WET WET ride

no spam for me said:

I was on a century yesterday here in Maryland..really sucked, rained all
friggen day, poured other times and my knee crapped out at 83 miles and I
sagged out. So now in the agony of defeat it's time to clean up, ice down
my knee and be happy that my hands are no longer looking like a couple of
albino prunes, I want to make sure I get all the yuck and grit out the
headset, cables, STI's, etc...how far into tearing it apart and or spraying
WD40 or something into where ever to make sure I got all the water and sand
out? Idea's, Links, Lists and any special considerations for a carbon
frame??

KDW

run this by the guys on rec.bicycles.tech and you'll get more useful
answers and less flamage than for these loons.

no spam for me said:

I was on a century yesterday here in Maryland..really sucked, rained all
friggen day, poured other times and my knee crapped out at 83 miles and I
sagged out. So now in the agony of defeat it's time to clean up, ice down
my knee and be happy that my hands are no longer looking like a couple of
albino prunes, I want to make sure I get all the yuck and grit out the
headset, cables, STI's, etc...how far into tearing it apart and or spraying
WD40 or something into where ever to make sure I got all the water and sand
out? Idea's, Links, Lists and any special considerations for a carbon
frame??

Do like a bike wash after a cyclocross race. Spray it down
with a hose but don't point the hose directly into any
bearings - hubs, BB, headset, STIs. Dry it off. You will
need to re-oil the chain (you might want to take it off and
clean it in degreaser to get the road grit out before
re-oiling). If you feel extra paranoid you can repack the
hubs, but a several hour ride in wet weather shouldn't
wash the grease out of the hubs (unless you rode through
hub deep water). Most BBs these days are cartridge and you
can't repack them anyway. Some pedals can be relubed.

For God's sake don't spray WD-40 into the bicycle. WD-40 is
not a lubricant, it will just wash any lubricant out. The
only exception I know of is using WD-40 or something like
it to revive dying STI levers.

If you're going to ride in the rain regularly, fenders will
keep you and the bike cleaner, although all the fenders in
the world wouldn't have kept you dry yesterday in Maryland.

no spam for me said:

I was on a century yesterday here in Maryland..really sucked, rained all
friggen day, poured other times and my knee crapped out at 83 miles and I
sagged out. So now in the agony of defeat it's time to clean up, ice down
my knee and be happy that my hands are no longer looking like a couple of
albino prunes, I want to make sure I get all the yuck and grit out the
headset, cables, STI's, etc...how far into tearing it apart and or spraying
WD40 or something into where ever to make sure I got all the water and sand
out? Idea's, Links, Lists and any special considerations for a carbon
frame??

KDW

Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as "sealed" bearings.
They're only sealed insofar as you can't overhaul them. It doesn't
prevenmt water and dirt from corrupting them.

However, for those bearings you can overhall (headset), you're looking
at complete disassembly, cleaning, and re-greasing. Spraying WD-40 will
make it worse, as it will simply add a light lubricant to the dirt and
grime already there.

As for your wheel hubs or bottom bracket, most are sealed thhese days
and you have probably ruined them as well.

You have violated one of the Cardinal rules of cycling: never ride in
the rain unless you want to spend twice as much time and lots of money
replacing your bearings and sealed cartridges.

Can't you just ride when the weather's nice out? Why incur all this
damage to your equipment and extra risk of crashing on wet roads?

Thanks,

Magilla

Quoted message said:

no spam for me said:

I was on a century yesterday here in Maryland..really sucked, rained all
friggen day, poured other times and my knee crapped out at 83 miles and I
sagged out. So now in the agony of defeat it's time to clean up, ice down
my knee and be happy that my hands are no longer looking like a couple of
albino prunes, I want to make sure I get all the yuck and grit out the
headset, cables, STI's, etc...how far into tearing it apart and or spraying
WD40 or something into where ever to make sure I got all the water and sand
out? Idea's, Links, Lists and any special considerations for a carbon
frame??

