brooks88

Hi all,

I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive bike to last me until the winter and I found this bike on Craigslist for a good price. It rides nice and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it, but the only thing I'm concerned with is the rust in certain areas.

Can you guys take a look at these 2 photos and let me know if it looks really bad, or if it's something I shouldn't really worry about?

https://imageshack.us/a/img19/1874/vfjj.jpg

https://imageshack.us/a/img837/5290/iz6o.jpg

Roody

If you buy it for what it's worth and ride it for three months, it will be the cheapest transportation you ever had.

cyccommute 

Not bad enough to worry about.

dynaryder

Biggest concern would be the seatpost. If it's not stuck in place,then everything else is just basic corrosion control.

fietsbob

NB the component pick puts it well down the price points.. $100 is a modest offer. nothing over..

brooks88

Thanks guys. He's asking $80, so I'll probably buy it.

wahoonc

Offer $65? The rust isn't bad at all from the pictures. I have bikes with a lot more than that on it.

Aaron

DX-MAN

100-grit sandpaper, steel wool, and the right color nail polish will take care of the light work.

I've seen worse last a couple years.

Murray Missile 

Surface rust, if this will be a disposable bike you plan to use, abuse and then dump hit it with some CLR, rinse dry and then hit the frame with some Permatex rust converter and Rustoleum. If it's something you'll be keeping long term and want to stop the rust permanently but aren't concerned about cosmetics get a product called POR-15 for the frame. It will convert the rust and seal the area, it MUST be covered with paint though as it has no UV resistance, but it WILL stop the rust. Vintage car guys use it on frames and the underbody of cars they want to preserve without doing a full frame off restoration. Try to find a local car guy that might "loan" you enough to do your frame as it can be a little pricey.

Fastfingaz

That looks like the begining of neglect rust!! no big deal and it's agood price I paid 80.00 for mine, good bike to keep,,,,,,,

sreten

Hi,

Yes its mainly superficial neglect stuff. Oil the chain. the steel chain rings and rear cassette
will clean up pretty much on their own. Then measure the chain for wear. Replace if worn.

rgds, sreten.

Myosmith

I've rehabbed a lot of bikes that looked worse than this. You could pull the cranks and use some Naval Jelly to get the worst of the rust off. Rinse and dry well then, as mentioned, give it a coat of rust converting primer. I found Rustoleum Truck Box Coating in the automotive section of WalMart. It gives you a satin black finish with a fine texture (feels like 400 grit sandpaper). It is as tough as any one-part spray paint I've ever used and the beauty is that the texture makes touch-ups easy as it hides any edges without any masking or blending. It also hides scratches and chips well (I actually obliterated the stamped serial number on a frame I gave two coats). For a beater bike, you could get a serviceable stealth black look for about $12 (primer and paint). Just make sure you degrease and lightly sand the original finish before coating.

Here's a picture of an old Trek 830 that originally looked far worse than the bike the OP posted. I stripped it to the frame, repainted, and cleaned everything and reassembled it. The only new parts were a set of Bell cables from Walmart and basic brake pads from the LBS. The paint and rebuild took me a total of about 6 hours, not counting paint dry time of 48-hours to let it harden well. Rode it for a summer (yes, I fixed the seat angle) and sold it for $50 more than I had into it, but I got the original bike for $30. Despite not getting much TLC (it was a beater) it only had a couple of small nicks in the paint after a few months of neglect and maltreatment.

Roody

Huh, never knew you could use that stuff on bicycles. But it has sure kept the rust out of my belly button for years!

Myosmith

Um, that's Naval not navel. Originally developed for the Navy for rust removal on ships. Basically phosphoric acid with a polysaccharide (I believe the original formula used carboxymethylcellulose) gelling agent. Just keep it off aluminum parts as it will cause a white haze that is difficult to buff out.