Jared88

Would water be retained at any part of the bike after a wash or rain? What can i do to get the water out? Thanks.

EXCALIBUR

Sometimes water can accumulate in the BB. One way to get it out is to remove the seatpost, turn your bike upside down and let the water drain out.

DieselDan

Remove the seatpost, turn bike over, and let it drain.

shane45

It may collect in the bottom bracket area if water is able to get in the seat tube or down tube.

Some people suggest drilling a small hole in the frame on the lower part of the bottom bracket to let water drain out.

EDITED TO ADD: I see that three of us posted similar advice within 1 minute of each other. I wasn't trying to be redundant - I just can't type fast first thing in the morning.

DieselDan

Great minds think alike.

EXCALIBUR

It's all good.

jbrians

my bike retains water monthly

LóFarkas

i used to have my frame pump attached to the down tube with the handle down... Once, 3 days after a rainy day, I needed the pump and a very surprising amount of water poured out of the handle. Slightly rusty shaft, no real harm done. Flipped it over.

Chongo

Some deep-dish rims like Zipps can fill up with water if ridden in the rain. Getting the water out is a pain in the butt. I had to remove my tire and shake the water out of the valve hole bit by bit.

Jared88

There is a small hole drilled in my frame where the chainstays meet at the seattube. Can i just tilt the bike to drain the water from the hole? Or is removing the seatpost a more effective way?

MichaelW

Do modern Tig welded frames have holes from the BB shell into adjacent tubes?

neil0502

I ripped this off from some other poster way back when....

POST-RAIN MAINTENANCE:

For my non-winter bikes, that still see some rainy days, I usually do the above more of a wash with soap, and I'll pop the

chain off and clean it thoroughly in solvent and then lube/install (use a Wipperman). I will at a minimum pop the bolt out of

the cable guide underneath the BB shell to let water drain, and possibly pull the seatpost to drain the seat tube. However, I

use aluminum posts and I grease the seat tube liberally so I usually only do this after a few rainy rides. If I used a carbon

post or carbon frame and could not use grease, I would pull the post every rainy ride. Trek OCLV frames are notorious for

having seat tubes full of water after riding in the rain.

On your machine, the Bontrager wheels have sealed hubs. Not much to do but wait until the bearings fail, I mean, they can't

be serviced. If you want to be thorough, clean the cassette by either "flossing it with a rag" or take it off and scrub it.

When washing, don't spray water directly at the hubs or bottom bracket. Ditto with the King HS, but that sucker will

withstand a lot of wet riding with no maintenance. I would definitely drain the BB shell as described above, drain the water

from the rims, and also clean off your brake pads when you have the wheels out of the frame.

sydney

Probably 'depends'. Got steel that does,aluminum that doesn't.

LóFarkas

Most frames do, I think. Mine does, anyway

peripatetic

I'd think hard about drilling a new hole. Once the frame's dried out, look to just make sure all holes are filled. If you're properly greasing your seatpost and everything's on tight (nuts in the bottle cage mounts), then you shouldn't get any water inside. Drilling a hole is just going to invite more moisture to enter later. I just re-packed the bearings on an old 70s Huffy frame belonging to a frame, and I was quite impressed at how utterly clean and dry the inside of the bb was.

froze

There's no reason to think hard about drilling a hole in the bottom bracket shell. There were many frames that came out of Italy without holes but rather long (about 1 1/2") and wide (about 1/4th") open slots...plural, meaning there were several on the bottom bracket; so a hole will not cause any problems...as long as you don't drill into your bottom bracket itself. My Trek 660 (steel) came from the factory with no slots or holes, which was odd since the forks had them, so I drilled one 1/2 inch hole into the bottom bracket shell. I also put lots of grease on the seat post and on the stem; but I also use a rubber gasket that the rear tail light uses as an additional seal by placing it flush against the seat tube on the seat post, and the same thing with the headset by using the rubber gasket that came with the front flasher that's attached to the stem. So the combination of grease and the rubber gaskets (or Lizard Skin also makes covers for the headset) keeps water out of my frame.

peripatetic

Good ideas. I think I was just warning against adding another hole to forget to seal. You're obviously very conscientious about these things, but from what I've seen about how most people treat their bikes, few take as much care as they should. Kind of why I laugh at all the 'which lube for my chain' arguments; like, as long as a person's conscientiously caring for his chain, it probably doesn't matter exactly how they're doing it or what they're using. As long as you know you have to keep it dry inside, I guess it doesn't matter how you do it.

froze

The hole on the bottom of the bottom bracket is left unsealed, you don't seal it. The purpose of the hole is to allow water and condensation (which can occur without exposure to water directly) to constantly be draining. This is the same principle used in your car, there are a series of drain holes in your doors and body panels to allow water to drain and not pool up; this actually helps to PREVENT rust not create it as would be the case if there were no drain holes.