My Australian virtual friend Andrew, AKA Aushiker, just wrote about giving his LHT its 500 km winter service.
Everything checked out OK, except that he noted some rust on two stem face plate bolts.
I wrote back to tell him that mine were showing the same thing and that I’d replace them with stainless steel bolts at first opportunity.
My LHT is a Short Haul Trucker
After reading Aushiker’s account of 500 km service, I almost didn’t weigh in.
It causes me to confess that my Surly Long Haul Trucker just turned over 500 miles.
Since mid-January.
That’s pathetic. I’m waiting for the Surly folks to take it away from me for being unworthy of the name Long Haul.
Oops, I found MORE rust
When I had my bike up on the rack this weekend mucking with the ring lock, I had a chance to look everything over more closely.
That’s when I saw some rusty b0lts on the cranks (above) and on the brakes.
Salt air is all ar0und us
I make it a point not to ride through any puddles that I KNOW are saltwater, but some exposure is unavoidable. I’ve written before about how we’re surrounded by salt air, even though I live a couple of miles from the Atlantic Ocean.
I’ll replace the bolts that I can and keep an eye on the rest. It’s no big deal, but I hate to see rust. Of course, I guess I could just say that rust builds character, like it did on my brother’s old Sears Spyder.
I was going to say, “You are surprised about rust? You live in a saltwater environment!” but you beat me to it. Not much you can do about that except maybe give those parts a good dose of 10-w 40 and hope the saltwater slides off.
Sadly my old spider bike succumbed to rust through flooding of the Mississippi River and not salt water…
Boeshield maybe? Salt air wreaks havoc on bikes, even non-ferrous ones. My dad had an old carbon fiber bike that he rode by the beach several times a week. Eventually I convinced him to replace it. Photos of that unfortunate bike here: http://www.pbase.com/hjew/steelrusts
Horace,
Wow. Those are ugly pictures.
Wayne at my LBS looked at my Trek once and observed that my spokes were rusting. He said that anyone who rides near the beach, even if they don’t actually go near the water will get rust.
I tried to be more religious about wiping the bike down after that. I still managed to pit my bars.
I think you should buy a 55-gallon drum of rust inhibitor and dip your entire bike. If it good enough for Boeing Aviation, it’s good enough for your Surly Long Haul Trucker.
Cheers,
Matt
Interesting indeed. In my opinion you need to make sure you pick the correct steel in the accessory. It would really make a difference. Cheers