Water in my BB shell?

[A1CKot]

So it was really nice this past week, like 32+ degrees nice :), so I found some sort of clear roads and went at it. After about 45 minutes of outdoors back street ridding on Friday, I stopped in at the LBS and ended up staying there a lot longer than planned. By the time I got home it was dark and I didn't really want to unpack the bike.

So I left it in the car over night, below 0 outside, and retrieved it this afternoon. Went to ride it from my car to my door and it just didn't feel right. So walked it up stairs and started cleaning and something told me to pull the cranks, Campy Veloce UT's. I found a sizable puddle inside the shell. No drain hole?

So the question... Should I drill a drain hole? Bike is a Ridley Crossbow and this was my winter gift to me/ I'm board its cold project so this was the first time its been out in the wild.

Picture attached.

[rnhood]

I would put a drain hole in it. In fact I am surprised it doesn't already have one,. In addition, pull the seat post out after a protracted ride in the rain (or as part of routine maintenance) and allow a couple hours for the inside area to out. Its a good idea since moisture still has a difficult time with egress once inside the tubes.

[Peter P.]

The bike's aluminum so rust is not a concern; a drain hole would be nice to let the water out but it's otherwise not necessary. The only other reason I could think of putting the hole in the BB would be so water doesn't interact with the BB and seize it in the shell.

If you're gonna drill a hole, I'd suggest you place a piece of masking tape on the BB and mark the spot while the bike is on level ground. If you reference the hole with the chainstays horizontal, the hole will not be at the bike's lowest point. Start with a centerpunch so the drill bit doesn't drift, and use a small bit to start such as 1/8". I would progress up to say, 1/4".

[godfrey1112000]

I had this problem on my Hors Categorie, did the drain hole, problem solved but when I get caught in the rain I do flip the bike upside down for an hour or two,

the drain hole fixes it

[oldpotatoe]

So it was really nice this past week, like 32+ degrees nice :), so I found some sort of clear roads and went at it. After about 45 minutes of outdoors back street ridding on Friday, I stopped in at the LBS and ended up staying there a lot longer than planned. By the time I got home it was dark and I didn't really want to unpack the bike.

So I left it in the car over night, below 0 outside, and retrieved it this afternoon. Went to ride it from my car to my door and it just didn't feel right. So walked it up stairs and started cleaning and something told me to pull the cranks, Campy Veloce UT's. I found a sizable puddle inside the shell. No drain hole?

So the question... Should I drill a drain hole? Bike is a Ridley Crossbow and this was my winter gift to me/ I'm board its cold project so this was the first time its been out in the wild.

Picture attached.

Yes, all frames should have one. I install them all the time on bikes I work on.

[Fixed]

when i used to be a messenger i would take my seat post out at night and hang my bike upside down over night
cheers

[AngryScientist]

what was Ridley thinking not putting a drain hole on a cross frame??

is the idea maybe that mud and gunk will get INTO the hole during muddy cross riding? that might be worse in the longrun than just water, i donno, maybe investigate if other cross frames have a drain hole, if they dont, i would suspect it's for good reason. if they do, then i would do it.

[A1CKot]

It surprise me as well and I think I will drill one. I don't really like the idea of pulling the seat. It seems like it takes me a little while to get it just right, I would hate to do that time after time when I ride in bad weather.

To those of you that pull your post, how do you put it back on the same place? Hight is easy but how do you set it straight or is it just ride and adjust as need?

[thegunner]

It surprise me as well and I think I will drill one. I don't really like the idea of pulling the seat. It seems like it takes me a little while to get it just right, I would hate to do that time after time when I ride in bad weather.

To those of you that pull your post, how do you put it back on the same place? Hight is easy but how do you set it straight or is it just ride and adjust as need?

i actually have a strip of electrical tape at the base of my seatpost demarcating the height. not that i pull my post all that often, but it's just a suggestion.

[Fixed]

i actually have a strip of electrical tape at the base of my seatpost demarcating the height. not that i pull my post all that often, but it's just a suggestion.
+1
cheers