Protecting bearings from driving rain

[Dogtrousers]

Suspect the OP has done the journey already ...

View attachment 714892

His bearings probably all seized solid and he was so disgusted with all the "chill out, it'll be fine" misinformation that he got from us that he never returned

 

[Ajax Bay]

@CharleyFarley : resurrecter extraordinaire

 

[scotsbikester]

Thanks very much folks. Yes, I've made the journey. The bearings survived, wrapped in old cut up inner tube around the headset, top and bottom, secured with cable ties. I can't actually remember if it rained or not. I think it might have done on the way to Mallaig.

Anyway, the bearings haven't seized. Though I haven't opened them up to see what condition they are in. The headset is loose ball, with only a rudimentary "thing" (I don't think I can glorify it with the name seal) protecting the bearings.

 

[froze]

It sounds like you have a steel bike?

I tour/bike camp on a steel bike, plus I have several other steel bikes. Water can seep between the seat tube and seat post, I put a thin layer of automotive grease on the post, as well as on the inside of the seat tube, slide the seat post back in, and wipe off the excess grease. Greasing that stuff prevents the seat post from the frame rusting and making the seat post nearly impossible to remove. So you kill two birds with one stone.

On my touring bike, I put boiled linseed oil into the frame to protect it from rusting. There are other products made for the same purpose you can use like JP Weigle Frame Saver, and Boeshield T9, but linseed oil is cheap and it works. Of course, using that stuff means you will have to pull the bottom bracket off, the fork, etc, so it's quite a job. I did it to my latest touring bike because there was frame issue with the previous frame, so the bike company replaced the frame and fork, which meant all the parts from the old had to be transferred to the new, so before the bike shop assembled it I had them apply that stuff. I have older steel bikes, one is from 1977, and it's never rusted, but those others I try not to ride in the rain so I never treated the inside of those frames, but the touring bike will be sitting outside or riding during rainstorms, so I felt it might be wise to rust treat the inside of the frame.

On newer threadless designed headsets water can't get inside and run down the frame or fork and set there for years rusting away the frame. If you have a quill stem, they make neoprene wraps that Velcro together, Lizard Skin makes them, I have them on my older bikes just in case I get caught riding in rain, plus I grease the seat post/seat tube.

 

[scotsbikester]

It sounds like you have a steel bike?

I tour/bike camp on a steel bike, plus I have several other steel bikes. Water can seep between the seat tube and seat post, I put a thin layer of automotive grease on the post, as well as on the inside of the seat tube, slide the seat post back in, and wipe off the excess grease. Greasing that stuff prevents the seat post from the frame rusting and making the seat post nearly impossible to remove. So you kill two birds with one stone.

On my touring bike, I put boiled linseed oil into the frame to protect it from rusting. There are other products made for the same purpose you can use like JP Weigle Frame Saver, and Boeshield T9, but linseed oil is cheap and it works. Of course, using that stuff means you will have to pull the bottom bracket off, the fork, etc, so it's quite a job. I did it to my latest touring bike because there was frame issue with the previous frame, so the bike company replaced the frame and fork, which meant all the parts from the old had to be transferred to the new, so before the bike shop assembled it I had them apply that stuff. I have older steel bikes, one is from 1977, and it's never rusted, but those others I try not to ride in the rain so I never treated the inside of those frames, but the touring bike will be sitting outside or riding during rainstorms, so I felt it might be wise to rust treat the inside of the frame.

On newer threadless designed headsets water can't get inside and run down the frame or fork and set there for years rusting away the frame. If you have a quill stem, they make neoprene wraps that Velcro together, Lizard Skin makes them, I have them on my older bikes just in case I get caught riding in rain, plus I grease the seat post/seat tube.

Thanks for the advice. Though you are possibly preaching to the choir, as the saying goes:

I am a fanatical oiler and greaser of parts that can potentially rust.

Yes, it's a steel frame. I built the bike from the frame up, when the frame became available at a very good price. So, starting with a "naked" frame I put it in a stand, and sprayed huge amounts of Dinitrol ML inside. The same stuff Bob Jackson used to use (in fact that's where I bought it from). I managed to get it into every cavity, I think, even the inside of the forks - Dinitrol comes with a short tube thing. it was dripping out of the bottom bracket shell, and the various holes (I think for welding) in the fork legs and chain stays. Then, 3 years later, I think, I completely stripped the bike, including the bottom bracket, and did the same thing again, except this time I'd bought the special lance that Dinitrol sell that allows you to get further into long tubes, and ensures a far more effective spray pattern once you're in. I'll probably do it again in a couple of years.

But I'm fairly confident (hopeful?) that I shouldn't have major problems with rust from the inside. The seatpost is actually a cro-mo Nitto S84 so I shouldn't get the galvanic corrosion thing. But yes, I've put Copaslip on it. And once in a while I let the clamp off to make sure it moves OK. One day I'll have a go at that thing of putting an old inner tube over the junction between the seat post and the seat tube, if I can find one of the right size. Or I might even try heat shrink. If nothing else it will deter thieves from trying to nick my saddle and seat post.

Also I don't ride in the rain if I can help it. The longest rainy ride will be a 4 mile commute home, unless I get caught in it unexpectedly.
My main worry about the journey I've described was the bike going at 70 mph, on the top of the car, into rain, and the rain somehow forcing its way into the bearings and washing the grease out, and water in. The obvious ones being the headset, because of where it is. It's a loose ball headset.

Cheers.