Hi Bob: I appreciate your usual thoughtful and helpful postings. You may be correct in suggesting that waxing or oiling may seem to slow the destruction caused by rust. But, in reality the process continues. Furthermore, the rust that is apparent (somewhat like cancer) is frequently only the "tip of the iceberg" especially in older vintage bicycles. In any event rust in a bike must never be confused with the patina on a bronze, etc. Furthermore, even patina in bronzes is not always good-there are many poor bronze patinas which greatly detract from their value. Rust is not a good thing. You are also quite right that certain very special steels such as Corten can be protective of rust-but I know of no vintage bicycles made of Corten. I tend to regard the question of "originality" in damaged bikes as somewhat of a clever intellectual red herring. If you are about to lose the entire bike, or a good part of it, due to the ravages of rust (although a few molecules of "originality" remain-what originality?) I suggest having the bike well repaired and the "originality" will take care of itself. Furthermore, painting doesn't erase all "originality" it's only a coating-and not one always put on by the builder himself. I also agree that the damage we currently see on too many vintage bikes was due to former neglect-but I'm hoping that we here on CR do nothing here to perpetuate such continued neglect with false notions such as "patina," etc. Best regards, George George Hollenberg MD CT, USA
George Hollenberg MD
CT, USA