I have a new Surly Long Haul Trucker (steel frame, of course), and am mildly concerned about internal frame rust. I say "mildly concerned" because I also have an old Ross 10-speed (at least 30 years old) that is as rusted as an old tramp steamer on the inside, and I don't think its strength is compromised.

However, being the worry-wart that I am, and wanting to lavish the best of care on my Trucker, I am considering performing some sort of rustproofing treatment on it.

There seem to be four schools of thought regarding this:

1. The first school of thought is actually not a school of thought at all, in that the adherents to this theory maintain that the frame won't rust away in your grandchildrens' lifetime, so why sorry?

2. Strip the frame down (remove seat tube, BB and fork) and treat with Weigle's Frame Saver.

3. Just hose the insides of the seat tube and stays (through the vent holes) with WD-40, and get on with life.

4. RTV the vent holes in the chainstays, seatstays, fork, etc., and fill the slot in the seat tube with grease. This keeps 99% of the water out of the frame, and thus inhibits rust formation.

If I were to buy a can of Weigle's, would I have to strip the frame down, or could I just remove the seat post and hose the seat tube and stays (through the vents) with the stuff? Would it get into and damage the BB otherwise? There would be no way, as far as I can see, to treat the frame head tube, top tube, or downtube this way.

Actually I read somewhere (maybe Surly's web site?) that BLO (Boiled Linseed Oil), which can be found in the paint department of Lowes, Home Depot, or most any other paint or hardware store, is also good as a frame rustproofer, and can be used in a similar fashion to Weigle's. But this probably involves stripping the BB, fork, etc. too.

I'm not a big fan of WD-40. The "WD" stands for "Water Displacement", and WD-40 by itself, after it evaporates, pretty much doesn't leave anything behind regarding a lubricant. It's good to get water out of something that has gotten wet, but it's not permanent.

What do you all think about the technique of RTV-ing the vent holes closed, and plugging the seat tube slot with heavy wheel-bearing grease? This seems like a fairly practical thing to do for a bike owner who is worried about moisture infiltration into the frame, and who doesn't feel competent to tearing his bike down?

Looking for any and all advise here.