Daveyates

I tried the vinegar rust removal method on my new bike and it worked a treat except on one item the Juy Simplex lever. I pulled it out and rubbed my finger nail along it to see how nice and smooth it was and my finger nail embedded into it! I then started to pull bits off of it and it just fell apart.

Ironically it wasn't even rusty but i thought i would add it with the rest of the parts to just clean it up. A couple of times when i checked i did notice it was fizzing slightly but idiotically thought WOW it must be really cleaning it.

It's not really a problem as i can find another one easy but for future reference don't put these levers into vinegar!!

knoregs

You put the whole bike in the vinegar bath? Not very cost effective. A tub of OA crystals is less than $10 here in the USA. Sorry to hear about the levers. Live and learn.

~kn

Chris_in_Miami

Bad luck on the levers Dave, I wonder what the core metal is? Magnesium maybe?

wrk101

+1 Vinegar = acetic acid. Don't dip the entire bike. And a lot of parts on a bike are not acid friendly. All the various acids used for rust removal are meant to be used on steel only. Don't dip parts that are zinc plated, no aluminum, no etc...

Chris_in_Miami

I'm not sure why you guys are reading this as if he dipped the whole bike

Note-

knoregs

My initial impression was that everything went in. I was picturing a kiddie pool with vinegar. I've used vinegar for a few small rusty bits in the past. Worked good enough IIRC. Maybe Dave will chime in tomorrow.

~kn

wrk101

Not the whole bike, but he tossed stuff into the vinegar solution that does not like acid. I guess when the only tool you have is vinegar, everything looks like steel (and not zinc coated steel either).

realestvin7

And now I know.

Daveyates

Hey guys,

Just to confirm i didn't dip the whole bike and just certain parts.
The brakes , cranks , chainrings , pedals , chain , steel bolts and derailleurs etc.
The aluminium bars , stem , fenders etc didn't get soaked.

I thought the lever was some kind of steel and didn't realise it was made from something else.

As someone has mentioned already "live and learn" ;-)

Grand Bois

You're saying that the vinegar dissolved metal shift levers? Forgive me, but I find that hard to believe. Which levers were they? I want to try it for myself.

Daveyates

This type

Grand Bois

Some form of pot metal perhaps. I still can't imagine that vinegar could dissolve it.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

regardless, it would seem it happened. I doubt Daveyates is simply making this up.

BigPolishJimmy

Wow, that's a shame about the levers, I wouldn't have thought vinegar would harm them. <Danger thread jack ahead> If you dipped old dept store rims in vinegar would it eat the spokes? I want to clean up some old rims, but I don't want to disassemble them to do so. I was going to buy some oxylitic acid, but heck I already have vinegar on hand. Usually I just clean up old rims by hand with aluminum foil or steel wool, but that gets old quickly. I considered making some rim sized troughs for the purpose. </end thread jack>

Daveyates

What happened is that i had a plastic tub and filled it with vinegar and added the parts.
I also had a smaller tub for nuts bolts and stripped down derailleurs and this lever.
The lever had some kind of fizz or air escaping from it straight away.
I just thought it was part of the cleaning process and left everything in the vinegar for nearly a day take away a few hours.
I checked the lever and it felt very smooth and clean and near the thumb part of it i rubbed with my fingernail and my fingernail sunk into the metal.
I checked it further and could pull bits off of the lever with ease along the edges.
I checked all along the lever and my fingernail could sink into the metal or break pieces off with hardly any pressure.

To be honest i didn't check any of this before putting the lever in the vinegar but i rode the bike home when i collected it from the train and used the lever and everything felt fine and sturdy with it.