Hi all,
I bought a UDC unicycle 6 months ago, and its starting to rust inside the frame tube after daily riding in New England weather. The inside of the frame tube isn’t painted, and rain, snow, slush etc. from the wheel easily goes up through the bottom opening.
-What’s the best way to remove and prevent rust inside the full length of the frame tube?
-I’m not a big fan of the UDC colors, so I’m also considering repainting the frame. Assuming that paint and coating will prevent rust, does regular adjustment of the seatpost rub away at the paint?
The seatpost and inside of the frame are not painted for good reason. They have to fit together pretty tight, so if you paint it, the thickness of the layer of paint will make the two not fit together anymore. Also, yes, if you paint it and it will somehow still fit, it will be scratched.
I’d take a wire brush on a drill and brush away the worst of the rust. If you feel adventurous and want to try any permanent coating, maybe some rust converter - but I’d personally just give it a light coating of grease or assembly paste.
You can always spray some wd40 or gt85 into the frame, if you take wheel out you’ll probably find drainage holes in the bearing cups so spray some in there.
They make a spray called Frame Saver for steel bikes, that leaves some sort of protective coating when it dries. People seem to like it. But I’ve never used it, and my 25 year old steel road bike, that I used as a daily commuter in wet and snowy (and road-salty) Cleveland OH, is still going just fine.
Edit: You can also put a plug in the opening in the frame, over the wheel, to stop stuff coming in. I did that with one of my wheels, using a random piece of pipe insulation foam. In theory it could block water draining out of the frame, but I never had any problems.
And if you are worried about spray coming in the slot where the seatpost clamp goes, you can turn the clamp around so that it blocks the hole, or even turn the whole frame around (but make sure the wheel keeps the original left/right alignment). I used to rotate the clamps on my mountain bikes, and it helped.
thanks all. I only wondered because I was getting rust juice on my seat post. But it sounds like rust inside is not too much to worry about, especially, like @Duff said, if I have to deal with seat post twisting from whatever grease I put in.
@MrImpossible Yeah I have a 10 yo commuter steel bike that I never treated, but it’s no where as bad as the unicycle. the modifications you suggest make sense though!
If your seatpost does not reach to the bottom of the frame you could paint the part where the seatpost doesn’t reach to keep that part protected and nice looking.
