Water in the Main Tube after Rainy Ride

Raced the Silvio yesterday in the rain. I had said previously that I would not, but the HPRA changed the course in the Mooresville Park and eliminated the fast downhill run. So we raced the short course in the front of the park and avoided the greater risk of 40 mph downhill and sadly neutralized any uphill advantage the Silvio might have enjoyed against the low racers. But I kept it on course, kept it upright and had a good time-both literally & figuratively.

The day dawned raining, but stopped around 8:00 AM and then our race began around 9:30 as the rain resumed. During the short 10 mile race the rain increased but was not severe. Silvio was on course about 30 minutes.

While cleaning the bike and performing some modifications to the seat area yesterday evening, I tilted the frame to get some shavings out of the main tube (CBSV-091 has the open slot in the seat back) and 30-60 ml of water came out of the frame! Surprised me! But there are no drain holes in the lower main tube area.

This may be common knowledge for long time riders of the Silvios, but I had not seen it mentioned. So I thought a "heads up" warning to everyone would be in order. I suppose the aluminum frame would not seriously corrode, but for my bikes and my money invested any corrosion is too much. I have noticed, after previously being wet on a training ride, that the "stainless steel" socket head bolts which are part of frame kit will show orange rust in the socket itself. Whereas the socket head bolts on the brakes and derailleurs, which are from the component company SRAM are not tarnished.

So my remedy at this point is to cover the slot in the seat back and I used clear packaging tape. This will need to be examined after future wet rides to determine if the tape seal remains water tight. For the SS bolts, my local hardware store sells a good assortment of SS metric fasteners, which could replace the bolts on the TFT clamps and the handlebar clamp but not the special bolts and tubular nuts in the carboyoke assemblies. So the cheapest option is use compressed air on the hardware after the water exposure and the canned air for "keyboard cleaning" should do nicely.

Should I drill some drain holes? Any one location better or worse for being drilled?

Now for the visually inclined, I shall try to add some photos. However I am old and computer challenged. Forgive me if they don't upload.

Good luck to everyone. Larry
 

Dano

Member
Thanks for the heads up! Just curious, what type of modifications are you doing to the seat area?
 
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