Can a damp basement kill my stuff?

[veggieburger]

The title is pretty self-explanatory...I have a basement, but it's a little musty and dank. If I keep my pogliaghi down there, will it get rust cancer? What about tires? Does the dampness contribute to tire rot?

Thanks all....

[bart998]

Yes. The frame may rust. Damp shed ruined the chrome on a Pinarello I used to own. If you want to store your bikes down there buy a small room dehumidifier.

[Louis]

Be careful, mold can ruin a whole house

[bikerboy337]

if you store anything down there, should reallyhave a dehumidifier to ensure that mold isn't an issue... and with bike parts, you dont want rust...

I've heard that leaving the bike over the winter on concrete can cause trouble for tires (dries them out as the concrete is porous or something like that), but... i dont have tires around long enough to find out...

[AngryScientist]

corrosion inhibitor. use it on anything you dont want to rust or lose its luster. car wax on painted surfaces and bare aluminum. that'll take care of everything. forget about the tires, just replace those as necessary.

[veggieburger]

So what are people spraying in their steel tubes? Weigles Rust Inhibitor, or...?

[AngryScientist]

http://www.coversuperstore.com/media/catalog/product/cache/2/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/1/3/135_st.jpg

if it works in a marine environment, it's overkill, but good for bikes.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . that runs all summer. I consider the cost of the electricity money very well-spent. And it's a lot easier than trying to coat everything with whatever chemicals.

BBD

[Fishbike]

I run a dehumidifier in the basement as well. The only issue I have is a little random mold on some of the leather (Selle Italia and Terry) saddles. It cleans up but is is kind of gross and inspires me to keep the dehumidifier up.

[tiretrax]

There is also a pot of chemicals my father would put in his basement to absorb the excess humidity. It worked pretty well. Try your local hardware store.

[FlashUNC]

So what are people spraying in their steel tubes? Weigles Rust Inhibitor, or...?

http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/3778

I use it at least once every year or two on my steel frames. Especially if I'm riding them in the wet or storing them long-term.

[MattTuck]

http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/3778

I use it at least once every year or two on my steel frames. Especially if I'm riding them in the wet or storing them long-term.

I'm surprised, given the science available today, that there isn't some sort of super light foam you could spray into a frame that would essentially evacuate all the air in the frame without any significant weight. Seems like a better solution than coating the tubes with anti-rust coatings.

[FGC]

I fill a pan with rock salt. The pan has some holes on the bottom to drain the water into a bucket below it. No electricity necessary. You just have to refill the salt once in a while. In the end it is much cheaper than a dehumidifier. They are big energy sucks as I understand.

[Nelson99]

I walked into the basement mud room of our new-to-us, but 100 year old home one day, only to find a layer of green fuzz on all the clothes, coats, and gear in the room.

A dehumidifier now runs many hours a day in the summer to keep the fungus fem eating everything within reach, and al is now good.

But, water equals life. Keep the water, You'll get life (and not the kind you like). Lose the water, lose the fungus among us.