Winter riding with a steel frame

I have been doing all my winter riding on my singlespeed which has worked out fine so far. No gears or suspension to mess with. My concern has been condensation building up on the inside of the frame when I bring the bike inside after a cold ride, creating rust inside. The solution was to Frame Saver my rig. I would recommend removing all components and be prepared to make a mess. This stuff resembles melted crayons and make sure to apply it liberally. Rotate the frame to move the product into all the nooks and crannies. Wipe off any excess from the bottom bracket threads and painted surfaces. From the product website:

Out of Sight, Out of Mind - Rust Never Sleeps
by Peter Weigle
Steel frames rust, that's all there is too it. They rust when scratched, chipped, or abraded in any way. Most people know this. What they don't know is that steel frames also rust from the inside out. That's why I am so amazed that manufacturers go through great pains to paint the outside of a frame but the completely ignore the inside surfaces of the steel tubes. The steel inside the frame is almost always left raw and unprotected. If a little moisture enters the frame, the environment within will resemble a terrarium. The humid air and water droplets will be attacking the steel and you won't even know it. Left untreated, the frame will be destroyed.

To help prevent rust inside steel tubes, Frame Saver® was developed. It is a product that was long overdue. It coats the inside of the steel tubes protecting them from the corrosive elements that find their way there.

True, bicycles have been around for 100 years and there are plenty of early examples of frames that have lasted lifetimes without rust, so why all the fuss now? Because in the last couple of decades there have been major changes in materials, equipment, and bike usage that have made internal frame protection even more important.

Today's high performance frames are being made with extremely thin walled tubing compared to frames of the past. There used to be a safety margin should the tubes rust. Not any more! There are a few construction details found in some frames that have trapped water and caused premature failures. Frame builders who do repair work, painters and mechanics, are seeing a higher incidence of rust-throughs these days, and it is only going to get worse, unless these frames are rustproofed on the inside. Most new bikes are equipped with sealed bearings, which mean fewer overhauls and fewer chances to look in the bottom bracket to see what is going on. After many carefree miles, many mechanics and owners are shocked when they pull the bottom bracket bearings and find rust-colored sludge, or flakes of rust, inside the shell. Hopefully, it's not too late to save a frame in this condition.

Mountain bikes are supposed to be used in extreme conditions. Stream crossings, fall, winter, and early spring rides all involve, among other things, water.

Even if you don't ride in the rain or cross raging rapids, moisture still finds its way into a frame. Take your bike out of a warm house on a cool, damp day, or on a hot day return your bike to a cool, damp basement for storage and what happens? As the warm air inside your frame cools and contracts, it pulls in the damp air past the seat post, threads, and vent holes. This may only be a minute amount, but do this many times over the course of the season and the cumulative effect can be devastating.

It would be misleading to suggest that every steel frame is a risk because there are many factors involved. It is impossible to tell from the outside, which frames are screaming for attention. Why take a chance? With the cost of bikes these days, think of it as cheap insurance. Prevention is easy. An application of Frame Saver® will add years to a frame's life and peace of mind to its owner. May you both ride happily into the next millennium and beyond.