I know that this question tends to come up every now and then, but I've never really managed to pin down and answer. On the one hand some people see fairly relaxed about getting there steel frames pretty wet (when I mentioned on here that I was using FrameSaver on a steel frame I was told it was a waste of time) but on the other you do hear of frighteningly thin tube walls, folks that find a pint of muddy water sloping about inside their frames and chainstays etc. rusting through.

So what's the general view on steel frame care? Clearly if you've been out in a torential storm removing the seatpost and leaving the frame upsidedown to drain is a good idea, but what about general rain and drizzle, I think that I might be being a little over-cautious. Presumably a small amount of water that finds its way into a frame will evapourate out once the bikes in the warm and dry (I was told never to seal over the breathe holes in a steel frame for this reason, by a bike shop owner).

And no, I don't fancy drilling a hole in my bottom bracket shell (although I can see the sense).

my winter wed night ride bike is steel and it gets no special treatment – hosed down after every ride and left to dry naturally – I do tip it up to let any 'loose' water out the drain holes in the rear triangle, but nothing else. I've never taken seatpost out and left upside down to dry….. maybe it's gonna rust through from the inside, but 3 yrs old so far and still fine….. (no drain in the bb shell either – whenever I have taken the bb our it's been quite dry looking in there -)

I bought an orange p7 in '96 rode it in plenty of rain and its still holding up. I really wouldn't worry about it. Unless you want to keep the bike 'forever' of course.

I still ride my ’97 clockwork – for the 1st 4 years of its life I used it as a commuter – 12 months of the year and off road – after that it sat in a damp garage (that damp at times the water was over the top of the rims) – more recently I use it as my winter training bike – Last year replaced seat post, forks and bottom bracket with no evidence of corrosion on the inside surfaces – so as far as I’m cornered it not really and issue

i have a 15 year old bontrager, when i built it up i wax oiled the inside, 20 min job and forgot all about it. a couple of years ago i got it re-sprayed; the guy who did it said he'd seen quite a few bontys with rusted out seat/chain stays but mine was as good as new. ridden it a lot through winters and did a few years of commute on it – so for the sake of a few quid, rekon the wax-oill was a good bye.

i did waxoil mine when I first got it right enough -)

Both my frames have Framesaver applied, I don't know how this compares in effectiveness to Waxoyl but I think it's a little less messy to apply.