tjayk

hello - i just converted my surly xcheck to ss/fg so now i don't need the cable guide under the bottom bracket. should i remove the screw to leave a hole for drainage? i've heard this is a good thing to do. i live in wisconsin and i work on my bike, so i must brave all types of weather - including this coming winter. so would taking out the screw be a good thing for my steel frame for the fall/winter/spring?

San Rensho 

Drains are good. Even if the bike is well sealed, there is always condensation that forms in the tubes so its good to vent the tubes.

tjayk

do you think salt will be a problem getting in? although i suppose if there is salt on the road, slush w/dissolved salt could hit my seatpost, and drain to my bb anyways...

edzo

you can buy frame treatments and flood the tubes to protect them from rust

EvilV

I'd spray in some WD40, swill it around and let it drain out again after a good shake. There may be some getting onto the BB bearings, but it won't be there long enough or vigorously enough to strip the grease in the bearing. In any case, if you use your bike all the time, you'll be servicing them regularly. If you're scared of wd40 and possible effects on the BB grease, you could use some engine oil and swill that around, but it will be harder to be sure it went everywhere you want. It will also take longer to drain out, so you'll need to keep the bike on a tray of some sort to collect up the waste oil. You could probably apply it through the seat tube. I kind of like the idea of a bike that really earns its keep. Most bikes only come out on fine days. In the UK fifty and sixty years ago, the streets were full of really tough, heavy commuter bikes. They are still coming up on ebay and can usually be ridden home if you find one local to your area. Most have done many thousands and thousands of miles, and the old hub gears are usually fine unless they were left out in the wet for decades.






https://images.google.co.uk/images?q=...L_enGB216GB216

Landgolier

I'd pull the screw out and just put a small piece of electrical tape over the hole for riding, then peel it back to let it drain at home. I do this on my steel FG bike, it's a pretty low stress system and the world's not going to end if you forget to stick it back down or open it up once. Some people just leave the screw and unscrew it after rides, I'd lose 3 screws a week that way.

HappyHumber

I'm riding my Crosscheck still geared. When I originally bought the frame and built it up, my LBS advised me to measure the distances either side of the cable guide mount hole that fell beneath where the cable guide "loops" that the cable thread through and drill small holes for drainage there. The more I've read and since experienced I'm all for the drainage holes in BBs.

I purchased a complete Steamroller earlier this year. it was my intention to strip it down for a project which I have done since but as this was technically my first fixie I couldn't resist assembling it out of the box as it was and take it for a spin or two. I caught got out in one shower of rain on one commute on it like that and a week or so later I got around to tearing it down - and was amazed at the amount of water sitting in the BB shell and how much came out when I disassembled it. Bear in mind this was a new bike that had been caught in one shower of rain and the rest of the journey home on wet roads. Imagine what this would do if left to sit and accumulate more over the life of a bike?

I've drilled an 8mm hole in it since and I am still in the process of stripping the original paint. Once it's repainted - the insides will be getting a coat of fish oil.

Whilst we don't have the joys of snow & salt on the roads here in most of Aust. I figure any moisture that gets in needs to get out somewhere.