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
