What is this brown goop on my new bike frame? I'm building a single speed bike, and ordered parts from various different places. My EAI Bareknuckle frame got delivered this morning, and it looks great, except for this part of the fork, that has this dried brown goop on it. It doesn't look like rust, though it smells kinda metallic. I'm not a rust expert though. Or a frame/bike expert for that matter. Have you seen this before? How can I clean it off? Water didn't dissolve it. Not sure if using soap is a good idea. Pictures: !Goop 1 !Goop 2 Thanks!

It looks like cosmoline which is a waxy rust preventative. It can be difficult to remove from finished parts without damage to the paint. If you can, scrape some of the heavy stuff off with something like a plastic knife. Then I would try something like WD-40. If it doesn't soften it right away soak a rag and wrap it around the fork tips over night. You can see if a hair dryer will soften it without hurting the paint