Anyone use their C&V on a trainer? & what to do about surface rust?
 

Curious is anyone is mounting and using their bike(s) on a trainer? I had my Mercian on a smart trainer for a while and apparently I wasn't too good at wiping the sweat off afterwards and now have some surface rust spots. Sooo, part two of the question what's the best way to deal with surface rust?

I bought an '85 Centurion Ironman for the trainer
 

It's been working great. I use a RockBros sweat net to keep sweat off the top tube, and I have a hand towel over the front wheel to keep it off the wheel and fork. Both work great. The Ironman, in near showroom condition, cost $85, the trainer, an excellent condition 1-Up, was $40. Picked up a couple Conti trainer tires for $10/each.

Wahoo has yet to release a freewheel adapter for the Kickr so I'm stuck using my modern bikes on the trainer, but sweat is sweat and bad for any bike. I have an air mover in front of me and a smaller fan behind the trainer aimed at my lower back, a sweat catcher on the bike, and I wear a base layer, sweat band, and fingerless gloves to help manage the sweat that does form.

I use a sweatguard on my trainer bike but still get some corrosion here and there. Simple solution is dont use a good bike - I can count on one hand the number of times any of my road bikes (ie bikes I use on the road) have been on the trainer. I have a cheap Fuji Roubaix dedicated to the purpose. When it decays, I'll replace it with something else cheap.

Bike thong.
Towel that covers bars/wheel/fork.
Fan.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...19b5f08d9.jpeg
No brainer, you should have used water pipe insulation on top tube, no sweat issues. At this point I would just spray some LPS 3 on the rust, then get some pipe insulation.
Tim

I had a Schwinn Magnadyne and it rusted out. Must have been the wet clothes I hung on it.

I quit using a trainer because I can't hang as many clothes on it as an exercise bike or treadmill.

@speedevil gave me one of those things you use to protect the bike from sweat. I have it on my spin bike.

I have my poor old Motobecane Mirage clamped into the mag stationary trainer. Pitiful old bicycle. I modified the mag adjuster to boost the drag so it works well but.....its in my unheated garage and I only use it in winter. Garages here in Pennsylvania can get pretty cold. I do have a terry towel rigged over the TT and cockpit but I don't sweat much. I generally start with 4 layers of clothes, gloves and knit hat. Over time I shed most of the layers but barely sweat and just mop my forehead a bit.

The rig sits in front of a window, looking at the horse pasture. I grind away to tunes on the stereo, watching the horses. They watch me too, probably thinking "WTF is that idiot doing? Works real hard, goes nowhere, don't look happy and they call us dumb animals". I keep the Moto's stem shifters up against 'the fire wall' in top gear and just turn em for 30 minutes or so, then drop the mag drag down and do a bit of one legged cranking. Too boring but I always do better come spring - no saddle sores, better leg endurance, no wrist or shoulder pain from turning couch potato for the winter.

DO these come in bib form? It's for a friend...
(kidding, kidding)

I try to be aggressive when it comes to surface rust on my bikes. My Ironman had it at the cable guides on the top tube.
I used a sanding/wire brush combo and then touched up with primer and paint.

As long as I get the rust off and covered with something to protect the steel - paint, oil, grease, etc. - I'm good.
One can always repaint or powder coat down the road. But stop that rust in its tracks.

I am using a Centurion Semipro on my kickr. I guess it was already spread to 130 by a previous owner. Only problem I have had was the bike falling off of the trainer, but that stopped once I put a closed cam QR skewer on there.

As far as rust goes, I spray down the frame with camelia oil occasionally. T9 or some other rust protecting spray would probably work just as well. The Semipro was full chrome, so somewhat more resistant to rust than many bikes.

I'm using on my trainer an aero Kettler Strato from the mid-'80s. Glued aluminum frame, has not yet begun to rust, but I keep my eyes on it. Of course, with a shimano ax 6300 set for minimal air resistance.:;)

Don't use a bike you care about. Years ago I totally destroyed my "bought new in 1973" Fugi S10S on a trainer.

I had it set up with a big fan blowing air and a TV to watch. Reminded me of being at work testing vehicles on a chassis dyno with a "video drivers aid" ( for the test cycle) and cooling fan.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f8bf195b49.jpg

Here's my '90 Concorde, setup. The gray cover on top tube, is from a Blackburn trainer. Never had an issue with sweat, but the bike gets a wipe down and lube, before going back on the road, in the Spring.KB

On a Snap I can use a freewheel bike if the OLD is 130. I can't adjust the rear wheel clamp to match a 126 mm OLD. But on my older Kurt Kinetic, I can use 120 mm OLD (1980 Masi) up to a tandem with 145 mm OLD.

Oh, and I use a bike bathrobe on most of my CVs.

Guys,

thanks for all of the comments and suggestions. I think that one of the things that I've concluded (because I sold my old Tempo and it was my old "trainer" bike), the quality of the painting and paint prep? of a 1970s English bike is probably no where as good as say a mid 80s Japanese frame (my Tempo was a Panasonic Tange2 frame and never a hint of rust). I think, I might be finding myself in the market for a new "trainer" bike