Older and wiser?
01-07-20, 09:25 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Older and wiser?
The wife and I spent a weekend in Cape May, NJ. Good, flat roads for riding, and the drivers aren't to bad. Saturday was warm and sunny so we rode around to a few of the beaches. And of course the light house. We went home on Sunday, a slow ride because it was raining, and we where in no particular rush anyway. We got home, unloaded the car, and I hung up the bikes in the garage.
I noticed some water dripping out of my headset. "I should take that apart and give a cleaning and let it dry out" I thought to my self. No hurry, it has sealed bearings in the headset and BB.
I set up the trainer in the basement, and brought the bike down. I decided to take a look at the BB and headset before mounting and spinning.
The headset has sealed bearings, so they still were smooth-ish, but anything that was steel had rust on it. The steerer tube, and the outside of the bearings, one of them was a bit rough, so some water may have gotten in. When I took the BB out, more rust on the outside of the cartridge, and they had some play. Since they are original to the bike, I decided to just replace them. So it'll be another week before I can do some basement miles.
BTW, we took our trip to Cape May in September...
I noticed some water dripping out of my headset. "I should take that apart and give a cleaning and let it dry out" I thought to my self. No hurry, it has sealed bearings in the headset and BB.
I set up the trainer in the basement, and brought the bike down. I decided to take a look at the BB and headset before mounting and spinning.
The headset has sealed bearings, so they still were smooth-ish, but anything that was steel had rust on it. The steerer tube, and the outside of the bearings, one of them was a bit rough, so some water may have gotten in. When I took the BB out, more rust on the outside of the cartridge, and they had some play. Since they are original to the bike, I decided to just replace them. So it'll be another week before I can do some basement miles.
BTW, we took our trip to Cape May in September...
01-09-20, 11:46 AM
#2
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,753
Bikes: 1986 KHS Fiero, 1989 Trek 950, 1990 Trek 7000, 1991 Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo, 1992 Trek 1400, 1997 Cannondale CAD2 R300, 1998 Cannondale CAD2 R200, 2002 Marin San Rafael, 2006 Cannondale CAAD8 R1000, 2010 Performance Access XCL9R
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Good thing I'm planning to pull my 29er apart this winter for a overdue full service. More than a few times it was on the roof rack in rain, and a couple times recently in snow... Makes me happy to have a dedicated trainer bike...
01-09-20, 01:39 PM
#3
Senior Member
Do you have fenders (mudguards) on your bike? A front fender might protect the headset from water thrown up from the tire.
01-09-20, 02:59 PM
#4
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: northern michigan
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Bikes: '77 Colnago Super, '76 Fuji The Finest, '88 Cannondale Criterium, '86 Trek 760, '87 Miyata 712
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Anything that is bare/raw steel on the steerer tube can be covered with a light rubbing of lithium grease and your worries of rust go buh-bye. Easy peasy.
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