Should steel frame tooling holes be sealed?

outfox

I've noticed rust-coloured water dripping out of a tooling hole at the rear of one of the chain stays on my steel framed winter bike. A poster on another thread says he/she has sealed the holes on his/her bike. But if this is an advisable approach, surely the manufacturers would do it?
What do steel frame owners around here recommend? The volume of water dripping out when the front of the bike is lifted is alarming.

seamus

You can't really guarantee that your frame is going to be sealed watertight, so if you seal up the holes you risk a small amount of water pooling inside the tubes. Which will cause them to corrode from the inside-out faster than if you let the water run out.

Eamonnator

I have an old steel bike.
I had it resprayed a couple of years ago. When it was being done, I asked the frame builder about these holes. He said, not to seal them, in fact he said, I should ensure, they don't get clogged with mud etc.
In the wet, water will get inside frame, through seat tube and head tube.
If I use my steel bike in wet conditions, I always allow any water to drain from frame by hanging bike by front wheel, allowing the water to exit by these holes.

JBokeh

You can get a form of cavity wax that they use on cars for steel frame bikes, to stop them rotting from the inside. I'll see can I find where I read about it, Think it was on a MTBR thread on either Konas or Surlys,

Best to leave the holes open, and if you're really worried about it, maybe drill holes at the bottom of the chain stays where they meet the seat stays to allow them to drain. I tend to drill all bikes with a hole at the very bottom of the BB shell to stop them pooling with water, and mud

Mefistofelino

JBokeh wrote: »

You can get a form of cavity wax that they use on cars for steel frame bikes, to stop them rotting from the inside. I'll see can I find where I read about it, Think it was on a MTBR thread on either Konas or Surlys,

"Waxoyl" - usually available from the bigger car accessory shops but a messy bugger to work with. There is also a bike-specific one - "Frame Saver", IIRC

JBokeh wrote: »

. I tend to drill all bikes with a hole at the very bottom of the BB shell to stop them pooling with water, and mud

I saw this done very neatly before where the small bolt that holds on the bottom bracket cable guide had been drilled so that it was hollow and acted as a drain without having to drill additional holes in the frame.

Mind you, drainage was never an issue with the old Cinelli "spoiler" bottom bracket shell (if you didn't mind having to regrease the bearings every few weeks)