Some bicycles get rode into or through lots of deep water, other bicycles often get left out in the rain and foggy weather.
Any which way, bicycles can most definitely rust from the inside out, so are there any recommended ways to protect against the elements?
What is your bike frame made of?
Chrome plated 4130 chromoly aircraft steel. Not like I’m terribly worried about the chrome plating, as any aftermarket welds are gonna ruin that in those areas. The stuff is rather strong and lightweight, and the tubing is only about half as thick compared to typical bike frame steel, but it has one major drawback.
The heat from welding the metal is well known to cause it to lose temper around the areas of the welds and basically reverts to about the strength of mild steel, which definitely sucks when the tubing is only half the thickness.
The frame indeed had proven very strong through most of its usable service life, but I really have to admit, I had been rather rough with it for over 20 years, and leaving it out in the rain regularly didn’t exactly help.
But yeah, almost any patch welds are gonna lose strength in those areas, meaning I’ll have to make custom brackets to reinforce any areas to be welded and try to spread any potential stresses out.