Not a spot of rust inside my 35 year old tourer, its always been in damp cities too.
Even the 1940's bike i found leaning up against the outside of an old farm shed had a good solid frame.
I have used a lanolin based cavity spray (fairly thin, i had some left over from my car) on my tourer. Mainly because it will be living outside, or under the edge of my tent. I dont think it was super necessary, but it worked out free.
You could have the frame galvanized if you were super keen, maybe even copper coated.
I think you are asking more about protecting the outside of the frame though.
You will probably get scratches on the chain stay and headtube (from leaning the bike on things)
both can be covered with a plastic overlay, or even leather.
Take good care of it, it will eventually suffer wear, thats the nature of the beast. The patina look may grow on you, and you can repaint a frame in 10 years anyway.
Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
A friend of mine rode cross country a few years ago. They of course had to get the photo of everybody with their bikes in the Atlantic at the start. I asked why they did that, weren't they afraid of corrosion on their rims? He scoffed at that saying there was nothing to worry about. A minute later he said that every biker in the group had to replace at least one rim later in the trip.
What sort of failure? If they had the hub soaking in salt water i could believe it, but just dipping the tyre and a little of the rim for a few seconds, once, shouldnt have any effect.