At 05:45 AM 16/11/2007 -0800, Mitchell Gass wrote:
>When buying an older steel frameset from a wet place like the UK, how
>important is it to check for rust inside the tubes? And is there a
>reliable way to have a distant seller do the checking? A frameset I'm
>considering is fillet brazed, and I understand that the bottom
>bracket shells used for such frames are just cylinders with no holes
>into the tubes. This would mean that any water that gets in the seat
>tube would collect above the bottom bracket shell and have no place
>to go, and I can imagine serious problems with rust at the bottom of
>the tube even if there are no signs of rust higher up.
I've been looking at the '51 CB Allrounder frame I got from one of Hilary's auctions. Shining a flashlight down the seat tube I see surface rust, but nothing to suggest that there had been standing water inside for any period of time. I think that a well-fitting seat post would have sealed that area quite effectively. You have to remember that these bikes would have been ridden with fenders.
John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada