What is your response to rust on components? I keep my bike impeccably clean (aka anal), don't ride in wet conditions, and store indoors, so it's rarely an issue for me. But, sometimes I work on friends' bikes, and see rust invading components. Most of the time, it's not in an easy place to sand it off, and put something over the top to avoid it coming back. Do you guys tolerate rust, especially on low end components, or do you recommend replacement? I don't know, maybe I have to lower my standards and abandon the zero tolerance (at least on bikes that aren't my own). 1st world problem?

Iron + oxygen = rust Chromed Plated steel can be substituted for Stainless If you ride in the wet and are really Anal


dry the water off after every Ride

But if the component companies s make their proprietary parts in CP steel all you can do is like Paint over

with paint , or clear lacquer , nail polish etc.


I like Black Anodized over Polished aluminum too for the anodizing is an anti corrosion treatment.

If the bikes aren't yours, your lack of tolerance for rust is a non-issue. You can have enough problems just with your own stuff.

I ride my bike in the rain a lot and don't really do anything special to clean and dry it at the end of the day -- I just hang it up. I do, however, keep the moving parts lubricated. Pretty much the only place I see rust creeping in is on the bolts that hold my rack and fenders on and the water bottle bolts. I pretty much tolerate it there, though I do remove them once in a while and grease the threads.

If I hang a bike up with a wet chain and don't ride it for a few months, some surface rust will often show up there. This happens, for instance, if I forget to lube the chain after washing it. In this case, a fresh application of oil is usually enough to get rid of the visible rust. The chain life is probably shortened, but I don't replace it just because I saw rust. I wait for it to be worn.

Not my bike, not my problem. ;-)

Seriously, though, on someone else's bike, I'm not going do anything about it unless it presents a functional problem. I might point it out and offer an opinion about how they might need to address the issue if/when it becomes a problem, but that's it.

My own bikes, on the other hand... Regular maintenance helps me minimize rust and a jug of Evapo-Rust helps me get rid of it when it crops up -- typically on small steel parts like stem bolts & chainring bolts.

What is this magic potion you discuss? "Evapo-Rust"?

Evapo-Rust Web Site

It's a rust removal product. Immerse rusty parts in Evapo-Rust for a few hours or overnight and the rust is dissolved into the solution. The stuff works really well. It's available at a number of retailers, including Advance Auto Parts, O'Reilly, and Harbor Freight Tool. The down side is that it's not super cheap -- about $25 per gallon if I remember correctly. It's reusable, though, so you can make that gallon go a long way.

Oxalic acid is another thing you can use similarly. Immerse the rusty item and the rust just dissolves. Oxalic acid is often sold as "wood bleach" at hardware stores. It's a lot cheaper than Evapo-Rust, so it makes sense to use it for big items. An eight-buck tub of oxalic acid crystals mixed with a kiddie pool full of water makes a great rust removal bath for bike frames. It's just as effective, too, but maybe not quite as convenient since you have to mix it (just add water). Also, oxalic acid can remove black oxide finishes that you might find on some bike parts like headset cups and freewheel cogs.

Both of these have been discussed quite a bit, along with other rust removal techniques on Bikeforums, especially in the Classic & Vintage subforum. You could probably Google it and get a ton of results -- just add site:bikeforums.net to your Google query to get results from this site.

"An eight-buck tub of oxalic acid crystals mixed with a kiddie pool full of water makes a great rust removal bath for bike frames" LMAO. Makes me thing of Breaking Bad for some reason. No seriously, thanks for all the details. Good info.