[WilliamK1974]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post to this forum. I'll try not to ramble.

Back in 1998 before we were married, my wife's family bought her a GT Outpost Trail bike with a cromo frame at a dealer here in Chattanooga. We took it out quite a bit. We got married in 2001, and continued to ride together. We got away from it for awhile, and are trying to get back into biking as a means of staying fit.

I was going over her bike, and noticed what looks like rust bubbles down on the center tube of the frame. I can't tell if they're surface or rust from the inside out.

After every ride, I hosed the bikes down and dried them, and between seasons would wash them with car wash soap. The bikes sat in a covered outdoor area beside our house. They were covered, but it's not out of the question that they could have gotten wet.

Out of curiosity, I unhooked the quick release seat and held the bike upside down, and some rusty-looking water ran out.

I'm fear for the worst here, and am afraid this is cancerous rust. Kind of stinks that my attempts to take care of it might have contributed to its demise.

Is there anything I can do about it? Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,
-Bill

 

[sanjuro]

Ride it until it dies?

It is a little late now. You could drill a tiny hole in the bb to remove the water...

 

[WilliamK1974]

Ride it until it dies?

It is a little late now. You could drill a tiny hole in the bb to remove the water...

It looks like a good location for a small hole would be the very bottom of the tube. It could be plugged with a screw for riding, and the screw could be removed for washing the bike and left out in between rides to keep moisture to a minimum. This rust is midway between the top and bottom of the tube.

It's just kind of irritating to think that I might have caused this, and this is the first time I've noticed it. The irritation is compounded by the fact that this is the most expensive bike we have. My old Jackal hasn't rusted like this, nor did my old Schwinn World road bike. Live and learn I guess, but it's a mighty expensive lesson, and it could be hard to replace that bike with one that's so simple. Neither of us are interested in bikes other than those with rigid frames.

Thank you,
-Bill

 

[sanjuro]

Actually, just leave the screw out. Unless you ride submerged, the water gets into frames in weird places.

The hole in the frame lets all of it out.