Submerged Bicycle?

My Schwinn Suburban was left inside a garage at work on Wednesday, and was caught up in floodwaters. The mud shows it was over the axles, possibly for several hours. Anything to be especially concerned about? This is the bike that I was already thinking about replace the wheels on it.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Courtright on April 19, 2013 at 3:56am

I would inspect and probably replace the wheel bearings and bottom bracket bearings.  While the bike is apart, make sure that the frame is clean inside and free of water.  Sooner rather than later.  Rust acts quickly on those older frames and steel parts.

Permalink Reply by Gecko on April 19, 2013 at 3:58am

I'd just clean and disinfect it, because you can never be too careful with Chicago water.  Also, with the hubs submerged for who knows how long, I'd disassemble, clean, and repack the bearings to make sure everything's running smoothly.  New wheels is probably a bit overkill, unless they were really, really far gone to begin with.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 19, 2013 at 4:15am

Clean and oil like you would after a regular cleaning.  Good point about the toxic qualities of Chicago run-off.   Get the chain too, by whatever method you use.

I'd repack wheel bearings and BB. If sealed cartridge, I'd pull it out and dry it off.   Make sure the BB shell is dry and the frame has drained out if any water got in there. Rub new grease on the inside threads and re-install after the cartridge was dry.   I might be tempted to spray a little bit of water displacing oil on/in the cartridge if it was really dripping wet with water. 

Since you are going to be tossing/donating the wheels eventually maybe just sit them on their side to dry and perhaps some Water Displacing oil spray wouldn't hurt if you don't go nuts and wash any grease that was left in there out too. 

Check to make sure that the headset didn't get too wet too.  Unless it was under the deluge it might not have gotten doused. 

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on April 19, 2013 at 5:07am

Repack any and all bearings that may have gotten wet, clean and lube everything else.

There is no need to replace any bearings.

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on April 19, 2013 at 5:17am
It looks like 2013 really needs to be the year where I need to learn bike maintenance beyond changing tires and cleaning/lining my chain. Thanks, everyone.
Permalink Reply by Casey Carnes on April 19, 2013 at 5:29am

spray some wd-40 in the tubes when you have bottom bracket off, will help prevent rusting

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on April 19, 2013 at 5:40am

I would consider something with better longevity for rust protection inside your frame. The WD-40 may be better than nothing, but it won't give you any lasting protection. There is an expensive product you can use to coat the inside of your frame. I forget what it is called. I use linseed oil on my old steel frames. I haven't had one rust out yet, but my testing window is not sufficiently long to be definitive. 

Here are some instructions from Surly on the topic: http://surlybikes.com/info_hole/spew/spew_care_and_feeding_of_your_...

Frame-Saver I guess it is called.


Casey Carnes said:

spray some wd-40 in the tubes when you have bottom bracket off, will help prevent rusting

Permalink Reply by Casey Carnes on April 19, 2013 at 5:50am

Yeah, JP Weigle's frame saver is the real stuff, but if it's a Schwinn Suburban that $20 can of spray would add 10% to the value of the ride. 
 
Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

I would consider something with better longevity for rust protection inside your frame. The WD-40 may be better than nothing, but it won't give you any lasting protection. There is an expensive product you can use to coat the inside of your frame. I forget what it is called. I use linseed oil on my old steel frames. I haven't had one rust out yet, but my testing window is not sufficiently long to be definitive. 

Here are some instructions from Surly on the topic: http://surlybikes.com/info_hole/spew/spew_care_and_feeding_of_your_...

Frame-Saver I guess it is called.


Casey Carnes said:

spray some wd-40 in the tubes when you have bottom bracket off, will help prevent rusting

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 19, 2013 at 6:18am

Just locating a bottle of Frame Saver can be a chore.  Nobody seems to carry it these days. 

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on April 19, 2013 at 6:31am

Several shops generally have it on stock actually...

James BlackHeron said:

Just locating a bottle of Frame Saver can be a chore.  Nobody seems to carry it these days. 

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on April 19, 2013 at 6:39am

A $4 can of linseed oil on the other hand, has enough oil in it to treat four frames and a dozen wooden handled tools (shovels etc).

Casey Carnes said:

Yeah, JP Weigle's frame saver is the real stuff, but if it's a Schwinn Suburban that $20 can of spray would add 10% to the value of the ride. 
 
Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:

I would consider something with better longevity for rust protection inside your frame. The WD-40 may be better than nothing, but it won't give you any lasting protection. There is an expensive product you can use to coat the inside of your frame. I forget what it is called. I use linseed oil on my old steel frames. I haven't had one rust out yet, but my testing window is not sufficiently long to be definitive. 

Here are some instructions from Surly on the topic: http://surlybikes.com/info_hole/spew/spew_care_and_feeding_of_your_...

Frame-Saver I guess it is called.


Casey Carnes said:

spray some wd-40 in the tubes when you have bottom bracket off, will help prevent rusting

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on April 19, 2013 at 6:57am

The linseed oil can be very messy.  Make sure to spend a lot of time wiping the excess that drips out onto the outside of the frame off, multiple times if it is still dripping.

Once that stuff dries you'll see every fingerprint you put on the bike while doing linseed treatment if you don't get it all off.  It's a pain to get off after that point.  The stuff is REALLY well stuck on there. 

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