New bike - Bottom bracket rust.
 

Hi,

first post, new to cycling. I would like to get some opinions from most experienced cyclist.

I purchased a new Felt F75. After 4 weeks and less than 500Km, a creaking noise was audible when I was pedaling with some power (Uphill but also when cruising at higher speed). The guy at the bike shop said there was plenty of rust inside bottom bracket. The guy also told me that I'll have to replace the bearing if the bike starts to creaks again. For now, no audible creaking/clicking noise for the last 200Km. But...

Problem is that I did not go outside with the bike during rain. Never. I did not washed the bike either. I always bring the bike inside the house as soon as I'm back to home after a ride.

How can it be possible after only 4 weeks of good contition riding and less than 500Km ?

Thank you.

I'd have to see it before rending an opinion, but there are plenty of ways for water to get into a bearing, even if you never rode in the rain. After all you probably rode through puddles at one time or another. If water is in the BB shell (behind the bearing, or outside a cartridge BB) it might have entered through the seatpost, or more specifically the pinch bolt area, and run down into the BB. This is the most common point of entry. If the water entered from the outside, under the seals, that's from wheel spray directed at the gap between the cranks and BB.

It happens, but given the age of the bike, you might be entitled to some consideration if the rust is enough to have damaged the bearing already, even if it's only an act of goodwill from the seller.

Thanks FBinNY,

I have to admit I rode once with some "damp spots" on the road, about an hour after a very light 5 minutes rain.

That being said, if this is enough "water" to rust bike component, I don't know how it will be possible for me to take the bike outside for a ride when it will not be a sunny day. Can I do something to prevent that in the future ?

Thanks for your answer again.

Yes there are preventatives, but it depends on exactly where the rust is. You prevent water entry to the frame by sealing the points of entry. Entry to a BB sealed bearing is more of a problem. On my old road bike which saw all weather riding, I cut 2 donuts out of foam, covered them in grease, and trapped them between the crank arms and bearings. These made very effective barriers to sprayed water, and I never had any bearing rust issues.

The other way is to keep bearings well greased with decent water resistant grease. Marine grade greases are great at this, but you have to keep the bearing greased. This is a problem with sealed cartridge bearings, most of which have no provision for relubrication. On some you can carefully remove the outer seal, grease the bearing and pop it back in place.

In any case, as I said, you had rusting too soon given the conditions, so depending on where and why, it might have been a case of inadequate lubrication from the factory.