... and the grim doesn't grind down the braking surface.

Other than that--- any cheap wheel with sealed bearings should do the job. The more standard the wheel, the less likely it will let water into the rim. You might want to pick up a cheap cassette as well.

Other questions to consider---- do they ever use road salt? Do you end up with much sand and grime in the rain? They will eat your drivetrain. For the price of new wheels, you might find a used beater bike that serves you quite well. You will also be dealing with rusty bolts--- no matter how diligent you are at wiping your bike down. I ended up breaking teeth off my cassettes on my beater rain roadbike that I used before the mtn bike.

I'll be living on the west side of Oregon starting next month. During the winter months it rains a lot and might not be able to get my hands on a second bike to be the 'rain' bike. I'm going to tough it out in the rain with my nice bike, i'll be real good with drying, cleaning and lubing the bike. But with the wheels would it be smart to pick up a cheap pair and not worry about ruining a nice pair of wheels? If so, what's a solid pair of wheels for a decent price? Keep in mind, i'm a poor grad student and I weight around 190+, hopefully that'll be down a bit.
Thanks

I don't think the rain ever freezes. In fact, I think the temperature only drops below freezing during night on extremely cold nights. I think the average temp in January is around 40ish. I don't think they would ever dump any salt/dirt/small gravel on the road for added traction due to there never being snow/ice.
I'm assuming when it rains it's like someone pouring a crap load of brita water on the road.
My bike is a Trek 5500, full DA 9-speed.
The spare cassette is a good idea. I guess if I ride a lot in the winter I'd probably replace the chain/cables/cassette when the spring comes.
Thanks for the help.

By the time you replace wear items and buy a second set of wheels, you are in beater bike budget territory....

We have maybe 5 days when it dips below freezing--- the issue is there might be weeks before I see dry pavement--- and this mysterious fine sand/grime ends up on everything. I was going through a set of brake pads every six weeks. They didn't apply sand--- rather it spontaneously emerged. It eats everything that moves.

I don't think the rain ever freezes. In fact, I think the temperature only drops below freezing during night on extremely cold nights. I think the average temp in January is around 40ish. I don't think they would ever dump any salt/dirt/small gravel on the road for added traction due to there never being snow/ice.
I'm assuming when it rains it's like someone pouring a crap load of brita water on the road.
My bike is a Trek 5500, full DA 9-speed.
The spare cassette is a good idea. I guess if I ride a lot in the winter I'd probably replace the chain/cables/cassette when the spring comes.
Thanks for the help.

yeah, a crap bike is probably the answer, i'll be in the market for one.

But with the wheels would it be smart to pick up a cheap pair and not worry about ruining a nice pair of wheels?

I think so. When I lived in Hawaii I had a similar issue, and decided on some basic Shimano hubbed wheels for rain riding. At least they were easy to take apart and regrease.