Safe enough to ride?

Dan-<< How do I evaluate my 14 y.o. steel Bianchi road bike to determine if
it's safe
enough to take off the rollers and ride outside during bad weather? >><BR><BR>

If it works w/o failure on rollers, it will fine outside. Like they say, 'they
don't make them like they used to'. I have a 20 year old Ciocc that I trust
completely. A little surface rust is no problem.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

(DanSMeyers) said:

How do I evaluate my 14 y.o. steel Bianchi road bike to determine if
it's safe enough to take off the rollers and ride outside during bad
weather? The frame shows no signs of cracked paint but there is
surface rust around the eyelets for the cables on the top tube and
the lugs show some surface rust along the edges. Last year, my
Cinelli XA stem cracked across the faceplate; other than that, I've
had no equipment failers and have used the bike for roller workouts
only. I'm a bit hesitant to do any long rides with it, partly
because of what happened with the stem, and partly because I don't
feel I can *trust* it. Is this silly?

People ride 50 year old steel framed bike all the time. Surface rust
will not weaken the frame, especially around the lug edges- the paint
will be thinner there and more easily worn off, exposing the steel.
I'd poke at the rusty areas with an icepick and see if the point can
penetrate significantly. If you can scrape away the rust to shiny
metal, it's probably fine to ride.

DanSMeyers said:

How do I evaluate my 14 y.o. steel Bianchi road bike to determine if it's safe
enough to take off the rollers and ride outside during bad weather? The frame
shows no signs of cracked paint but there is surface rust around the eyelets
for the cables on the top tube and the lugs show some surface rust along the
edges. Last year, my Cinelli XA stem cracked across the faceplate; other than
that, I've had no equipment failers and have used the bike for roller workouts
only. I'm a bit hesitant to do any long rides with it, partly because of what
happened with the stem, and partly because I don't feel I can *trust* it. Is
this silly?

Dan

Pull the seat post and stem to check inside the frame for rust.
Get a new stem and bars.
Sometimes sweat works it's way inside the frame and starts rusting it from the inside. If the those inspections are clear, coat the inside of the seat tube where the seat post fits and stem + inside the head tube with appropriate grease of anti-sieze compound.
If those inspections make you wonder, pull the bottom bracket and look there.
Closely inspect the "surface rust" outside areas you mentioned to make sure they are just surface rust. Clean them up and touch them up.

DanSMeyers said:

How do I evaluate my 14 y.o. steel Bianchi road bike to determine if it's safe
enough to take off the rollers and ride outside during bad weather? The frame
shows no signs of cracked paint but there is surface rust around the eyelets
for the cables on the top tube and the lugs show some surface rust along the
edges. Last year, my Cinelli XA stem cracked across the faceplate; other than
that, I've had no equipment failers and have used the bike for roller workouts
only. I'm a bit hesitant to do any long rides with it, partly because of what
happened with the stem, and partly because I don't feel I can *trust* it. Is
this silly?

Dan

I have a 34-yr-old Raleigh Pro. It became VERY badly rusted; pitted in
some places. A thorough sand-blasting later, it was all nice and shiny.
A good cheap powder coat, and it's one fantastic commuter on which I
can go pound the pavement hard for an hour or so at "lunch time".

Quoted message said:

Subject: Re: Safe enough to ride?
From: richard [email hidden]
Date: 11/13/2004 8:25 AM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <pXnld.27568$V41.20218@attbi_s52>

DanSMeyers said:

How do I evaluate my 14 y.o. steel Bianchi road bike to determine if it's

safe

Quoted message said:

enough to take off the rollers and ride outside during bad weather? The

frame

Quoted message said:

shows no signs of cracked paint but there is surface rust around the

eyelets

Quoted message said:

for the cables on the top tube and the lugs show some surface rust along

the

Quoted message said:

edges. Last year, my Cinelli XA stem cracked across the faceplate; other

than

Quoted message said:

that, I've had no equipment failers and have used the bike for roller

workouts

Quoted message said:

only. I'm a bit hesitant to do any long rides with it, partly because of

what

Quoted message said:

happened with the stem, and partly because I don't feel I can *trust* it.

Is

Quoted message said:

this silly?

Dan

I have a 34-yr-old Raleigh Pro. It became VERY badly rusted; pitted in
some places. A thorough sand-blasting later, it was all nice and shiny.
A good cheap powder coat, and it's one fantastic commuter on which I
can go pound the pavement hard for an hour or so at "lunch time".

I think what's spooked me is the fact the stem cracked all the way thru behind
the face plate while it hung in the basement. I'm concerned with other metal
failures waiting in the wings.

Dan

DanSMeyers said:

How do I evaluate my 14 y.o. steel Bianchi road bike to determine if it's safe
enough to take off the rollers and ride outside during bad weather? The frame
shows no signs of cracked paint but there is surface rust around the eyelets
for the cables on the top tube and the lugs show some surface rust along the
edges. Last year, my Cinelli XA stem cracked across the faceplate; other than
that, I've had no equipment failers and have used the bike for roller workouts
only. I'm a bit hesitant to do any long rides with it, partly because of what
happened with the stem, and partly because I don't feel I can *trust* it. Is
this silly?

The Cinelli stem is aluminum, not steel, so its failure could not have
been casued by rust.

It is quite unusual for a frame to fail as a result of rust. When it
does happen, it is almost always in the bottom bracket or chainstay
area. This is where water tends to accumulate, and it's a particularly
highly-stressed area of the frame.

When frames fail due to rust, it is vanishingly unlikely that it would
cause a crash or loss of control. The typical result is shifting
problems or autoshifting, as the partially-detached bottom bracket
starts to wiggle back and forth.

If your frame does fail due to rust, the worst likely result will be
that you will need to walk home or phone for a ride. It won't dump you
on the ground or cause any sort of injury.

Sheldon "Just Ride It" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------+
| For every complex problem, there is a solution |
| that is simple, neat, and wrong. |
| --H. L. Mencken |
+--------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Quoted message said:

Subject: Re: Safe enough to ride?
From: Sheldon Brown [email hidden]
Date: 11/13/2004 2:39 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <[email hidden]>

DanSMeyers said:

How do I evaluate my 14 y.o. steel Bianchi road bike to determine if it's

safe

Quoted message said:

enough to take off the rollers and ride outside during bad weather? The

frame

Quoted message said:

shows no signs of cracked paint but there is surface rust around the

eyelets

Quoted message said:

for the cables on the top tube and the lugs show some surface rust along

the

Quoted message said:

edges. Last year, my Cinelli XA stem cracked across the faceplate; other

than

Quoted message said:

that, I've had no equipment failers and have used the bike for roller

workouts

Quoted message said:

only. I'm a bit hesitant to do any long rides with it, partly because of

what

Quoted message said:

happened with the stem, and partly because I don't feel I can *trust* it.

Is

Quoted message said:

this silly?

The Cinelli stem is aluminum, not steel, so its failure could not have
been casued by rust.

It is quite unusual for a frame to fail as a result of rust. When it
does happen, it is almost always in the bottom bracket or chainstay
area. This is where water tends to accumulate, and it's a particularly
highly-stressed area of the frame.

When frames fail due to rust, it is vanishingly unlikely that it would
cause a crash or loss of control. The typical result is shifting
problems or autoshifting, as the partially-detached bottom bracket
starts to wiggle back and forth.

If your frame does fail due to rust, the worst likely result will be
that you will need to walk home or phone for a ride. It won't dump you
on the ground or cause any sort of injury.

Sheldon "Just Ride It" Brown

Good points, as usual.

Quoted message said:

The Cinelli stem is aluminum, not steel, so its failure could not have
been casued by rust.

That brings up another question: is this kind of failure to be expected after a
certain number of years of use? Is this an *excuse* to periodically replace
certain components?

Dan

DanSMeyers said:

How do I evaluate my 14 y.o. steel Bianchi road bike to determine if it's safe
enough to take off the rollers and ride outside during bad weather? The frame
shows no signs of cracked paint but there is surface rust around the eyelets
for the cables on the top tube and the lugs show some surface rust along the
edges. Last year, my Cinelli XA stem cracked across the faceplate; other than
that, I've had no equipment failers and have used the bike for roller workouts
only. I'm a bit hesitant to do any long rides with it, partly because of what
happened with the stem, and partly because I don't feel I can *trust* it. Is
this silly?

Yeah, it's silly. The stem was aluminum, and under a lot of stress.
Stems do occasionally fail. Watch for cracks there, and on the cranks.
But the frame is steel. Whole different ballgame in terms of fatigue.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Become MicroSoft-free forever. Ask me how.
_`\(,_ |
(_)/ (_) |

Quoted message said:

I think what's spooked me is the fact the stem cracked all the way thru
behind
the face plate while it hung in the basement. I'm concerned with other metal
failures waiting in the wings.

The stem was aluminium, the frame is steel.
Phil Brown