How bad is surface rust?

Hi I've got quite allot of surface rust on my frame. Its steel, seems structurally sound. I plan to powder coat eventually, but am enjoying riding it.

**The question is can I leave it? **

I think I can. It's kept indoors, lightly oiled all over and I think the rust would protect it to a degree. I also don't want to respray until its done enough miles that I am confident the frame won't fail.

Am I being thick? Will it get worse?

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Yes you are. Yes it will.

Next !

dont trust rust, this guy broke his elbow when his fork snapped while normal riding

Put some Jenolite on it to kill the rust. Level up your saddle; how on earth do you ride it at that angle? :)

i never had any problems with the Rustbucket..... which was completely covered in surface rust.

@ DickBarton - will take your advice on Jenotite - any recomendation RE jelly vs liquid?

On my seat angle - its not as steep as it looks, and I find flat seats hurt my balls... unless I'm not holding the handle bars... which makes cornering harder.

Rust is permeable to air and water, therefore the interior iron continues to corrode

From wiki. Applies to steel also, naturally.

I think the rust would protect it to a degree

That's only for aluminium (also stainless steel I believe) where the oxide creates a protective layer.

I would recommend getting it stripped and repainted, but have the damage assessed by someone who knows (e.g. mechanic, framebuilder etc).

if there is surface rust, theres a good chance there will be rust inside the tubes. its a little difficult to tell if there is, but you can have a peek inside the headtube/seat tube/bb. i wouldnt trust a bike with rusted tube interiors.

Hi I've got quite allot of surface rust on my frame. Its steel, seems structurally sound. I plan to powder coat eventually, but am enjoying riding it.

Am I being thick? Will it get worse?

For peace of mind have a look. You'll need one of these:

@ DickBarton - will take your advice on Jenotite - any recomendation RE jelly vs liquid?

I usually use the jelly, but I don't suppose it matters which one really. The layer which forms when you apply the Jenolite is Ferrous Phosphate,if I remember my school chemistry properly, which is rust proof - in principle - but after a while this surface will rust again if left exposed. This is only a temporary fix/measure to stop the situation getting worse - it won't cure it.

i never had any problems with the Rustbucket..... which was completely covered in surface rust.

+1

My current polo bike project is also completely rust covered, just make sure the inner of the tubes is rust free and sealed & the the outside is also sealed to prevent further oxidization.

a small bit of rust can easily cleared up as described above & then coated to prevent future spread.

Will Jenolite do nasty things to paint?

I have a small spot of rust that I need to stop in it's tracks, but cannot afford to get a respray.

that small spot of rust is caused by rust mite activity inside the tube

to draw the rust mite out, wrap a rasher of streaky bacon tightly around the affected tube and leave for a week

Will Jenolite do nasty things to paint?

The instructions warn that it can do so. I suggest you apply it very carefully to the rust area and wipe any off the paint promptly. It's much better to kill the rust than worry about a bit of paint discolouration.

dont trust rust, this guy broke his elbow when his fork snapped while normal riding

He seems to be dealing with it well.

that small spot of rust is caused by rust mite activity inside the tube

to draw the rust mite out, wrap a rasher of streaky bacon tightly around the affected tube and leave for a week

Use unsalted bacon.

I had quite a lot of surface rust on my previous Pug, and removed it with some spray-oil (WD14 I think it's called) and steel wool..worked like a charm, and didn't damage the paint around it either..

Surface rust is not going to cause your frame to fail, it is just that rust on the surface.....
Nothing to worry about, either clean it up yourself with some rust eater, steel wool etc or even better take it to the strippers, you can see the whole of your frame without the swirl marks caused by the steel wool for checking welds etc... also you will get a much nicer finish on a propper clean frame.
Powder coating has been the family buisness for 25 years now and i sprayed there for just over 2 years

I had quite a lot of surface rust on my previous Pug, and removed it with some spray-oil (WD14 I think it's called) and steel wool..worked like a charm, and didn't damage the paint around it either..

Yup!
Steel wool works great. If it is fine, you can polish chromed parts too.
Cheap too.

I too have had no problems with my rusty beater. Early 60's chrome frame with pitting along the top tube and a bit around the top lug. Cleaned a lot of light surface rust off with a variety of methods described above. It's still rusty, but wiped over with oil and always clean the shit off with a rag instead of soapy water.
Looks like shit, runs perfectly. Would suck if it failed but i'm planning on retiring it soon to live at my folks place in france for gentle wined fuelled pottering around villages. A fine way to see out an old frame.

Check the tubes, clean up what you can, apply all advice above. Touch up paint/apply clearcoat after you clean the rust to stop it coming back, if it looks a bit patchy it doesn't matter if you're going to get it refinished anyway.

steel wool ftw

Oh, and i have the same crappy cottered chainset as you, also works just fine. Did you replace the cotter pins, bearings and grease in the bb?
And sort the seat out, that looks daft!

He seems to be dealing with it well.

he found out the next day his elbow was broken

@ edmundro - thanks for the tips - yes I replaced the cotter pins (had to drill and file them out tho), new bearings + grease and it runs perfectly. Always amazed at how well old bikes work with some effort.

Re - seat - its been adjusted... but i still like the seat tilted

I cant believe whats just happened, about a week ago I gave my bike a proper clean with that muck off stuff, and then started leaving the bike in the bike shed I recently got... For variuos reasons I have not had the bike out for a week, and today when I got her out the quite a bit of rust, on the chain, stem and all the little places where paint was chipped.... Really could a week of keeping it in a shed have done this? so is it really not a good idea to leave it in a shed!.... Ill get some wire wool, but im so annoyed...... Thanks

Any damp in the shed? Your bike was probably being protected by a layer of grease and oil that you've just removed.