Drivetrain Rust

[MarkF]

As a confirmed fair weather rider I don't take much notice of my bikes Dec to April. I pulled them all out of the garage today, all 8 of them.

One is a new arrival so I'll discount that, so 6 of the others are "my" bikes, ones that I've maintained and looked after. The 7th is a road bike I bought last spring but hardly used, on it's arrival I know that I'd have oiled & lubricated everything, yet whereas all "my" bikes are fine, this one has a really rusty drivetrain, why is that?

 

[Drago]

Even in storage you'd need to lube them up more than annually to keep that at bay, unless you're actually slathering on grease.

 

[Globalti]

You might have ridden it on a salty road? Even on a dry road the bike gets blasted with salty dust, which attracts moisture and rusts everything. A colleague of mine ruined a lovely steel Bianchi by sweating all over it, never washing it and storing it in a damp shed.

 

[DRM]

I’ve had similar on one bike, despite regular cleaning & lubing it would just go rusty if left for a couple of weeks, in the end I fitted a KMC SL chain, fully nickel plated, the original chain was imho a cheap item supplied with the bike to keep cost down, it was full of stiff links & kept jumping off, the new chain was expensive at £17 but worth it if it stays rust free & shiny, it made a real difference as it is so quiet, I reckon the original would have ruined the cassette in no time

 

[GuyBoden]

Not enough oil, I slap it on until it drips when the Winter/Summer bike is in storage.