All that talk of steel bikes over there ? somewhere has got me thinking about my old (and favourite) steel framed bike. It has a number of knocks and scratches that are showing rust. I have assumed this will just be superficial and just a surface problem but should I be treating it in some way. It is a very early Soul that I have had since new and like Trigger’s broom it just keeps going and getting better.

It’ll be fine.

My 1995 Marin is.

I saw an orange p7 die of rust at about ten years old. I’ve a real paranoia about rust. Some people will coat the inside of the frame with waxoyl every year or so.

The seat tube on my Gary Fisher Ferrous perforated from the inside out and was a write off. I bought it second hand so no idea what sort of life it had had or any treatment.

I’ve always used Dinitrol inside my steel frames from new and not had issues.

Mine’s got a couple of nicks and scratches through the frame tape to the metal, I have no idea what happened, and I really should sort them out but that’d mean removing the tape and possibly losing the finish on the frame which’d be pretty hard to match and I know I’d never get replacement decals (which I love) for it. Hmm… maybe I should ignore my ethics and purchase some nail varnish 😆

edit- I bought the frame second hand and it looks to have been well looked after by the previous owner, which is nice. It’s the current idiot that’s the problem…

My ancient carrera looked like it’d been shipwrecked before I repainted it, quite a lot of material lost but it still goes fine. You definitely can rust a steel frame to death but it’s rare

Oh, and chrome’s a bugger to keep clean too. I used to go around the welds on my chrome BMXs with clear nail varnish to try and stop them rusting so quickly! There aren’t many good chrome BMXs left from BITD now, they tend to get powder coated 🙁

Mate and I have just retired our steel bikes of ’96 vintage, his did rust away. He was using it as a commuter when the chain stay folded. My b&b shell needs repaired and the wishbone seat stay looks tatty. P7 and Bontrager Priv.
Still got an immaculate Saracen I’m keeping for grand kids and a RM to build up.
Currently using a Blue Pig which is getting a bit tatty due to the poor quality paint job compared to the older bikes imo.

Surface rust is fine, in fact, most rust you can see is fine if DRY, it’s when you let it sit in damp/water that it will progress. I’d be impressed if you ever managed to rust through a bike from the outside inwards, I’m sure it happens, but I’ve never seen it, even on garden bikes left out 24/7, it just doesn’t see the conditions necessary as it will always dry out on the outside.

But,you can easily rust through a thin steel frame tube from the inside out if the moisture gets in and can’t escape, but as long as it can get out again it’ll likely be fine.

If you want an example of just how crappy something can look and still be fine have a look through this thread:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=192838

But then I’ve seen a 90’s Dawes Galaxy down at our workshop that looked pristine, until we started poking it and fingers went through the paint and into the tube 😯

i used that smelly frame treatment stuff, JP Weigle I think, on my RL853 when I got it new around 2007 and it stank forevermore, often with wee discharges from air holes etc. Replaced it with a Soul 2 yrs ago and didn’t bother with any treatment..

My Bontrager rusted through on the seat tube from the outside in (after 10 years), but that was under bubbled powder coat on the back of the tube. I’d been trying to keep the paint intact, but if I’d actually been more brutal and scraped all the bubbled paint off then it might have survived longer I guess.

I oiled the inside of the replacement frame (an Inbred as I was strapped!). Sadly that died from an ovalised head tube long before it had chance to rust 😉

I did have an old – 1988? – Stumpjumper rust through on the downtube, but that was due to it being hit by a car and a dent forming, then getting rusted through commuter duties. Thought it was creaking a lot when I bounced down some steps, closer inspection – oops!

I wonder if it depend on how much chromium is in the steel. I had an original P7 for years and it never sustained more than the lightest of brown haze on bare metal. Tubes were thin enough to ring like a bell too.

Got me worried about my salsa now though. Might coat the inside.

This hasn’t broken yet, must lacquer it soon!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/tHHXPj]IMG_20150529_212040923[/url] by alan cole, on Flickr

Get a frame made of Corten steel, it’s own rust will protect it.

The chromium will help, we spec higger chrome steels in pipe where they don’t quite warrent stainless. I reckon 520/525 and CrMo rust slower than 531 based on observations in the garage.

My Kinesis Decade 2 has a few small nicks that have surface rust, have just got a (insurance from car hitting my bike rack and hence my bike) replacement for my Whyte T-130 so time to strip to the bare frame and give it some attention before I reassemble it to be my winter bike. Mind you looking out the window, near Winchester, maybe I should just ride it now as it looks like winter out there!

Steel forks on ancient touring bikes can break with dire consequences, but a MTB frame is less likely to suffer catastrophic failure.

I saw an orange p7 die of rust at about ten years old

I recently sold my 1996 P7 frame and apart from a few minor marks on the frame, which would polish out with a buffer, it was rust free. I’m sure if I’d stored it outside it might not have been in the same condition though.

What wwaswas said. My Inbred 453 is going well stored inside but used and can used, as a MTB should be. I haven’t touched it since the first treatment.