Been away a while but im back!

Lee said:

My bike REALLY needs a service - its pig dirty now! Whats the best way to clean/lube the chain,
derailer etc. they tell me at half*rds that engine degreaser is best? Is it easy to take em off
and put em on again?

Best way is do it often: I do the chain with a very good dose of GT-85 and wipe off the excess,
feeling that using lots in the first instance will help it penetrate chain links. If you leave it
all on it'll actually help crunge stick, so do wipe excess off. Cogs get a good wipe of all the muck
off: it usually just comes off, but a little more GT usually helps stubborn spots off. If you've
neglected it then the engine degreaser may well be a good way to go.

Removing rear cogs will need Clever Tools: I don't have them, so I do it in place, and having it
basically clean to start with by doing it often really does help. Removing the chain is easy is if
you have a powerlink in the chain (designed so you can manually break and recreate that particular
link. If you don't have one you'll need a chain tool: they don't cost much and it's worth having one
in the shed, and once you've split the chain with one get a powerlink to put it back together so you
won't need to use the chain tool for routine maintenance next time.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Lee said:

My bike REALLY needs a service - its pig dirty now! Whats the best way to clean/lube the chain,
derailer etc. they tell me at half*rds that engine degreaser is best? Is it easy to take em off
and put em on again?

Mmm, not sure my way is the best but its what I do and it has been working for a long long time now.
I wa told of this by a professional bike mechanic abut 20 years ago.

When servicing the bike, I first remove the chain, and soak it in a shallow dish of diesel. Just
enough to cover all the chain. I leave it for 30 mins or so while I'm working on the rest of the
bike. Having the chain off makes other tasks easier. I brush the chain with a tooth brush to get the
dirt off then wipe it with a cloth to get the excess diesel off. I then spray my cloth with WD40 and
pull the chain through to get the rest of the diesel from the outside. Once refitted I relube the
chain. Diesel is cheap and readily available, disposing of the dirty diesel is more of a problem, I
usually keep a jar of used stuff and periodically take it to the council waste disposal facility
where they have place for waste oil, or I ask my local garage to put it with their oil waste.

I usually remove the sprockets and brush them with my diesel soaked toothbrush, wiping them clean
with an oily rag. I have recently started using powerlinks, prior to that I simply used a chain
splitting tool. Not difficult for me but I've been doing this for years. Derailleurs get the gunge
scraped of then wiped with an oily rag, similarly for chainrings, brake calipers.

Frame gets washed with very dilute car shampoo, rinsed and wiped dry, don't put much water on the
frame though, more wipe with a damp soapy rag. Wheels get wiped with a dry clean rag, handlebar
taped scrubbed with cream kitchen cleaner, lemon scented if its a yellow bike. ;-)

--
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Lee said:

My bike REALLY needs a service - its pig dirty now! Whats the best way to clean/lube the chain,
derailer etc. they tell me at half*rds that engine degreaser is best? Is it easy to take em off
and put em on again?

Engine degreaser stinks... I'm mean it really stinks bad (and is probably highly toxic?), not that
it doesn't work. Chain is best cleaned by removing and soaking in a jar of white spirit, or if you
don't want to remove it, there are cleaning devices that clamp on while it's on the bike that use
bio degreaser.

Derailleurs can be left on but take rear one apart (back cage plate and jockey wheels) if it's
filthy. Clean however you think is best. Oil or grease jockey wheel bushings.

Water can be used to get worst off frame and rims, then clean braking surfaces with meths.

Chain tool from Mike Dyason's, Powerlink from bike shop or Parker International or Settle Cycles.
Instructions on Park Tools and Sheldon Brown websites.

~PB

Lee said:

My bike REALLY needs a service - its pig dirty now! Whats the best way to clean/lube the chain,
derailer etc. they tell me at half*rds that engine degreaser is best? Is it easy to take em off
and put em on again?

Here's my major service recipe, learned forty years ago so there may be people who suck their teeth
and say oooooh, no, use proprietary gunk X:

Get a gallon of parafin from the hardware shop. Tip half in a bucket. Take parts off the bike, and
in particular dismantle the rear deraileur's jockey wheel cage. Take cones and axles out of wheels,
if of the cup-and-cone bearing variety. Disassemble bottom bracket, unless of the sealed bearing
variety (which most are these days). Drop all small parts in bucket, except ball bearings and parts
with sealed bearings. Thouroughly clean frame and wheels. Swirl the bucket around a bit and then
pour off the parafin into a second bucket. Inspect parts; use old toothbrush and parafin to clean
any that are still mucky.

