furniture polish vs. wax

[Mr. William J. Chin]

Thanks for all the response on the furniture polish thread. Seems like
the stuff is good for shining stuff up and cheap. Whereas auto or
marine wax is better for protecting paint and finish. My question is
about the components like the brake housings, the tire skewers, the
cogs, and other parts of the bike that have moving parts. Is wax a
good idea on these parts? Would wax build up make it harder to unscrew
screws or undo other items? Rust is a major problem where I live. Any
exposed metal starts to rust in a matter of weeks. Any hints on
coating metal (like the spokes) to deal with this? The stuff I've used
slows down the rust quite a bit, but if I miss a tiny spot, the rust
starts in. Anyone else deal with marine-like conditions that corrode
metal? Thanks.
- Bill

[Kathleen Lorden]

As far as I know, good quality spokes won't rust.

Mr. William J. Chin <MVC...@prodigy.com> wrote in message
news:7md9hh$12o6$1...@newssvr04-int.news.prodigy.com...

[Mr. William J. Chin]

> As far as I know, good quality spokes won't rust.

I guess, I don't have good quality spokes :) The last three bikes have
stainless steel spokes, and all three start to exhibit rust on the
spokes if left uncoated. Seems like most coatings stop the rust,
whether it be furniture polish, a silicon based protectant or a wax
based formula. Wiping each spoke is a drag, but better than rusty
spokes. A fog spray like furniture polish seems to help me from
missing spots.

On the first bike that I owned in this part of the country (near the
beach) I refused to believe rust was forming on stainless spokes.
Then it was too late and the rust was firmly entrenched. So after
that, I am very cautious when I start to see brown or yellow appearing
on the spokes.
- Bill