Originally Posted by
redcolnago
old thread, but if you're out there ....how long did the steel wool treatment last? I don't ride much in the rain. Every 3 years would be ok.
I have one set of wheels with rusty, zinc plated spokes (same as galvanized?) that I sanded each spoke to a shine. Sitting in my garage (hot & humid Houston) they re-rusted in 1-2 weeks. I cleaned them again and used a protective sealant. Got a month out of them before rusting again. Did it all over again but now store the bike inside... It's been 6 months and they're still in good shape.
As one of the older posts noted, a lot of effort for minimum reward. I'll eventually rebuild the wheels with stainless spokes when I put them on a better bike.