Rust inside a steel frame

[Sardine]

I'm afraid I'm not particularly adept at bike maintenance and would appreciate some advice (again). While changing my seatpost last weekend, I noticed a bit of rust inside my bike frame, near the bottom of the seat tube. I've mentioned this to a couple of chaps at bike shops I've visited on shopping trips and they've told me it's nothing. Apparently I can just wipe the rust off with something like a scourer. The bike is in good condition but it was stored for me by a friend for about a year (in a loft/attic) and I rode it through the last winter. It was serviced after the winter.

My questions are:
1) Is there really nothing to worry about?
2) Any ideas about how to clean off rust located in this area – tying something onto a stick is the only thing that comes to my mind but I'm paranoid about it falling off and getting stuck inside.
3) If I manage to clean it off, is that it? Pop the seatpost back in and forget about it?
4) Should I just take it to a shop to be dealt with?

Thanks for your help.

[redrhodie]

You should treat the inside with "Frame Saver" http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CIEBEPMCMAE

I do my steel bikes once a year.

[Sardine]

Thanks redrhodie. I'll see if I can get that (or the equivalent) over here. I assume that's for after I remove the rust?

[indysteel]

Can you clarify what you mean by the "bottom of the seat tube"? Do you mean the end of the tube where the seatpost goes in or do you mean the bottom bracket shell (where the seat tube joins with the town tube and chain stays? If it's the latter, this is the area of the frame where rust is the biggest concern. There are various rust removal products on the market, some really toxic and some not so much. I've read about good results with Evapo-rust. My understanding is that you need to be sure to dry the bike immediately, rather than let it air dry, or rust will quickly develop again. From there, apply rust inhibitor inside the frame and you should be, hopefully, good to go.

But I'm no expert on this having never done it myself. My DH knows more about it than me; I'll ask what he recommends.

[Sardine]

It's just above the bottom bracket shell as far as I can see. Thanks Indysteel.

[indysteel]

Here's my husband's suggestion: use a long wire brush (like perhaps one you could use to clean a shotgun) or a drill with a wire brush attachment to it to wear the rust down to bare metal. Then treat the bike with a rust inhibitor. He didn't disagree with the Evapo-rust solution, but you would have to plug every hole in the bike in order to treat it. I did read a thread on MTBR.com where someone did that with good results.

Beyond that, you might see if anyonein your area does bike restoration.

Rust in the seat tube isn't as alarming as it would be in the BB shell, but I'd still be a bit worried about if it were me in that spot of the seat tube.

[Sardine]

I'll give the long wire brush a try (though I'm going to have to improvise) and see how well I can clean it up. Hopefully it will also give me a better idea of whether the bb shell is affected. If I'm not entirely happy, I'll take it back to the shop that built the bike for me since it's one of their own frames, even though it's been a few years now. The location of the rust spot does worry me.

Thanks for taking the time to help me out.