Help! Winter is eating my bike alive.

[danielrlee]

Talking of rust, have you seen this?

That's one of the most impressive things I've seen on YT recently. I can't wait for the China knock-off's to appear over the next few years!

 

[RossG]

Those rust cleaners have been around for about 5 years now. You can have your bike, car, or whatever blasted away by various companies who carry out that kind of work (probably using lasers made in China).

 

[danielrlee]

Those rust cleaners have been around for about 5 years now. You can have your bike, car, or whatever blasted away by various companies who carry out that kind of work (probably using lasers made in China).

It seems that you are correct:

Buy rust-laser and get free shipping on AliExpress

Buy low price, high quality rust-laser with worldwide shipping on AliExpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Still not quite affordable enough for the 'home user' yet though. Give it a few more years....

 

[Andy-Mat]

Hi there

I bought a cheap folding electric bike from Byocycle in September to commute to work.
It has been great fun but the wet Autumn/Winter has made it look terrible.
After riding in the wet I always wipe it down but rust is appearing in the hard to reach areas and I'm having a few electrical issues which may be down to water ingress.

Am I expecting too much from such a cheap bike?
If so, what bike would be able to withstand the wind and rain better?

Thanks in advance.

For you or anyone here wanting to learn more about WD-40, they do have some interesting offers in the UK here:-

WD-40 Specialist BIKE Archives

The BIKE range has been researched and developed extensively by cycling teams and experts to be your go-to when servicing, maintaining and riding your bike.

wd40.co.uk

Its a fairly full range and they al.so tell you how to use the products as well
Regards
Andy

 

[Fordulike]

Just thought I'd give my impressions on the ACF-50 that I bought to try out. Here's the eBay link if anyone fancies a can:

ACF50 Anti-Corrosion Spray Rust Prevention Protection Bike Motorcycle ACF 50

I bought this stuff, coz my cheap suspension fork stanchions love to rust up over the winter period. Also, there's various bolt heads which succumb to the ravishes of winter and rust forms in the odd nook and cranny too.

Sprayed the stanchions, plus all the places I could see surface rust, and left it for 24 hours. I wasn't really expecting a miracle, as the stanchions were really rusty. On first look, I thought it hadn't worked, but after wiping the surfaces with a paper towel, the stanchions came up gleaming.

I'm very impressed with this stuff. Gonna use it on the car after the winter, on all the usual places where rust forms.

Pros

• Works wonders on removing rust and apparently stops it returning
• Fairly runny in a handy spray can, so can get into all the nooks and crannies
• Makes rusty metal surfaces look new again
• Very little needed to coat surfaces, so a can should last a long time

Cons

• Pretty expensive
• Overspray can find its way onto brakes (I accidentally did this and had to replace front pads)

Overall, this is good stuff, and hopefully it'll increase the service life of my bike. One tip I have though, is to spray the liquid into a small container first, then apply it to sensitive areas with a small paintbrush. That way you won't accidentally get it on the brakes whilst applying.

 

[RossG]

If you're mean thrifty like me you can get a small bottle/tub of something like Rustins rust remover or Hammerite rust remover gel, both around the £3 mark.
Paint it on to the rust then after a few hours wipe off don't wash it away, apparently they leave a coating that helps prevent rust reforming. Cheap & cheerful.

 

[BazP]

I painted all of the bolt and screw heads on my bike, when new, with Hammerite matt black, making sure to get inside of the Allen key recesses.

 

[RossG]

I suppose you could if you wanted paint your whole bike in Hammerite, in comes in spray cans.
Maybe not every ones idea of a nice powder coat alternative, but for an old bike that's ridden to work and left out in all weathers ideal.

 

[MikeS]

I ride motorbikes through the winter and use acf50 which is great stuff, but recently I have been using some Honda Moly60 paste. It's expensive but probably any molybdunum paste would do. I am amazed at how it has remained on the rear sprocket, the brake pipe banjos and various other crappily painted mild steel brackets. The beauty of it is that it seems to stay a bluey grey colour and so far hasn't collected any crud - I don;t know how that is possible but it looks great. I am assuming that when I clean it off in the Spring the metal underneath should be pristine. Several washes with plain water hasn;t removed it, and I doubt soapy shampoo would either, but I have been careful not to brush those areas. I think WD40 will remove it when I want to. I still use acf50 on bolt heads etc
Mike