Trek 2nd District - Rear dropouts Corrosion.

andyrr

These aren't particularly popular/common bikes as far as I am aware (never seen another on the road myself)
The rear dropouts on the 2nd District I bought late last year (removable and slide horizontally to provide chain tension) are chrome-plated aluminium/alloy.
I bought this as a nice simple commuting bike and pretty soon the plating started to flake off.
Having used the bike through the winter there is now almost no plating left, the remains would easily be picked off with my fingers and the metal underneath is pretty seriously corroded.
I have a claim in through the bike shop with Trek and I am getting wind of them rejecting this - should hear for sure this week.
Anyone else experienced this ? I wonder what could be done to deal with this issue - I wonder if it would need a new set which I then get powder coated or anodised as a better means of protecting the metal underneath ?
Problem might be that, as they need to allow the wheel to slide, there is probably going to be a degree of scraping of the surface so any treatment could still be prone to moisture getting beneath it ?
I reckon it only took a few weeks of use before this started happening and once started it was always going to end up in this sorry state eventually - maybe they should only sell this bike in places where it never rains !

Rule74Please

Caused by salt getting in thru a crack in the paint. If claim rejected ( I think it might) then you could remove sand and re paint them.

My district is 2 winters old with no corrosion so i think you are unlucky

andyrr

Cheers - no idea if these are available as parts - should be ? It really took only a few weeks of use (through our crappy winter it has to be said) for the flaking to start and, once that occurred then it's just a matter of time before there would be none left, a situation that mine is fast approaching.
Also the little bolts that set the horizontal position of the wheel are seized in place - I had a try at loosening them but they appear well stuck and if I apply any real torque then I'm sure they'll just shear or the bolt-head would round.
If/when I get replacements the first thing I'd do is to remove these and smother with anti-seize compound.

andyrr

Been told today that the claim with Trek HAS been honoured and a new set of dropouts are on order, might take a few weeks as they are coming from outside UK but positive news. Will see if these are better than the 1st set.

sungod

glad they are being ok about it

corroding that fast is worrying, if it's aluminium i wouldn't have thought it'd be plated, maybe some galvanic corrosion going on with the axle, bolts, etc.

certainly use anti-seize on the threads when replaced

might also be worth putting something on the dropouts to protect against corrosion, especially where they contact other metals

it's an area that can get a lot of spray, so either grease frequently or use acf-50 which will penetrate fairly well and also will neutralise any corrosion that manages to start in scratches etc.

andyrr

Cheers - I will be taking a close look at the replacements before fitting and then will do some regular maintenance inc. greasing all bolts that are attached.

andyrr

Picked up the replacement dropouts couple of days ago and used for today's commute.
The bag had a note attached indicating F.O.C. - free of charge - bloody hope so, the originals were not fit for purpose, only a tiny amount of plating left now, I could pick that off with my fingers, metal dreadfully corroded. Crap. These ones were Painted black, seemed a little more substantial. All bolts greased inc the axle-tension / stopper bolts which are adjusted with a small allen key and beautifully designed to seize at the first sign of a Scottish winter. Close eye to be kept on these now, tempted to send 1 original back to Trek to ask them what sort of quality these were manufactured to ...