Do you ride a steel bike on salted roads?

Do you ride your steel bike on gritted roads? With what effects from
the salt?

Andre Jute
One careful little old lady owner who only rode it to church in the
summer

On 11/29/2010 10:44 AM, André Jute wrote:
Do you ride your steel bike on gritted roads? With what effects from
the salt?

Not any bicycle or trike I care highly about, that would be hard to replace.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

linseed bare and chromed metal

On Nov 30, 3:44*am, Andre Jute wrote:
Do you ride your steel bike on gritted roads?

No.

With what effects from the salt?

None.

Though I expect if I did ride on gritted roads and if the frame was
well painted and protected inside with a fisholene, lanolin or linseed
coating or the like, it shouldn't be a problem.

Dropouts, BB and head tube faces, etc., where the paint isn't might be
a problem. Better look for a really good grade stainless BB and
dropouts.

What about corrosion of other parts though? Metal fittings might be
more at risk. I've heard nasty stories of what the grit does to motor
vehicles on a short time.

JS.

On Nov 29, 10:44*am, Andre Jute wrote:
Do you ride your steel bike on gritted roads? With what effects from
the salt?

Andre Jute
One careful little old lady owner who only rode it to church in the
summer

With fenders, frame material in the glop matters little. Grease your
bottom bracket and pedal threads, ride.

On Nov 30, 12:48*am, Tºm Shermªn™ °_° ""twshermanREMOVE\"@THI
$southslope.net" wrote:
On 11/29/2010 10:44 AM, André Jute wrote: Do you ride your steel bike on gritted roads? With what effects from
the salt?

Not any bicycle or trike I care highly about, that would be hard to replace.

That's what's in my mind, that I have only one steel bike and it is my
best bike and would be very expensive to replace, shading to
impossible. So, if this weather continues, it may be smart to bring
down an ali frame from the loft and build it up for use in the winter.
-- Andre Jute

On Nov 30, 4:42*am, James wrote:
On Nov 30, 3:44*am, Andre Jute wrote:

Do you ride your steel bike on gritted roads?

No.

With what effects from the salt?

None.

Though I expect if I did ride on gritted roads and if the frame was
well painted and protected inside with a fisholene, lanolin or linseed
coating or the like, it shouldn't be a problem.

Guys on the Thorn board where I also asked the question swear by
Waxoyl, remarks from bike commuters like "six seasons and no visible
rust".

Dropouts, BB and head tube faces, etc., where the paint isn't might be
a problem. *Better look for a really good grade stainless BB and
dropouts.

Mmm. By the time I've sourced them and they arrive, this foul weather
could well be over for good. I shoulda held on another year before I
bought my Utopia Kranich -- the next year they fitted welded-on
stainless plates to the rear frame ends.

What about corrosion of other parts though? *Metal fittings might be
more at risk. *I've heard nasty stories of what the grit does to motor
vehicles on a short time.

You used to see it in the UK, cars with lower panels looking like
Belgian lace... I probably wouldn't object too much to replacing a
Magura hydraulic brake setup, but my Rohloff hub gearbox and SON hub
dynamo are plain ali (I wanted black but there was a waiting list),
and I suspect I won't be able to get wheels rebuilt as well as the
originals if my rims get corroded. I know, guys here rebuild wheels,
Jobst's book beside them, like cats drop kittens, but I have no
experience. Thing is, I believe a lot of good things, like the comfort
and control and speed of that big bike comes from the superb build
quality of those wheels. (One of the secrets of my racing success in
an early Porsche Speedster when it was already obsolete was that I
found a guy to machine me solid wheels from the billet -- they cost
more than the car and the engine combined -- and these, rather than
the pressed and welded ex-VW crap, gave me so much edge that I just
ran away from the other fast guys, all of them in better cars. I'm a
huge believer in really good quality wheels on a bike.)

--AJ

On Nov 30, 3:14*pm, landotter wrote:
On Nov 29, 10:44*am, Andre Jute wrote:

Do you ride your steel bike on gritted roads? With what effects from
the salt?

Andre Jute
One careful little old lady owner who only rode it to church in the
summer

With fenders, frame material in the glop matters little. Grease your
bottom bracket and pedal threads, ride.

Not the glop I'm worried about, Max. It's the grit, salt they throw on
the roads. It eats cars. No reason it shouldn't eat a bike as well.
But see above about Waxoyl being effective, and I seem to remember
Andrew Muzi saying something about bikes that rust through rusting
through from the inside, not by corrosion from the outside. -- AJ

On 11/30/2010 10:14 AM, landotter wrote:
On Nov 29, 10:44 am, Andre wrote:
Do you ride your steel bike on gritted roads? With what effects from
the salt?

Andre Jute
One careful little old lady owner who only rode it to church in the
summer

With fenders, frame material in the glop matters little. Grease your
bottom bracket and pedal threads, ride.

I've seen a couple of steel frames fail from corrosion. In both cases it
was the chainstays.

On Nov 30, 10:22*am, Peter Cole wrote:
On 11/30/2010 10:14 AM, landotter wrote:

On Nov 29, 10:44 am, Andre *wrote:
Do you ride your steel bike on gritted roads? With what effects from
the salt?

Andre Jute
One careful little old lady owner who only rode it to church in the
summer

With fenders, frame material in the glop matters little. Grease your
bottom bracket and pedal threads, ride.

I've seen a couple of steel frames fail from corrosion. In both cases it
was the chainstays.

Oh yeah, it's possible, especially on a thin walled tube. For a racy
rain bike, a cheap alu frame would be my first choice. Same goes for
any bike, really, but it's not like traditional Dutch and Swedish hi-
ten bikes are failing at an extraordinary rate. That said, outside
traditional builders like Skeppshult and Pilen, most new bikes in
Gothenburg are alu these days. Does the job.