Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Bicycle Mechanics
Reload this Page >

How do you clean the inside of a frame?

Notices
Bicycle Mechanics Broken bottom bracket? Tacoed wheel? If you're having problems with your bicycle, or just need help fixing a flat, drop in here for the latest on bicycle mechanics & bicycle maintenance.

How do you clean the inside of a frame?

Old 10-19-09, 03:02 AM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 334

Bikes: Kona Cinder Cone 09

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
How do you clean the inside of a frame?

i have a five year old Giant MTB frame that i've stripped of all components. i've noticed there's a bit of gunk and mud etc on the inside walls. i got some of it out with water and washing up liquid.. but is there anyway to clean this tubing out properly?

thanks
enfilade is offline  
Old 10-19-09, 07:26 AM
  #2  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Carolina Clandestina
Posts: 129
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I wanted to clean rust out of the seat tube. I wrapped a piece of sandpaper around a broom stick and used adhesive or double sided tape to keep the sandpaper in place. The sandpaper length equaled the stick diameter, or in other words, there was no overlap when the sandpaper was placed around the stick.
playera is offline  
Old 10-19-09, 07:39 AM
  #3  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 334

Bikes: Kona Cinder Cone 09

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I could use that for the seat tube but there's mud in harder to reach places within the frame, like the short bar between the seatstays.. and the pannier attachment holes. i think i'd need some chemical to clear the muck out of there. any cleaners come to mind?
enfilade is offline  
Old 10-19-09, 07:47 AM
  #4  
Senior Member
 
PatrickJIV's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Mobile, AL
Posts: 75

Bikes: Schwinn Sidewinder

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
2500psi pressure washer?
PatrickJIV is offline  
Old 10-19-09, 07:51 AM
  #5  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 334

Bikes: Kona Cinder Cone 09

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
too much hassle, the nearest one is 30 miles away.
enfilade is offline  
Old 10-19-09, 08:12 AM
  #6  
Internal gears FTW!
 
zoodude's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Posts: 203

Bikes: 1986 Raleigh Reliant, 2010 Schwinn Sporterra NX8

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
if you have an air compressor try that, what we do in the shop is drop in some really good degreaser like simple green and let it sit then blast it out with water or whatever. then repeat until it is all gone.
zoodude is offline  
Old 10-19-09, 08:17 AM
  #7  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 33,656

Bikes: '96 Litespeed Catalyst, '05 Litespeed Firenze, '06 Litespeed Tuscany, '20 Surly Midnight Special, All are 3x10. It is hilly around here!

Mentioned: 39 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2026 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,095 Times in 741 Posts
For cleaning the accessible straight tubes like the seat tube or headtube, a 10 gauge shotgun barrel brush on a cleaning rod works well. For the less accessible tubes like the top tube and downtube, the same brush tied to a weighted string and pulled through does the job.

For truly inaccessible tubes like the stays and brake bridge, I have no better idea than the pressure washer recommended by Patrick. Then too, how did mud ever get into the brake bridge?

Note: edited to correct dreadful typos.

Last edited by HillRider; 10-19-09 at 08:51 AM.
HillRider is offline  
Old 10-19-09, 08:34 AM
  #8  
Old fart
 
JohnDThompson's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Appleton WI
Posts: 24,935

Bikes: Several, mostly not name brands.

Mentioned: 153 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3571 Post(s)
Liked 3,366 Times in 1,915 Posts
Shove a piece of Scotch-brite down the tube. If you want to get fancy with it, buy a dowel, split the end, and fasten the Scotch-brite in the split. Chuck the dowel into a hand drill and insert into the seat tube.
JohnDThompson is online now  
Old 10-19-09, 09:12 AM
  #9  
Senior Member
 
DannoXYZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Saratoga, CA
Posts: 11,736
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 109 Post(s)
Liked 9 Times in 6 Posts
After all this cleaning, you'll most likely have bare steel tubing exposed. I'd recommend spraying something down there to prevent rust.
DannoXYZ is offline  
Old 10-19-09, 10:32 AM
  #10  
Senior Member
 
BCRider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: The 'Wack, BC, Canada
Posts: 5,556

Bikes: Norco (2), Miyata, Canondale, Soma, Redline

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 44 Post(s)
Liked 45 Times in 35 Posts
For the stays all you can do is squirt in water with a cleaner in it, let sit a few hours to a day and then blow out the goop with air pressure from one of the vent holes and let the goop come out the other. Repeat a couple of times and call it done. If there's still some in there then live with it. With the bigger tubes you MAY be able to drop in a handfull of barley to pea sized gravel and shake that around along with the water and soap to clean them. Just be sure that the gravel is of a size that passes easily into and out of the vent holes at one end or the other. A good source for graded size gravel of consistent size is an aquarium supply outlet. Another option, if you can find them in the UK, would be a handful of the steel BB's used with BB guns. Or a handful of the larger size steel shot used for reloading shot shells. Again both of these may be hard to find over there where the firearms laws are rather strict nowadays.

And a hearty ditto on spraying in some anti corrosion coating if the frame is steel.
BCRider is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.