Talus

Should I bring my old steel bike in from the unheated garage for the winter? I live in Northwestern PA and it gets kinda moist in the garage during the winter. It is a nice lugged frame in pretty decent shape and I'd like to preserve it...

randyjawa 

You have no idea how many nice old road bikes I have found in kinda moist garages. And most were sporting a patina of surface rust, at best.

Absolutely, store the bicycle with more care. Bringing it indoors is a good idea. Might want to oil a thing or two and squirt a bit of wax on exposed surfaces, at the same time.

Pars 

I would. My bike has always lived inside, either in the main living space when we were in apartments, or in the basement. I carry it up everytime I ride.

Chombi

Some garages can get very damp. a fair amount of moisture can come straight from the ground through the concrete slab if the proper moisture barrier is not installed. Covering up bicycles with impervious materials like plastic will also accumulate more moisture around the bike causing and hastening corrosion on steel and aluminum, so it's acutally better if you do not cover the bike. You can at least get it off the ground on to hangers on the wall or from the ceiling rafters. This will keep a bit away from the ground sourced moisture. Best storage to avoid corrosion is still indoors in "conditioned" environments where the humidity and temperature is most stable. You should think twice about storing them in unfinished/not well ventilated attic spaces though, as heat in those spaces can get too high and cause or speed up degredation to plastics and rubber parts on a bike.
Keep bikes away from unshaded or uncurtained windows as UV rays from sunlight is also not kind to rubber and plastic parts, let alone the frame's paint. As they say with other products, "Store in cool, dark place" and you should be OK.

Chombi

mazdaspeed

My bikes live inside, non negotiable. But, then again, I have a lot less bikes than most of the people here.

Talus

Inside it is. I'll tell the wife you guys said i was OK.

Pars 

Yeah. I've got one...

Bianchigirll 

OH thanks now she will be mad at us

Talus

If she has a room with a treadmill, I can have one with a bike. Hell, you should see our backpacking gear room!

b dub 

Since it is worth it to you to spend time creating a thread about your vintage lugged steel it is worth it to us to see pictures...

Please, please, please!

Edit: I just found your bike. Stunning to say the least.

Talus

OK, here's pics. I'm getting repro decals for Christmas and I plan on going with some natural cork bar tape. Already have Pasela's on. I'm considering getting the couple of small paint chips touched up. One of the two John's suggested going to a fancy fingernail place and having them do it. Anyone ever try this?

WNG

An attic or dry basement is better than a damp garage. I've gotten many things ruined one time when I rented a garage to store my stuff and I wasn't disclosed the unit had water leaks. Is the moisture coming up from the slab, as Chombi pointed out? Or parking cars inside after storms? I've had good results after coating the garage floor, bikes and other stuff didn't suffer through a lot of NYC winters.
Another thing is adding ventilation to the garage. Cold winters usually mean dry air majority of the time.

Bianchigirll 

my bikes spent too many years locked away in some storage lockers. now they get a real pampering.


that Paletti is beautiful but are you putting tires on it? it looks like it is sitting on innertubes

Oldpeddaller

That bike is gorgeous - store it in your bedroom - heck, wrap it up in a duvet and keep it in your bed! I'm sure your wife won't mind some camping practice sleeping in the backpack room, it's only for the winter!

Bianchigirll 

I am not sure the folks in western 'Western Pennsyltucky' know what a duvet is. we may need to explain it is a fancy blanket

GV27

This couldn't possibly be less helpful (and I suppose it's bragging a bit), but it always amazes me how different Colorado (and surrounding states, I suppose) is. I have several vintage steel frames (and a couple of vintage Italian cars) that have stayed out in an unheated garage garage for years - decades in one case - without the slightest hint of rust.

Sorry, just sayin'........

rekmeyata

While true, too much heat or too much cold can break things like plastics. Which is why my classic cars are stored in a climate controlled pole barn. On bikes there's not much plastic if any, but I keep my bikes in the basement which is not as climate controlled as the pole barn but better then a garage.

What Italian cars do you own?

I have a 58 Plymouth Fury 2dr Golden Commando; a 63 Studebaker Avant supercharged; a 67 Ford Galaxy 500 conv; (those first 3 are kept in the barn); a 72 Chrysler Newport 4 dr (I drive every day in the winter since it's not really a classic); and a 79 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 with a built 350 (kind of a classic, but I drive most of the time in the spring, summer and fall; (those last two are kept in a garage). I like older cars, can you tell?

gbalke

Hey Bianchigirl, nice rack!

Oh, wait, that didn't sound right.

Nice bike rack. Do you have any more photos of it without the bikes hanging on it? Care to share its dimensions and how you built it? It is self supporting and not attached to the wall, right?

Talus

Easy now, I'm originally from Ohio, and I did say earlier that I put some Paselas on it. Those Conti City Rides were nasty.

Bianchigirll 

well it is free standing, well leaning I guess. as you can see I am not much a woodworker and I kind of made it up as I went along. I mean I had an idea of what I wanted but no plans. the top cross bar is a 2x6x10 with a 2x4 screwed behind it on the top to beef it up. the rest is 2x4s and it is about 7' tall (I have 7'6" ceilings) sorry no pics without the bikes

Bianchigirll 

Paselas nice tires but the blackwalls make it look like it rides in the tubes. I never asked a nail shop to actually touch up a bike but I have walked into CVS with a frame a few times to match up a color.

OHIO? so you a Buckeye?

20grit

Wait, Wait, Wait.

Your garage is unheated? And there are moisture problems? Is it properly ventilated???
Cold air has a lower, for the sake of simplicity we'll call it, ability to carry moisture. If anything, your bikes should rust during the summer.

My thoughts on the situation, with some guesses thrown in. Your garage is attached to the house and you likely enter the house through said garage? You have positive ventilation of some form in the house. When you open the door into the house, air is being forced into the garage. Moisture in that air is then condensing on surfaces in the colder garage. A solution may be more ventilation (passive, active probably isn't necessary) in the garage that will hopefully move the moisture out of the space. Storing in a sheltered place during the winter should not be a problem. My $.02.

Chombi

Winter air in the upper states is definitely very dry, but you do have to consider blips of higher humidity in a garage when vehicles you might park your bikes next to might be bringing in lots of snow and slush that melts on to the garage floor in copious amounts in those warmer winter days when temps inside the garage might go up over 32 degrees, so I think you can't discount humidity and moisture totally in garages during winter, conditioned or attached to the house or not. I lived in Wisconsin for many years and I regularly encountered that bone chilling winter dampness when snow starts to melt around you just as much as the very dry conditions in or out of my house throughout winter. Even in more temprate regions, the gagrage might still be a space with too much moisture to avoid corrosion on your bike as during rainy days the water on your vehicles may raise the humidity inside the garage for long periods too, specially if ventilation/air exchange is minmal, which seems to be a common condition in most garages...........you might have to live in a desert region to be mostly free of this problem

Chombi

20grit

haha, yes. I'm pushing for a more ventilated garage rather than trying to say that the OP's isn't moist. Was just laying down some causes and a potential solution.

Talus

Garage is free standing. I'm guessing the moisture comes from the cars and from the heating and cooling cycle of days and nights (and probably from the french drains in the floor). It is pole building, with virtually no insulation...