Steel frame rust - how bad?

[KJMUNC]

I'm looking at an Indy Fab Planet X bike on CL but it's well raced/ridden and shows signs of surface rust on the seat tube. Hard to tell how extensive it is and I can't go see it in person as it's 2k mi away.....any thoughts on how concerned I should be? Is this potentially just something to sand and repaint or do you think it's more ominous?

Rest of the bike looks to be in good shape without rust anywhere else, so I'm willing to deal with some minor rust (if it turns out to be minor) for the right price.

You guys have sharp eyes....anyone see something I don't?

[ultraman6970]

Incredible enough, steel tubes are super tough. Doesnt look bad at all, superficial damage and since the paint start to bubbling up, to me looks more like a problem when the frame was painted more than anything else.

Sand, acrylic primer, paint, clear and good to go.

[dave thompson]

I would be concerned about the extent and cause of such a large area of rusting. That's pretty unusual.

[FlashUNC]

That long a length with bubbles like that? Plenty of non-rusty IFs out there.

Run, don't walk.

[donevwil]

Bubbles where the paint appears to be intact = no bueno. Very likely rusting from the inside out. Odd location for this though unless it's hung by the front wheel after a wet ride, what do the chainstays and BB shell look like ?

Life's too short, move on.

[rnhood]

Agree, run, don't walk. Stay away from it.

[KJMUNC]

Plenty of non-rusty IFs out there.

but not that many in 60cm that are ~$1200 fully built! But hey, you get what you pay for, right?.....appreciate the input!

[ultraman6970]

U guys are scaring the OP big time... sand it... or even better just put some paint remover in some of the big spots, clean it and sand it, I bet there's no problems but pretty much intact metal.

To me when they painted the frame the guy that did the preparation and cleaning of the frame did not do it too well and thats why the paint is bubbling, wonder if the frame was even primed, seen bikes with no primer before, the paint bubbles like this one does. The bike wont explode if thats what you want to know.

If you dont want it I bet more than somebody might want it here in the forums.

[eBAUMANN]

U guys are scaring the OP big time... sand it... or even better just put some paint remover in some of the big spots, clean it and sand it, I bet there's no problems but pretty much intact metal.

To me when they painted the frame the guy that did the preparation and cleaning of the frame did not do it too well and thats why the paint is bubbling, wonder if the frame was even primed, seen bikes with no primer before, the paint bubbles like this one does. The bike wont explode if thats what you want to know.

If you dont want it I bet more than somebody might want it here in the forums.

agreed.

if its a 58 and cheap ill take it ;)

[KJMUNC]

agreed. if its a 58 and cheap ill take it ;)

ha....it's a 60. and I got dibs :fight:

Yeah, so that's my decision: whether to gamble, buy it, sand it down and repaint....or keep looking.

It's not perfect, but it's priced well so I could recoup most of my cost if it turned out to be catastrophic and I had to part it out.

Still waiting on better pics of the BB area to make sure there's not more rust there.

[thwart]

Trying to remember here... did IF seal off the seat tube above the BB back when this was built... ?

If so, a long-standing collection of water in the seat tube could do that.

If so... likely solution is to replace the seat tube. Expensive.

[bikinchris]

If it was me and the seatpost is stuck, I would walk away from the sale.

[soulspinner]

Trying to remember here... did IF seal off the seat tube above the BB back when this was built... ?

If so, a long-standing collection of water in the seat tube could do that.

If so... likely solution is to replace the seat tube. Expensive.

Ya, then its rust from inside out...:bike:

[Ken Robb]

I know bikes are really tools but one of the reasons I value custom bikes over run-of-the-mill stock bikes is the appearance of sweet brazing, lugs, lovely paint. A few nicks/scrapes (beausage per Grant Petersen) are acceptable but I would have to factor in the cost of a re-paint on this one.

[Gsinill]

Ya, then its rust from inside out...:bike:

Not sure the seller would allow you to, but if this is really rusted from the inside, pushing onto one of the (worst) bubbles with a pointy object like a pen would break a hole into the tube.

[tuscanyswe]

Its not unheard of that ifs have rusted all the way through at the lower st due to the sealed tubed. Was one last year on lfgss for instance that i remember.

However, if crosses are bad ass imo. I have one and like it a lot!

[malcolm]

I have no idea, but I've owned a lot of steel bikes and never had a rust issue. Now all my bikes are kept inside but routinely ridden in the rain and I live in the southeast.

I've got a centurion prestige that was the first brand new bike I ever bought as an adult and i think it was in the mid to late 80s. That bike never had a rust issue until 5-10 years ago when I relegated it to trainer bike status and it has pretty much been attached to a computrainer and left there with no maintenance. It's now has some pretty nice rust growing along the top tube cable eyelets. Still works perfectly fine in the trainer. I wounder why such a new bike would be showing rust for any reason.