Monday, June 12, 2006

No Rust



I bought myself a new bike - only $70, on special at K-Mart. It would have cost me more than that to
re-fit the tires, cables and brake pads on the old one which had just about been killed by rust anyway.

As we are seriously lacking in mountains here in Adelaide I take my mountain bike down the beach -
crashing through the surf over wave swept rocks, coursing through rivers etc.. The new bike was all
steel and chrome - add a little salt water and all you get is rust ! So I decided to water-proof it;
I painted every piece, every nut, bolt, washer and spring and every bit of chrome and steel with
Etching primer (+epoxy for extra sticking power) then several coats of enamel. All the bits painted
black in the factory got some extra enamel too as these tend to be susceptible to rust. Then all the
holes in the frame were siliconed up. Finally all the spaces between the axles and their housings were
packed solid with thick grease to ensure there was no space for water to flow - a foam insert was made
for the crank housing to reduce the amount of grease needed.
And yes - I know what you're thinking - I did get it all together again without any leftover bits.