not_me

My grandma lives in Dublin. I will be visiting her this summer and taking one of my spare bikes over. Instead of bringing it home (Canada), I'm thinking about leaving a bike there since I usually visit once a year.

She has a non-insulated shed that I can store the bike, however I'm concerned about rust as it'll be a steel frame. I'm not sure how damp the shed gets, but since it's Ireland, I'll assume there will be moisture in the air.

What measures should I take to prevent rust from forming through the year?

Velognome 

I've purchased bikes and parts from England that are coated in a heavy oil. Wiped off, they look good as new.

wahoonc

Depending on the bike, at bare minimum I would use some sort of frame saver on the interior of the frame tubes. Then wipe on a light coat of oil prior to storing. FWIW I have a 41 year old Raleigh that lived much of it's life out of doors and the only maintenance it got was a wipe down with an oily rag once a week. It is still rolling along today, there is a bit of rust on some things but it is still very serviceable. It has that shabby chic look about it.

Aaron

not_me

Any specific oil you guys can recommend? Ideally something I could spray on as that would be most convenient.

Should I take the seatpost out to let the frame breath? Is fresh grease in the stem enough to ensure it doesn't bind in the frame or should I take that out too?

Chombi

Do you have any alternative storage space you can leave the bike like an attic....which would be the safest place as it will most likely be dry and you might just need a thin blanket on it to keep the dust off. That way you can avoid having to coat the frame and comonents with oil and all that stuff... only thing that might break down is all the rubber and plastic parts on the bike, as they can dry out, but most are easily replaced if needed.
If you do end up putting it in an unconditioned shed, do not cover it with any sort of non-permeable material like a plastic sheet, as it will collect moisture from the ground and rust the frame after some time. Use a thin cotton blanket and the bike should stay clean for most of its stay in the shed. As for protecting the bike from "ambient" moisture. You can coat it with some light machine oil (like the stuff they use on sewing machines), liberally applied with a rag (back it up by liberally spraying WD40 into all the frame tubes you can get at). It should be enough to protect it for a couple of years, as long as the walls, windows and roof of the shed will remain sound and leak free. Any longer and you might need to go with a heavier oil application as suggested.

Cissell

I was interested in a similar situation concerning protecting a frameset stored in an out building.

I have a 'raw', unfinished, roadframe that I wanted to keep in storage until I was ready to paint it. I've used motor oil for coating assorted metal items such as tools, and parts underneath my Jeep, over the years, but found that in some cases the oil seems to almost 'evaporate' away.

I went on a min-quest via the Internet to figure out what would be best (and practical) to protect metal products and I found an interesting study that used assorted oils and coatings, and the one that fared the best on bare metal (exposed over time) was WD-40.

I was surprised as I used to associate WD-40 with a 'cheap' lubricant that wouldn't truly hold up, but in the test it had protected the metal piece without exhibiting any rust, while the others showed varying degrees of corrosion.

Since that test discovery I've kept my bare frame coated with a layer of WD-40 (taken outside, hung on a clothes line and sprayed heavily) and it's worked quite nicely for a couple of years now.

You may want to give it a try...

noglider 

I agree with heavy oil. Apply it with a rag.

zandoval 

Don't under estimate the protection factor of Armorall Tire Foam for plastic and metal parts - You can spray the entire bicycle with multiple coatings to leave a thin coat of protectant on all the parts - This will also slow down dry rot on the nonmetal surfaces...

My discovery of this products use was accidental - I sprayed and old Huffys' tiers with the foam and promptly forgot the bike behind my nephews shed - 7 months latter I noted the tiers will still black and over spray of the foam had protected some of the metal parts...

HeyPip

The environment I work in now, Sailing, has damp and salty conditions that will rot steel in a matter of weeks. We use Corrosion block
https://learchem.com/products/corrosion-block.html
on all metal pieces to prevent galling and salt build as well as for blocking corrosion. If I had a nice frame with thin wall tubes, I would spray a liberal amount of Corrosion Block inside each tube and roll it around until all internal surfaces are covered. This will protect the unpainted inside of the frame which gets electrolytic moisture inside it. Before you leave to come home, clean the frame immaculately and spray a thin coating of Corrosion Block on everything, even the tires but not on a leather saddle. Make sure that every sq mm is covered with a thin film. When you return you'll have to wipe your bike clean and you'll be good to go. Covering it with a cotton sheet, as mentioned previously, is a good Idea.

Pip

DIMcyclist

Cosmoline & Frame Saver! (It's sort of the same thing, really.)

CO_Hoya 

I thought Boeshield T-9 was originally designed for that sort of application - very popular with woodworkers keeping iron from rusting while not in use.

It comes in an aerosol.

conradpdx

any light weight motor oil..

soak a cloth in it, and wipe it down. Thats what I do with bikes here in rainy Portland. Heck, I do it every couple months regardless.

The oil will attract some dirt, but like many of us 3 speed fans know- that the crud usually just wipes off easily. But rust is forever. How many 40+ year old rims have I scrubbed with foil to remove the rust, while the Sturmey Archer hub is rust free but covered in crud....most of them.

Leave the seat post....breathing isn't good for metal (oxidation isn't good at all)...it needs to be drowned.

Side benefit is that the motor oil will also condition the paint, decals, rubber and plastic as well (almost all are also oil based products that can dry out).

Heck in the old days they use to use motor oil for conditioning leather saddles as well.

Just don'y get an oil with additives, they may or may not effect the protection

rootboy 

One more question...didn't see it I don't think. Does Grandma live near the coast? If so, everything said so far goes double.
If the saddle is leather, remove it and store inside Grandma's house.

rootboy 

I'm afraid I have to take issue with this. Yes, in the old days they did a lot of stuff. For instance...It was standard procedure, even recommended in the manual, to keep your Singer sewing machine wiped down with oil. The same oil you oiled the moving parts of your machine with.
Well, I'm here to tell you that in the long run it is not good for either the clear coat OR the decals. It took me the better part of three days to remove a clear coat on an old machine that had been bathed in light oil all it's life, and I , unfortunately, lost the original decals in the process. Oil softens the clear coat over time, allowing it to absorb dirt, and crinkling the clear coat. On bare, un-coated paint, it might be OK, but I would never coat decals with oil.

There's better stuff to use on paint these days. On the bare metal parts? Yes, oil will protect them.

not_me

She lives about 9km from the coast.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll be ordering some framesaver online (hard to find up here in canada).

I may even see if I can store it in the attic. Would it be better up there?

bobn

Why not a large plastic bag or bags. You can get big bags, the kind landscapers use, or that protect new appliances and mattresses.

Suck out the excess air with a vacuum cleaner and seal the bag/bags

Even if you take the wheels off and pack seperately from the frame.

This will protect the bike even if the shed roof leaks.

rootboy 

If her attic is DRY, and you can do it, I'd opt for that. BTW, Frame Saver can be somewhat difficult to find here too. Boeshield T9 might be more readily available over there. Don't know. It is about the same stuff. In fact, my theory if that it is the same stuff. Or very similar anyway.

9 KMs from the coast is not far. You'll have a bit of additional challenge with sea air. Not a lot, but a little. I live about one mile from the coast. All my bikes are kept indoors.

sk0tt

Here's a thread with some comparisons of some rust prevention products. https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...lar-treatments