bjay said:Ok, this is probably an age old question, covered ad naseum in a FAQ
somewhere, but what is the best way to clean a bike's chain, cluster etc
that doesn't take forever to do yet results in them being clean and grit
free?
I have a chain cleaning gizmo, which is pretty good, but doesn't get any
other components clean.
Everyone seems to have their own method, here's mine...
I like to remove the chain, and soak it in kerosine.
I also remove the rear cluster, and soak it too, and old
ice-cream container is good, you can put the lid on so
it doesn't stink too much.
I wash the bike down with car cleaning stuff, or dishwashing
detergent (you're soaking in it!). Hose it off, ensuring
I don't hose the grease out of the BB. If I'm feeling
particularly motivated, I'll take the arm of the rear
derailleur, clean out and re-grease the bearings. Those
two cogs (BTW: what's the proper name for these) always
seem to get hair wound up into them! WTF is that from!?
Oh yeah, sometimes I'll also chamios down the frame before
it dries.
I like to have shiny rims, so I pay special attention to these,
and use a nylon scourer to scrub all the pad-skid-marks off
the braking surfaces. If you buy good brake pads, this becomes
less of a problem.
After reading some other suggestions, when the rims dry I'm
also going to wipe them down with metho' to ensure no detergent
remains.
I pull the cluster out from the now-black kero', and use an old
toothbrush and rag to remove all the old sandy gunk from the
teeth and between the cogs. It's nice to see it come out
all shiney and new-looking.
The problem with soaking your chain, is that it also removes
the grease from inside the bearing surfaces. I'm not quite
sure how you get it back in there. Generally I'll clean it
off with the toothrush, rinse it again, then put it back
on the bike. Apply lots of expensive lubricant de-jour,
considering it done. Next time I might try some of the
motorcycle stuff Suzyj mentioned. I'm also interested in
the stuff you heat, so that it goes liquid enough to soak
into in between the bearings... I want to try this one day
too.
Once everything is back together, I'll apply lubricant to
anything that looks like it needs it.
I'd like to remove the kerosine from this routine. I'm
thinking of trying one of those citrus-based degreasers,
but was initially put off by how expensive they are. Might
have a look in Big-W for a bulk pack, I'd rather stink of
oranges than kero'.
Obviously this amount of cleaning is an every six months
sort of thing. Tailor it to what you think is necessary.
If I simply wiped things down regularly than maybe I
wouldn't have to go to this level of disassembly.
-kt
