In warmer climates with high humidity, rust can appear on your cables in as quickly as a week. Combine that with the “sweat” factor and problems could develop rather quickly. Now, this won’t affect some of your newer bikes with internal cable routing.
However, you will have exposed cables on your brakes and your front and rear derailleur. These cables snap because of rust brought about by neglect. The process takes about two minutes of your time so take the time and add some protection.
This is one reason you should use water proof grease. Cleaning these cables is also something that you will want to do every week no matter what, even if you do not perform a total bike clean-up. It is not full-proof but it will help.
Prior to this step, you will want to remove any existing dirt or rust from the cables. This can be as simple as wiping down the cables with a cloth doused with some degreaser. If there is too much rust, you have to use other means.
Do not use sandpaper to remove the rust. If the cables are in poor condition, it would be easier to replace them.
Cable only costs a few bucks. Otherwise, use bronze wool (which you can pick up at any hardware store) and some naval jelly (again at any hardware or boating store) to remove the rust.
Use gloves as well. After cleaning the cables, put a little grease between your fingers and run your fingers along all exposed cable. This will put a light film along the cable and help ward off moisture until your next cleaning.
Maintaining your seat post does not require you to clean each time you ride or even once a week. However, if you are riding several times a week, it is a good idea to remove it and clean it once a month. Seat posts freeze in the seat tube because of rust and corrosion. You may not realize it, but it is a definite sweat magnet. And sweat = rust on certain parts of the bike depending on the material used.
Obviously, during the summer months this will warrant keeping an eye on things. However, if you are spending time on the stationary trainer during the winter months, the sweat factor is very real.
To check for any rust build-up, remove your seat post. Before you do so, mark your spot with tape. Choose blue masking tape. This tape will not hold, but if you can, choose black electric tape.
After loosening the seat post binder bolt, pull out the post. Wipe it down with your rag. You will probably notice the copper color of rust on the rag. After wiping it down, cover the post with grease below your mark. Then slip the post back down the seat tube and tighten the binder bolt. There will be some grease that will gather at the top edge of the seat tube. Just wipe it off.
