Fixing Rusty Bikes

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Will, from the Outspoken Bicycle and Sports Shop, located in Newbury, New Hampshire. Today, we're going to talk about how to fix a rusty bike. Since most bikes today are made out of aluminum, carbon fiber and their frames I don't really have to talk too much about how to fix a rusty frame, so we're going to focus on the drive train. Riding by the ocean, in a lot of water, get caught in a rainstorm, a couple of things that do happen; drive train is primarily made of steel components so they rust rather easily. You might notice your chain has a little rust on it. It might be kinked. You'll see it have a little bit of a kink to it; hear a lot of squeaking. Just the visual is usually the telltale sign you've got a lot of rust going on. The best thing you can do is to clean it with a good quality degreaser, like a Simple Green, something that's environmentally friendly. They work great. Just a quick cleaning; spray it down, an old toothbrush. Clean off all the grime and surface rust on everything that you see, whether you get in your gears, on your chain, even down in some parts of your derailer. Once you've done that you're going to let it dry. You're going to apply some lubrication. Just a good quality bicycle chain lube is what you need here. Apply it to your chain. The best way to apply it would be to pedal backwards and just spray it on your chain. That way you're not coating your whole frame; getting lubrication on your brake surface. You can also spray in on any pivot point that you might have on your derailer. They all move a little bit. A little lubrication goes a long way here. And then, any rotating piece like you have here, your cogs. You have two cogs. You might want to throw a little lube in here. Your front derailer, same idea. They move in and out. Any pivot point, a drop of lube will go a long way. Anything else, here, you don't really need to lubricate your chain rings. They might look rusty but there's no function behind it. So really, we're looking primarily at your chain and any pivot points that you might have in your driveline. And that is how you fix a rusty bike."