A few years ago I bought a used touring bike from a shop in Florida. I was living there half the year up until last season, but the bike remained in a storage closet on the 4th floor of a beach side condo bldg. The spokes have been rusting. Will this compromise the wheels?

Eventually but not quickly. Roger

Take a piece of aluminum foil and rub on the spokes. The rust will go away.

maybe wipe with waxoyl afterward and the rust won't come back so quickly.

Thanks for the tips. I've used fine sandpaper, but that really wasn't effective.

I mistakenly removed the zinc plating on a number of steel spokes and surface rust developed within 48 hours. A couple of months ago I painted those spokes with aluminum paint. So far, the rust has not returned. I posted about this in C&V. Here's the link:

FWIW: apparent uccess in painting zinc-plated spokes