Tjommie Posted December 11, 2011 Posted December 11, 2011 Would be interested to hear some opinions on this Recently I bought myself a Giant TCR Advanced frame. Today I went for ride here in CT and got caught in some heavy downpours on black hill and chappies. Roads were extremely wet thoughout my +-3hr ride.I was soaked when I got home. As I lifted the bike on its back wheel I could hear the water in the frame. I turned the bike around a few times to make sure I heard water. While the bike was upside down I could see water seeping out by the seatpost.I took the seatpost out completely, turned the bike upside down and at least a 1/2 cup of water came out if not more. This is the 2nd time it happended after riding in heavy rain.The Giant does have big hole at the bottom of the frame where the cables go through Is this normal? Anyway of sealing or minimizing this? I had a merida scultura before and it had 4 tiny holes at the back/botton of the chainstay. After riding in the rain I would tilt the bike on its back wheel and the water would all come out there. Can water in your frame damage it long term?
Witkop Posted December 11, 2011 Posted December 11, 2011 THis is normal. Water will not destroy an Alu Frame, but a steel frame oh boy.THe solution is to open up the bike after wet rides. Firstly, the little bolt under the BB, take it out to let the water drain. THen LIft the bike and bounce it on the back wheel to get the water out of the chain stays. After that take the seat post out and turn the bike upside down. After that consider to remove the fork and shake the water out of the head set. REgrease the head set and seat post and reassemble. Consider WD -40 spray in the chain stays and other drainage holes. Lube the chain.
Johan Bornman Posted December 11, 2011 Posted December 11, 2011 The solution is to drill a drainage hole in the BB. Water will always enter through the seatpost/frame connection and cannot come out without a drainage hole. It damages the alu but more importantly, it rots the BB from the inside. Drill it.
Dubber88 Posted December 11, 2011 Posted December 11, 2011 Thanks Johan, What would be recommended for a carbon road/mtb frame ? Also what is the long term side effects of carbon tubes being wet on the inside? Regards,Dub
Johan Bornman Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Thanks Johan, What would be recommended for a carbon road/mtb frame ? Also what is the long term side effects of carbon tubes being wet on the inside? Regards,DubThe carbon/resin mix as used in bike frames is completely intert to water and most other things. However, a frame is very seldom pure carbon. Most have aluminium inserts in the BB. It is an alu sleeve glued into the frame. Should water get into the frame and come in contact with the aluminium sleeve, you get galvanic corrosion which destroys the BB insert. I've seen this on Cervelo frames. It is never a good idea to have water sloshing around your frame. Drill it.
Tumbleweed Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Drill it. And lose any chance you may have of a warranty claim should things go awry.
Goodbadugly Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Another irritating thing is the water that enters the rim when I am riding in the wet season. I see Shimano drilled small holes in the sides of the rims of their XT wheelsets to get rid of this.
Christie Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Except for corrosion, water in a composite frame cause another problem.The resin absorbs water up to a point of 1% weight gain (not a lot), but the mechanical properties of the composite is degraded. The impact is most severe on the transverse or cross ply direction, where strength is degraded by around 30%. Strength in this direction depends more on the properties of the matrix material than the longitudinal direction. I can't say how this would affect the overall strength of the frame, but I would say nothing good comes of water trapped in a composite frame. Here is a graph of an experiment, I have circled the relevant part:
Johan Bornman Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Except for corrosion, water in a composite frame cause another problem.The resin absorbs water up to a point of 1% weight gain (not a lot), but the mechanical properties of the composite is degraded. The impact is most severe on the transverse or cross ply direction, where strength is degraded by around 30%. Strength in this direction depends more on the properties of the matrix material than the longitudinal direction. I can't say how this would affect the overall strength of the frame, but I would say nothing good comes of water trapped in a composite frame. Here is a graph of an experiment, I have circled the relevant part:Interesting. One never give much thought to water absorbtion by plastics and resins, but they do. Just soak a nylon brush and see how soft it becomes. The degradation you show Christie is quite a lot and if I give it a cursory thought, I'd say it would be most severely felt with water in the chainstays. I guess n the BB area the lay-up would be radial to prevent precession of the BB shell and the effect of water absorbed by the resin would be moot. But as you say, nothing good comes of it. Most of that damage could take two or three years to manifest - just enough to for gaurantee to expire. Preventing it is common sense.
Minion Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Except for corrosion, water in a composite frame cause another problem.The resin absorbs water up to a point of 1% weight gain (not a lot), but the mechanical properties of the composite is degraded.It takes a really long time to absorb, though, especially with high volume fraction composites.
The Drongo Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 (edited) And lose any chance you may have of a warranty claim should things go awry. Oh FPS, don't you start THIS again! Edited December 12, 2011 by The Drongo
TNT1 Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Drill it. And lose any chance you may have of a warranty claim should things go awry. Most of that damage could take two or three years to manifest - just enough to for gaurantee to expire. Preventing it is common sense. Oh FPS, don't you start THIS again! I'm actually quite interested to see where he's going with this...
NINER_boy Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Hi guys My common sense says, to drill two holes next to one another at the bottom of the BB shell. Johan, any recommendation on the size of the drill bit to be used?(2mm / 3mm) Regards
The Drongo Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 I'm actually quite interested to see where he's going with this... Chap. here>>>>> BLOODY CIRCLES.
The Drongo Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Hi guys My common sense says, to drill two holes next to one another at the bottom of the BB shell. Johan, any recommendation on the size of the drill bit to be used?(2mm / 3mm) Regards Ping: MODMERGE! Time to do "your thing".
NINER_boy Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 Ping: MODMERGE! Time to do "your thing". Hey Drongo, Its Monday, and I am slightly slow... Ping and MODMERGE... Huh?
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