help pls for a newbie

tim said:

helo. i need some advice. juist inherited a bicycle about

3 yrs old.

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its got lots of little gears and stuff, and looks more

than just a

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normal bicycle. i can ride, but i don't know anything abt

bikes.

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trouble is, the whole bike is covered in some oily black

gunk. i was

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intending to put some anti-rust on the rusty parts 1st,

but now i am

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thinking i should clean up the bike 1st.

i've used some wd40 to remove parts that are stuck and its

seems the

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oily gunk does come off. but is there anyway i can wash a

bike with

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like degreaser and water?

Sure. My favorite is Simple Green, which you can buy by the
gallon at a hardware store (or in smaller spray bottles).
It's biodegradable. An old toothbrush can be a useful tool.

After you finish, you can lube the moving parts. A teflon
spray like Tri-flow is an easy choice.

If the bike is really only 3 years old, I'd stay away from
the hubs/bearings on the first cleaning. If you really don't
know much about bikes, you might have a bike shop look it
over and check if the bearings should be overhauled (i.e.
old grease taken out, new grease put in) and have a tune-up
to get everything in mechanical working order.