General Cycling Discussion - Italian Steel and Rain = ?

I was riding Sunday morning in a light drizzle and I soon found myself drenched from head to toe, bike as dirty as it has ever been, and I was extremely happy.

I thought to myself, there is nowhere else I'd rather be right now.

Then I thought about that elusive beatiful Italian steel bike that I will one day own. Would I be as happy if I was riding it right now instead of my beautiful aluminum Cannondale?

Any remorse riding expensive steel in the dirty rain?

Ok, Its not "Italian steel" as in Colnago or DeRosa
or Masi, but the steel is Italian (Columbus) on my Serotta,
also US and Brit(On my Trek) but riding in the dirty
rain isn't a problem.
Heres the thing, DRY IT OFF. If its particularly drenching
I'll turn bike upside down to drain H20 from BB.
The other thing is treat the Steel with Weigles
Frame Saver.
I'm more concerned with Sweat (especially on trainer)
since its alot more caustic. I make sure I wipe it down
really well, and at least once a week give it a rinse
(more often if I'm on the rollers).

Marty

I live one km downwind of the Pacific Ocean and get many years of service out of my steel frames. I am not at all against other frame materials, but I do like steel.

Originally posted by Greg
I was riding Sunday morning in a light drizzle and I soon found myself drenched from head to toe, bike as dirty as it has ever been, and I was extremely happy.


Greeeeeeeg....

I checked in just to see your relaxing pic! And voila! I'm extremely happy!

(How do you manage that calm, peaceful look? :) )

Originally posted by lotek
I'm more concerned with Sweat (especially on trainer)
since its alot more caustic.

I second this. I ruined a Reynold 531 frame (British steel is cool, too) because I didn't rinse off the post-ride sweat. The bottom bracket corroded to swiss (another country heard from) cheese. There's no telling what's in the road grime you pick up riding in the rain. Rinse it off and dry it.

Mabey the the answer is like what all the Doctors and Lawyers do here in Southern California.

On the choice days, they pull the Daytona Spider Ferrari or D Type Jaguar out for a spin leaving the work horse with the detailer.

Two (or more) road bikes.



Originally posted by LittleBigMan
(How do you manage that calm, peaceful look? :) )

I'll tell you Pete.

It's a delicate balance of flax seed, psyllium fiber, and prunes.

Delicate balance.

Italian Steel and Rain = Rust

If your guys are so worried about rust have the inside of the tubes coated.

Ride without rust
Pat

Guess that's rust, everyone would agree.

However, is it dangerous to ride a rusty bike?

Rust in steel frames is a red herring; i;n 32 years of mechanicking I have seen maybe three or four tubes actually rust out. Sweat is the biggest danger--riding an indoor trainer is many times worse for any bike than riding in the rain. Weigle's frame saver spray is good, so is just dismantling and cleaning a bike every year or two. Probably the absolute worst thing you can do to a bike of any material is to assemble it with all sealed bearings so that it will never need overhauling or disassembly; quill stems will freeze into steerers and threadless ones freeze onto them, bottom brackets can become one with the threads they're in by the time the bearings are dry, and seatposts can need removal by torch or worse! Don't strive for an absolutely maintainance free bike--stupid, stupid, stupid! Take it apart every year or two or have someone else do it if for no other reason than to make sure that all of the parts still move.

A PS, steel is not the only frame material that deteriorates--in fact two popular others can deteriorate more and worse; aluminum corrodes, it just takes another color than rust red/brown. Carbon bikes with bonded joints can unbond--if you have an older Trek 2300/2100 check it regularly especially if it does wind trainer time.
The main triangle joints on these have an unbonding history.
Same with Specialized Epics and Giant Cadexes. Again, bikes need regular attention regardless of the material they're made of,
and rusting steel--if the bike is taken proper care of--is a very, very rare thing.

sorry feldman,
its not possible for aluminum to corrode. as soon as an al atom comes into contact with oxygen it forms an oxide. and that fills all the available electrons that an aluminum atom has. after that can't degenerate anymore.