Lay all small parts out on newspaper or kitchen paper to dry; allow to dry thoroughly. Inspect.
Replace any that look too worn. Reassemble using a small amount of grease on bushings and bolt
threads, and plenty of grease in ball races. Ball bearings are cheap; I can think of no good reason
for not replacing all of them, but remember to put the right number of balls in (there should be a
gap left in each race which looks as if you could squeeze another ball in, but don't because the gap
is necessary to allow the balls room to move). Relubricate deraileur pantographs, cables, brake
pivots with your preferred lubricant - I tend to use GT85 but suspect it's not the best thing.

Use dirty parafin to light bonfire. Actually I'm told if you allow the dirt to settle you can re-use
it but I'm not organised enough to do this. Takes about a couple of hours per bike, repeat annually
or whenever you think the bike really needs it.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

;; 'I think we should trust our president in every decision ;; that he makes and we should
just support that' ;; Britney Spears of George W Bush, CNN 04:09:03

Simon Brooke said:

Get a gallon of parafin from the hardware shop.

ooooooh no - use diesel from the local garage usually handier especially if you are on tour, you can
often blag a jar full from a trucker.

I feared the same reaction as you when I typed my response to the OP earlier

--
The Reply & From email addresses are checked rarely. mseries.freeserve.co.ukmseries.freeserve.co.ukOpen ↗

"MSeries" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Simon Brooke said:

Get a gallon of parafin from the hardware shop.

ooooooh no - use diesel from the local garage usually handier especially if you are on tour, you
can often blag a jar full from a trucker.

I feared the same reaction as you when I typed my response to the OP earlier

There is a brake dismantling spay for cleaning car brake cylinders, spray that liberally over the
chain/drive and just watch all the grit come out, GT85 is fine if you put a tiny amount on every
ride but otherwise a very thin layer of Finish Line Cross country on just the bead once a week
(reminds me, must do that tonight, that should guarantee a nice wet ride for Saturday!)

(MartinM) said:

"MSeries" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]-
berlin.de>...

Quoted message said:

Simon Brooke said:

Get a gallon of parafin from the hardware shop.

ooooooh no - use diesel from the local garage usually handier especially if you are on tour, you
can often blag a jar full from a trucker.

I feared the same reaction as you when I typed my response to the OP earlier

There is a brake dismantling spay for cleaning car brake cylinders, spray that liberally over the
chain/drive and just watch all the grit come out, GT85 is fine if you put a tiny amount on every
ride but otherwise a very thin layer of Finish Line Cross country on just the bead once a week
(reminds me, must do that tonight, that should guarantee a nice wet ride for Saturday!)

Ooh, no, I wouldn't use GT85 on chains. Like you, it's definitely Finish Line Cross Country for
chains. But for the pantographs and cables I prefer GT85.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗ Windows 95: You, you, you! You
make a grown man cry...
M. Jagger/K. Richards

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Mseries

BLee said:

My bike REALLY needs a service - its pig dirty now! Whats the best way to clean/lube the chain,
derailer etc. they tell me at half*rds that engine degreaser is best? Is it easy to take em off
and put em on again?

Mmm, not sure my way is the best but its what I do and it has been working for a long long time now.
I wa told of this by a professional bike mechanic abut 20 years ago.

When servicing the bike, I first remove the chain, and soak it in a shallow dish of diesel. Just
enough to cover all the chain. I leave it for 30 mins or so while I'm working on the rest of the
bike. Having the chain off makes other tasks easier. I brush the chain with a tooth brush to get the
dirt off then wipe it with a cloth to get the excess diesel off. I then spray my cloth with WD40 and
pull the chain through to get the rest of the diesel from the outside. Once refitted I relube the
chain. Diesel is cheap and readily available, disposing of the dirty diesel is more of a problem, I
usually keep a jar of used stuff and periodically take it to the council waste disposal facility
where they have place for waste oil, or I ask my local garage to put it with their oil waste.

I usually remove the sprockets and brush them with my diesel soaked toothbrush, wiping them clean
with an oily rag. I have recently started using powerlinks, prior to that I simply used a chain
splitting tool. Not difficult for me but I've been doing this for years. Derailleurs get the gunge
scraped of then wiped with an oily rag, similarly for chainrings, brake calipers.

Frame gets washed with very dilute car shampoo, rinsed and wiped dry, don't put much water on the
frame though, more wipe with a damp soapy rag. Wheels get wiped with a dry clean rag, handlebar
taped scrubbed with cream kitchen cleaner, lemon scented if its a yellow bike. ;-)

--
The Reply & From email addresses are checked rarely. mseries.freeserve.co.ukmseries.freeserve.co.ukOpen ↗ [/B]

You do have a lot of rags!!!!