The Stem is a Katana PRO Comfort 17° Stem with supposedly stainless steel screws, bought end of 2019. I do ride in any weather so it was ridden through rain but always parked in a dry garage. Live in Germany so nothing crazy as far as humidity etc goes. It looks like this for over a year now and so far I have safely continued to ride it, though I do finally feel like asking if I am being reckless riding this daily.
Also the seatpost clamp bought 2019 as well does not look much better sadly..
Would you continue to ride this? Is this just surface / cosmetic rust? Or better to replace?
Would love to hear some of your opinions, thanks!
by Fabio290
11 Comments
Mine have been looking the same for about a year now. Let’s wait for some expert opinion together.
The rust is only cosmetic. You could go to a hardware supplier and get new screws if you wanted. Some sort of plating like nickel or zinc would be preferable, the black oxide coated screws will rust quickly.
The rust is only cosmetic on stem. If you’re planning to still use those screws, better add a grease to lessen the possibility of damaging the thread. The seatpost one, im not sure, but if im you I’ll change the screw on that one.
What you’re seeing is surface rust, purely cosmetic. If the threads are properly greased then the actual bolts will still be functioning perfectly
I would not be afraid to ride but it would definitely bug me
I would change them, so you don’t come back here in 2 years asking how to remove a rounded out/rusted bolt.
Take them off, soak them in vinegar in a glass jar overnight, dry them, add some grease and reinstall. Done ✅
Change the seat post bolt, I didnt and had to dremmel it off and get a new collar bc it stripped badly
Spray some WD40 on them and call it a day. Surface rust isn’t much of a concern.
Send it
Replace the bolts to be safe. Just be careful trying to get them off. I saw someone posted the other day about a bolt that was rusted just like these and while they were working on it the head of the bolt broke off completely