Originally Posted by
Beezer
Hi folks, My son is building a human powered submarine for a race in June and we are using a mountain bike as the basis for the drive train. The frame is aluminum but we are worried about steel bearings rusting out. Looking for any help/ advice on how to vonvert for underwater use. We thought ceramic bearings might be a start.
Is this for the International Submarine races at the David Taylor model basin in Carderock? I did that back in high school, we went with a bike drivetrain too. For the bearings, we just made sure to wash them off, sprayed them with WD-40 and put some fresh grease in before we left for the races. They lasted the whole weekend without any problems. I think the water they used in that basin was pretty fresh, so corrosion wasnt a big issue.
On a side note: we had problems with the chain skipping on the rear cassette of our bike drivetrain, so i reccomend increasing chain tension if you are using a derailleur, or better yet: go single speed and avoid the problem altogether.