Rustproofing a Steel Frame
 

So I pulled the trigger and bought myself a Norco Ceres. Thanks to everyone who responded to my "which bike should I buy?" threads over the past year. I plan to use the bike as my all-weather, all-purpose commuter and it will see winter duty. The City Fathers here like to use a lot of salt to combat the snow and ice and last year my trusty Schwinn developed a lot of surface rust on anything that wasn't aluminum, plastic, or rubber. The Schwinn's frame is aluminum but my new Norco has a Reynolds 525 frame and chromoly fork. I would like to preserve its integrity and good looks by whatever means necessary - except for keeping it in the garage during inclement weather.

I am looking for advice on how to protect my frame from the inevitable exposure to moisture, salt spray, and winter road grit. Would a can of Rust-Oleum serve my needs? I've even considered taking it to one of those car rustproofing shops to see if they could spray inside my frame tubes (assuming said tubes have the necessary drain holes).

And what about all the little steel fasteners and such; is there any sort of protectant that I could apply to them as well?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Framesaver and marine grease.

+1 on Framesaver. It protects the inside of the frame. It's kind of messy to work with but that's what I used on my steel Bianchi. To do a good job you need to pull pretty much everything off the frame so it's not a real quick procedure.

Other than that I just wax it really good and replaced as many of the steel screws with stainless steel ones as I could. The rest I put a thin coating of oil on. I also use stainless steel cables.

I've always wanted to see a DIY-er coat a bike in rhino liner. You know, the stuff they use on truck beds? I bet if it's half as tough as they claim, it'd STILL be kick arse! Plus it comes in 2 classic colors; charcoal and dark charcoal.

I use Rustcheck, canadian tire has them in small or large spray cans. One can is enough to do several frames.
Every frame has enough holes so it's very easy to get the oil inside the frame. I also use lots of grease on the axle nuts and other fasteners.

See this thread. I use a mixture of LPS 3, Boeshield T9 and ACF-50. Basically I forgot what rust is.

For the benefit of the OP, that is "JP Weigle Frame Saver".

I have also heard of linseed oil being used.

Use stainless steel bolts, and grease the threads, but you should be doing that anyway.

I cover my bike in retro-reflective films. Careful application would protect everything underneath it. I also use a clear film to protect the delicate details. You could do something similar, and then use "Future Floor Finish" to seal the deal. Again, this would only protect the covered areas.

I just picked up a can of "Corrosion Stop CSP" made by B'laster Chemicals at the local Home Depot, if it works as good as their PB product, it would be a great option. Having said that, if I were in a more corrosive environment, I'd see no reason not to use the tried and true Frame Saver.

I use frame saver. I had the shop do it when I had to bring it in for maintenance I couldn't do.

Thanks for all the replies so far! BTW - tjspiel mentioned waxing the bike; I'm assuming that means the painted surfaces. Should I be using an automotive body wax like Turtlewax, or are there more bike-specific waxes available?

Hmm... intriguing! Have you figured out what ratio of products seems to work best? BTW since the Ceres is belt-driven I won't need to lube any chains but my other bikes will still need protection. Right now I just clean them with Simple Green and then lube with Tri-Flow. My components (including the chain) are still showing signs of corrosion from last winter.

I tend to use about 40% LPS 3, 30+% of T9 and 30-% of ACF-50. ACF is the most expensive of the three.

Outside of winter, I might be pushing applications of the mixture to the chain maybe 6 months apart, with the bike every workday outside and no break related to weather. Importantly, the chain and drivetrain stay clean. In winter, when the chain actually rubs against the snow in riding, I might need to go down with applications 6 weeks apart. As to other areas, the steel kickstand, that by now has lost much of its zinc protection, can take an application every few months.

For some reason, I could never find a Rustcheck equivalent in the US... until I bought a can of Framesaver... To me, it seems identical.

One thing about Framesaver is that you need to remove the fork, seatpost and bottom bracket to get things moving around. I general spray, plug all tubes and keep rotating the frame every hour or so.

I've used it on my winter bike and the frame seems to be surviving the rust war much better than the other components.