Bought the bike used to rebuild it for my GF. The seller said it’s in good condition and when i inspected it i saw no rust. When I removed the old BB to replace it today, I saw rust inside the frame.
It’s a steel frame from BLB made from Reynolds 520 cromo I think.
How bad is that, does it make any sense to continue with this frame or is it not safe to ride anymore?
by Wide_Climate339
13 Comments
that looks like surface rust.. I’d wire-brush it and then just make sure to grease the threads / shell when putting a bottom-bracket back in there.
It looks like some amount of water’s coming down the seat-tube, which is also sort of normal.
Clean it, maybe use rust remover and you are good to go.
This is the norm and expected when changing out a BB after awhile. You could clean up gently with some soft steel wool, but not that necessary. Applying new grease on the threads while installing the BB will keep the rust at bay. People will have different advice for dealing with the rust. Some people put steel wool or a scrubbing device on a drill to get the BB shell. Definitely don’t toss such a nice frame over this common thing.
Nothing to worry about. If you want peace of mind tape all holes and coat the insides with linseed oil and wait a day (make sure it doesn’t harden on BB threads, seatpost insert and headset).
I adopted a habit ages ago of spraying a little WD40 into steel frame braze vents after reading it somewhere. I tip the frame to let it run down the tube. It seems to help prevent rust.
I have ridden worse frames than that with no issues. You could clean it up a bit (make sure to let it dry) then apply some steel frame saver spray to prevent any further rust. [frame saver](https://www.performancebike.com/progold-steel-frame-protector-aerosol-can-w-spout-6oz-482608pp/p1354255?v=317970&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=17393956213&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2ZfABhDBARIsAHFTxGycd1OezY0lrQI9DbESJWisEMUyM8cepo2pxoo4X1NrixplTOSDmE4aApf9EALw_wcB)
Normal.
That would not concern me. I would scrub it with a little bit of WD-40 and a wire brush.
It’ll probably last another 70 years even if you spray water in there annually
not bad at all. Just clean it out with a wire brush in a drill. grease her up before you reinstall the bearings.
I think most xbikers are riding much rustier BB shells. And every old junky bike out there is far worse and still going.
Cromo doesn’t corrode deeply, so I’ve read, so cromo bikes only develop surface rust.
Perhaps try some evaporust?