It seems prudent to apply some form of anti-rust treatment to the inside of my steel frame tubes. Whats the best way to do this and with what treatment?

Thanks

Dinitrol. like framesaver only cheaper and in a bigger can.

Frame Saver or Ribble sell ProGold Steel Frame Protector.

Waste of time, money and energy. Had cotics for years, never an issue, unless you leave up it chained up outside for three generations.

How do i get it into the tubes? Is it an aerosol?

Boiled linseed oil – just bought a big tub for £5 from the hardware store

Prudent, perhaps, but many people don’t bother.

Including plenty of the people with huge amounts of experience who might tell you that it’s prudent, but then don’t bother with their own bikes.

How do i get it into the tubes? Is it an aerosol?

use your imagination

Some comes as a aeresol – spray as you like in bottle mount holes etc, you just want to get all the tubes coated.

Something like linseed oil I will pour in, juggle the frame around and watch most of it pore out – again just trying to coat bits of it.

Agree it might not be necessary but if you have a bare frame especially, why wouldnt you for the sake of a fiver?

I used Weigle frame saver on my Rock Lobster years ago – it smelled forever 🙁

Nowt in my current Soul frame – it’s coming up 3 yrs old and I reckon i will probably ride it for another couple of years – it’s going to be obselete a long time before it rusts…

I once used Waxoyl spray. Total waste of time.That Cavity wax looks good though.

never bothered for mtb frames but i have a couple of expensive italian steel road bikes with .38 wall thickness tubes. unlikely to rust through in the middle of the butting but i guess i cant afford to lose any.
i gave the bb and rear stay joints the most attention as thats where they are likely to go even though there is more meat there.

+1 for linseed oil.

Anti Rust Treatment

Cheers!
I.

Weigel framsaver is excellent but not stocked at many places an royal snail doesnt like carrying it…

ACF 50 is an excellent alternative

I’ve carried out patch tests on a lot of these rust inhibitors. My Pug frame is treated with Weagles Frame saver. If you’ve ever unwrapped a brand new ball race you’ll immediately recognise the smell. Waxoyl’s a waste of time inside frame tubes for lots of reasons; too many to list here. Linseed oil was one of the worst I tested if there’s likely to be any water getting in. Mild steel was freely corroding after 24 hours exposure to the elements. Others I’ve tested included Scott Oiler FS365 & ACF 50. The biggest surprise for me was that ordinary vegetable oil & even better olive oil outlasted both of these by a huge margin.

Can’t comment on the Progold but it’s got to be cheaper than the Weagles stuff. I’d stick with one of the wax based products that goes in as a liquid. If you use something that’s too viscous there’s no way to guarantee 100% coverage inside the tubes.

Wear disposable gloves and some old clothes 😀

D.

Anyone who wants to keep steel real should go through the Framesaver experience at least once in their life. 😀

In reality, for the 1/2 hour of time and a few quid, why wouldn’t you?

If you’re the curious type, wear safety glasses too.

Curious on why linseed oil didn’t work. Believe its used for marine goods? What testing did you do?

I bought a tin called Rust In Peace (mainly just for the name!) and squirt it over vulnerable bits, down the seat tube and over chips after every wash. Seems to keep it rust free.

Curious on why linseed oil didn’t work. Believe its used for marine goods? What testing did you do?

ISTR I used En3 mild steel grit cleaned to SA 2.5, degreased with Isopropyl alcohol. 7 patches on each sample separated by machined grooves. One patch used as a control, the others coated with the products I was testing. I allowed the products 24 hours to fully adhere then the test piece was then left outside fastened at 45 deg and monitored. I tried the same test with added salt exposure which accelerated the results.

The biggest surprise for me was how quickly the film of anything applied as a liquid broke down and allowed corrosion to start, including the linseed oil. I didn’t try Dinitrol, but the Weagles & Waxoly lasted months as opposed to days.

It’s open to discussion that the environment inside a frame tube is entirely different but the factors involved in corrosion are the same.

Corrosion in the marine environment is a different field. I’ve been involved a wee bit with this over the years. Material selection and coatings are consider from the design stage.

The problem with the Waxoyl was getting it to a suitable consistency at room temperature. It thins down well when diluted with white spirit but still doesn’t flow that well when poured into a cold steel frame. I did try on someone else’s frame and that thing will never rust from the inside out as it’s mostly solid wax 😆

If I was doing this again I’d try the stuff from Ribble.

D

I progolded my pacer yesterday easy to use and plugged holes with foam rubber bits so I could spin it around like a crazed coked up ninja assassin without spilling any with great success (not really covered everything in it thankfully chem proof floor caught most of it) and now its preserved for all time fingers crossed.

if anything give it a go just for the fun of making a messing and knowing its done scout badge.

I pumped waxoyl into the frame and blocked the drainage holes.

It was dripping out for weeks lol. Smelt bad too.

17 years later: frame is mint. No rust inside out.

Thanks davesport that’s interesting

Is a stealth dropper hole a bad idea on a steel frame?

Out of interest – I notice you missed the word Boiled from your patch testing of linseed oil…
NOTE: this isn’t just linseed oil, but a mix of linseed oil with solvents and other goodies that makes it go off like varnish (and also spontaneously combust)…

If you just wiped plain linseed oil on, I’m not surprised it wasn’t very effective!

Disclaimer: never used it as a metal protector, but have for gunstocks.