Originally Posted by
VegasTriker
The answer is no, a dilute vinegar solution will not hurt your bike frame. Remember you can drink the stuff right out of the bottle and not even get a stomach ache. It is an acid but a very weak one. It also evaporates easily so there will be nothing left once the smell is gone. And yes, I am a chemist. This holds true for the 3% variety you buy in the grocery store. Just don't try drinking the 30% concentrated acetic acid found in a lab.
I’ve never seen 30% acetic acid in a lab. We always have glacial (100%) and just dilute to the concentration needed. My point above, however, still holds. Vinegar won’t hurt the frame but it’s not going to do much good at cleaning either.