Originally Posted by JMRobertson

Actually, there's another solution not mentioned. Industrial steel is protected by attaching a zinc anode to the metal. The zinc has a far higher afinity for the oxidation that we're trying to prevent and so "rusts" instead of the steel it's attached to. You simply replace the anode every once and a while and it does a great job of preventing rust.

I have no idea if anyone has applied this to bikes though.

Here's some for boats:
http://www.boatzincs.com/?gclid=CO78...FQ89awod30LKkA