I bought a new mk1 Blue Pig frame off here a while back. It’s now built up and after a it’s first wash & overnight kip in the shed. I found rusty water residue coming out of drainage holes at the headtube & chain stays. Also had rusty powder coming out of the bottom of a new headset.

Looking for some advice on this please.

Thanks

Many people will say no don’t bother, many people will say yes it is absolutely necessary.

A lot depends on how long you really want it to last to be honest, and how much abuse you’re going to subject it to.

For the very tiny hassle it was, last time I bought a steel frame, I borrowed a can of spray oil for lubing shotguns up off a friend and gave it a few squirts in all the tubes. Some WD40 or something would be better than nothing of course, if you want to go the full hog get some Waxoyl, but most steel frames will last a lot longer than the owner intends to keep them, even without any treatment.

Last night I took my 13 year old steel-framed Marin (purple forks FTW!) for a blast around the lakes. It’s never had anything sprayed inside it, and it’s fine.

To avoid a full strip I would just spray WD40 in to the offending drain holes to disperse the water a bit more effectively. It works on my Kona and it’s good as new after 19 years.

Actually, I’m wrong, my 17 year old Marin

Am interested in this too, Ive a thin(ish) wall R853 frame. It doesn’t tend to get ridden in the wet/mud like my full suss does so not as worried as if I were to use it for most of my riding. When it gets a hose down I normally spray in some WD40 equivalent into the drain holes and seattube

The 2nd hand 5 year old Gary Fisher I bought rusted through the seat tube from the inside.

I use Dinitrol on all my frames.

Except the Curtis – being brazed there’s no holes to get access to the majority of the tubes.

hmmmm okay…..to save time & money, I’ll fire some WD40 in the holes & juggle the frame to coat it.

Thanks for the advice folks 🙂

Was your gary fisher that rusted through the seat tube a ferrous 29er ?

Some steel tubing is thinner and more likely to rust through .. I imagine it’s also something to do with the alloy mix.

ferrous 26er.

Thought so. The ferrous was made from OX platinum tubing IIRC.

Same kind of fate that befell made early Fat Chance’s in the UK – they just rot through

I bought a steel frame recently and was surprised to see little deposits of orange coming through the paintwork already…

…so I’ve applied several coats of ordinary turtlewax to the exterior and have poured some engine oil into the frame and swished it about a bit. Both the fork’s steerer tube and the seatpost are oily and I’ve seen oil draining out of the frame’s drain holes so I know it’s liberally coated everything inside.

I may well reapply periodically for peace of mind.

My P7 frame was apparantly dipped in something (cant recall what) to impare rust but I still periodically spray WD40 or GT85 in it anyhow.

Some frames are treated on the inside – that is one reason they cost more. eg Cotic.

Spraying WD40 or similar in the drain holes every now and then is a good idea as a retrospective treatment. You can go further with waxoyl etc but I would do this when new and then not disturb it as a solvent like wd40 will thin it.

Also make sure you use a good water resistant grease or decent anti-seize when fitting parts to stop water penetrating threads etc.

Some frames are treated on the inside – that is one reason they cost more. eg Cotic.

My roadrat is pretty orange around the drain holes and the nooks and crannies. Though that is after four years of year-round, almost daily commuting with no mudguards.

might be a more recent thing, does your frame have a dark coating inside the seat tube? I was speaking to them about it at Bespoked this year and the frame I looked at was definitely treated.

Even with a coating like that I would still be tempted to spray into the drain holes as water will collect inside corners of welds and the OEM coating may have missed bits.

Also things like fitting headsets and seat posts etc will damage any coatings and you could be getting rust running down from these kinds of places – again a reason to occasionally treat with something.

J P Weagle frame treatment could be up your street. Singular use it on their frames.

That said, the ‘pig’ in Blue Pig likely refers to the pig iron used in the manufacturing process. 😀

Waxoyl or JP Weagle if you’re that worried. A bottle of Waxoyl from Halfords will do a lot of frames I imagine…

It is kinda dark on the inside, although, I never paid much attention before putting the seat post in & out several times. I’be noticed a wee bit of orange around the gusset welds were the down tube meets the head tube and it’s on the outside. I need to wash it tonight, so I’ll fire in a can of WD40 & see if that makes a difference.

never hear of that stuff before, sounds nasty which means it must work! 😀

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/tools/cycling-tools/chain-lubricant/product/review-jp-weigle-frame-saver-10220

(PS you spelt it wrong 😉 )

I’d be careful with anythign too liquid – it’ll be leaking out for weeks every time you turn the bike over.

The waxy coatings are a bit better as once the softeners have evaporated they tend to stay in the frame. I get the odd drop or two at the weld holes on a really hot day if I leave them in the sun but otherwise it’s fine.

My P7 frame was apparantly dipped in something (cant recall what) to impare rust but I still periodically spray WD40 or GT85 in it anyhow.

Its most likely phosphated some do this before powder coat

It doesnt like tight nooks and crannys though

boeshield works

I just use old oil, WD40, GT85, grease anything. My oldest in use bike is from 1958, my 1967 Condor has just been resprayed and was in perfect nick when stripped back.
My 1975 crosser went back in 2007, that was due to rust and using it on MTB trails.
The only steel MTB I had went at the welds, no rust though.

andyl – Member
never hear of that stuff before, sounds nasty which means it must work!

(PS you spelt it wrong )

😳

My bad – I got JP Weigle confused with Dave Weagle, inventor of the DW-Link. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

If you live near the sea you will know what rust is.
If you do not live near the sea then it might be less relevant.

Not directly connected to bikes and rusty bikes, but gives some idea of what can lead to rust.
http://www.criterionhvac.com/identification.htm

Also worth mentioning(again), Waxoyl melts, runs out, and ruins the finish of your nice shiny respray when they stove it.