How often do you need to reapply frame saver inside the tubes, or is it just once when its new?

need? IDK. choose to ? you Decide .. it involves fully stripping the bike down to bare , again.

need to get full coverage, and so before it cures it has to be running down all sides of the tubes.

My guess is once every forty years should be sufficient.

Gee, I must not be a biker. I've never heard of frame saver.

I would say reapply once every 33 years. I base this on my own experience. My 32 year old Ross Mt. Rainier is still doing fine and it was not treated, so I'm guessing next year it will disintegrate into a pile of dust.

It's actually good stuff. It's good to use on a new frame before you build the bike, but if you don't do it then, it really isn't worth stripping the bike down to the frame to apply.

My Miyata 1000 is 31 years old, and other the inevitable battle scars, the frame is in fine shape. Maybe Miyata (or Jeff Brooks the Kingston (Ontario) custom bike builder I bought it from) applied frame saver. I haven't!

Need? If you don't plan on using your steel bike as an indoor trainer, never. If you do, use a different frame made from a different material.

Thanks, that's really helpful.

Hi azza_333,

Unless you make it a habit of submerging your frame in salt water you really don't need to reapply frame saver.

Once it sets up its not something that will be easily washed out by just rain. The only place that might be of concern would be inside the seat tube if you remove your seat on a regular basis. This area should still be protected with the grease you apply to the seat post.

If you live on the coast or in snow / ice road territory I'd be a little more proactive about rinsing the salt off/out of the frame a couple of times a year. The only other time I'd worry about it is if you have the frame completely refinished or welded on. After either of those two activities you'll need a new coat.

Gadgets

P.S. clear nail polish works great for protecting external paint chips. If you're more OCD, like me, you can usually find a close color match in the scratch repair paint pens you get at automotive stores.

According Sheldon Brown, you should remove the old framesaver and reapply at least once a month. Rust is the hidden enemy, and you can't be too safe. He also has good advice for chain cleaning.

The ShelBroCo Bicycle Chain Cleaning System

+1. Although I'm also of the belief it might be snake-oil

The Chain Cleaning System is a genuine "LOL". Thanks.

Never - it's an unnecessary product. Plus it requires strong solvents and several hours of work to remove that gunk, if someone like me buys your frame later.

The exception is if you're planning to abandon your steel bike outside, behind a barn or out in the middle of the woods, and hope someone finds it still intact 30 or 40 years later. For that application, frame saver would probably work well.

My Miyata 610 is 34 years old, and had a decent bit of surface rust inside when I got it. It just got Boeshield after its acid bath, though, as I wasn't sure if I was going to powder coat it or not in the near future.

You've been forewarned, three years to doom

My Fuji is only 31 years old and when I looked inside the frame a few months ago, it was fine. All of my bikes are steel and the "newest" one is 21 years old ('95 Rockhopper). None of them are rusty, and none have any kind of gunk on the inside. I do not leave my bikes out in the rain, although of course they get wet when it rains and I do wash them with soap and water.

If your bike experiences a lot of water especially that of the salty kind you might want to clean and reapply more often but if you generally take care of your bike and it doesn't see much water, you probably don't need to worry much. I wouldn't personally worry a lot about it as people have said most don't apply or haven't done so in a while and their bikes are OK.

I don't think it is harmful to the bike and isn't a bad thing to do once and a while but mostly for the disassembly of the bike so you can clean and re-grease things and check everything once and a while.

I know, hence the smiley! I'm fairly certain mine was used and abused as a commuter before I got my hands on it, it was in rough shape overall. The tell tale beaten up upper chainstays where a locking chain was wrapped around gives that status away.

I usually apply Framesaver when I first get the frame

I'll also retreat if I have to strip the components from the frame for repairs or other reasons.

I figure it can't really hurt anything.

It only needs to be done once if done properly. I don't trust some kid at the LBS making 8 bux/hr to properly protect my new frame with some expensive, watered-down linseed oil from a spray can, so I always do it myself. One of the two commercial "framesaver" aerosol products is linseed oil diluted with a solvent to make it less viscous, easier to spray and less likely to plug the nozzle. You can buy boiled linseed oil (the active rustproofing ingredient), more than you'll ever need, for 1/4-1/2 the cost of a can or two of framesaver, then DIY and likely get better results. I bought a quart of boiled linseed oil, a pistol oiler and appropriately sized clear tubing from the hardware store years ago. This is all you need to completely rustproof about a half a dozen steel framesets.

Rustproof the frameset right after you get it home, before bolting anything on, while you're waiting for parts deliveries. It takes 5-7 days for linseed oil to dry to a hard tacky film, and ideally you need a garage or shed for the drying to occur, so you don't have to smell linseed oil inside your home. Do one tube at a time (down, top, seat etc). Take your time sloshing the oil around inside the tube to ensure coverage of all unfinished steel surfaces. Dispose of rags/paper towels/cardboard you use in the rustproofing process, as they apparently have some potential to start a fire.

Rustproofing is unnecessary if you live and do all your tours in dry, arid areas (CA/AZ/UT etc). If you live/ride where there is regularly high humidity or near a sea coast, then rustproofing is a good idea to ensure long life of a steel frameset.

https://www.bikeforums.net/8636538-post4.html

On a serious note, is the OP talking about tubeless tires and the liquid you pour inside a tire?
That's usually reserved to mtb riders or some weight weenie roadies, but the answer is usually once a year.

If the OP is talking about something else, I don't know what else they might be talking about. As far as I know, a "frame saver" is a mtb term for a piece of rubber covering the chain stay from chain damage from a bouncing chain that will chip paint. That rubber piece should never need replacement.

FYI Its a thing like boiled linseed oil that goes inside steel frames after they have been painted..

JP Weigle has his TM stuff called by that Name .

Spray can https://www.amazon.com/Weigles-Bicyc.../dp/B0012GO58Y

Im talking about the frame saver that you put inside steel frames to stop them rusting.

Forget framesaver. I want brakecablesaver.