Rust in the steel fork

[KnottedYet]

My commuter-mobile has a steel fork. And there is RUST in the little drain holes of the fork, down by the axle. (skewer, hub, dropout, whatever you want to call that neighborhood... you get the idea)

RUST, I'm telling you! Horror!

Should I dump some handy Boeshield into the drain holes (bottle says can be used for "inside frame") or just leave it all alone? There's also surface rust on a few of the bits and pieces (like bolts) but I'm not worried about that. I can SEE that. Can't see what's going on inside the fork.

The rest of the frame is aluminum.

[Trek420]

I dunno, since putting the fancy schmancy wheels on the $200.00 bike I notice the scapes and dings in the paint more.

I could do the whole patch it up by hand thing: clean the bike then use the finest steel wool and sand paper till every bit of rust is off, smooth that and get every speck of dust out, search for exact matching paint, apply with teeny tiny itsy bitsy paint brush, methodicly smooth that by hand....but I'd rather ride.

My LBS says he can have it powder coated localy for around $150-175.00. He wants me to go with a black fork and deep purple paint job, accessorised by Pedro under the seat bag to pick up just a hint of yellow on the Mavic logos. so I just may do that this winter.

Sorry to go OT and or controversial but this is yet another reason I like my LBS; these two very very straight men, the owner and his chief wrench, both lovingly and happily married with kids have more aesthetic sense than almost any Gay man I know (except garden designer Jim Dixon ), even their shop makeover was absolutely faaaabulous.

[KnottedYet]

Why the black fork? My fork is black, too. (the rest of the bike is pale blue)

Is that to make it look like carbon?

Meanwhile.... there is RUST inside my black-painted faux-carbon Chro-Mo steel fork!

[Trek420]

nope, I voted for all one color, but Chris says go for the black front fork. It's not to be fauxe carbon, the guy's just got a designers eye. I've learned not to question it, if he says "these two things are same price and functionality but this will just look better" he's always been right.

[KnottedYet]

Get it painted and then post pics so we call all ooogle. I like ooogling. Half the fun of riding on the crazy-busy bike path is sitting on a bench watching all the pretty bikes go by.

Did I mention there is rust in my steel fork?

[Trek420]

Yes you did.

And if you paint it yourself the key is prep. Rust is a living thing under the paint and just painting over it, it will keep growing. So I think you'll need to take the fork off and get all the rust off. Probably means chemical paint stripper which also will let you check for even more rust. Then once clean, rust free and thuroughly dry just repaint.

Steel's a lifetime bike but rust is its one mortal enemy.

[Kalidurga]

I like ooogling. Half the fun of riding on the crazy-busy bike path is sitting on a bench watching all the pretty bikes go by.

And I thought I was the only one. I keep walking into people on the sidewalk while craning my neck to check out bikes locked up in front of office buildings downtown.