Do like a bike wash after a cyclocross race. Spray it down
with a hose but don't point the hose directly into any
bearings - hubs, BB, headset, STIs. Dry it off. You will
need to re-oil the chain (you might want to take it off and
clean it in degreaser to get the road grit out before
re-oiling). If you feel extra paranoid you can repack the
hubs, but a several hour ride in wet weather shouldn't
wash the grease out of the hubs (unless you rode through
hub deep water).

Riding several hours in the rain introduces dirt and road grime into the
hubs. They should be re-packed/replaced.

It doesn't need to "wash the grease out" in order to corrupt them with
dirt and road grime.

The only people who should be riding in the rain are pros who get new
wheels and bottom brackets whenever they want.

Thanks,

Magilla

MagillaGorilla said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Riding several hours in the rain introduces dirt and road grime into the
hubs. They should be re-packed/replaced.

It doesn't need to "wash the grease out" in order to corrupt them with
dirt and road grime.

It is true that dirt can get into the grease - I was
simplifying for the OP - but you should also try moving
beyond those Normandy high flange hubs on that Gitane you
bring on all the club rides. It's a nice bike, but newer
hubs have better seals. I don't mean cartridge bearings,
which aren't sealed bearings - I mean the little rubber
seals under the dust caps.

Quoted message said:

The only people who should be riding in the rain are pros who get new
wheels and bottom brackets whenever they want.

And professional century riders.

Quoted message said:

MagillaGorilla said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Riding several hours in the rain introduces dirt and road grime into the
hubs. They should be re-packed/replaced.

It doesn't need to "wash the grease out" in order to corrupt them with
dirt and road grime.

It is true that dirt can get into the grease - I was
simplifying for the OP - but you should also try moving
beyond those Normandy high flange hubs on that Gitane you
bring on all the club rides. It's a nice bike, but newer
hubs have better seals. I don't mean cartridge bearings,
which aren't sealed bearings - I mean the little rubber
seals under the dust caps.

Who told you those little rubber gaskets keep dirt and grime out in the
rain?

NASA thought the same thing before Challenger. Do you think the O-rings
on your hub are better than the ones Morton Thiokol made?

Magilla

In article <[email hidden]>,

MagillaGorilla said:

no spam for me said:

I was on a century yesterday here in Maryland..really sucked, rained all
friggen day, poured other times and my knee crapped out at 83 miles and I
sagged out. So now in the agony of defeat it's time to clean up, ice down
my knee and be happy that my hands are no longer looking like a couple of
albino prunes, I want to make sure I get all the yuck and grit out the
headset, cables, STI's, etc...how far into tearing it apart and or spraying
WD40 or something into where ever to make sure I got all the water and sand
out? Idea's, Links, Lists and any special considerations for a carbon
frame??

KDW

Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as "sealed" bearings.

There are actual "sealed bearings", however, not on a bike. The cartridge
bearings they use are what is known as a "shielded bearing", and the ones that
bikes use come with a small rubber lip seal. On certain ones, the shield can be
carefully pried off and the bearing cleaned out with a solvent. The shield can
then be reinstalled (after the bearing's been lubed with the proper grease). It
does seem to work well to take just one shield off, so as not to run the risk of
damaging the other one (which should be the outside one).

--
tanx,
Howard

Butter is love.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

Howard Kveck said:

There are actual "sealed bearings", however, not on a bike.

i've been told (by perhaps dubious sources) that actually sealing a
bearing cause it to experience a lot more friction (or something like that).

i've ridden my bike in the rain many many times (pacific northwest
weather) and i've never done anything with my bike bearings at all. (?).
yesterday i took apart my back wheel and i was looking inside of it
wondering if it was still ok, but it seemed like messing with it might
screw it up (story of my life..)

heather

h squared said:

Howard Kveck said:

There are actual "sealed bearings", however, not on a bike.

i've been told (by perhaps dubious sources) that actually sealing a
bearing cause it to experience a lot more friction (or something like
that).

i've ridden my bike in the rain many many times (pacific northwest
weather) and i've never done anything with my bike bearings at all. (?).
yesterday i took apart my back wheel and i was looking inside of it
wondering if it was still ok, but it seemed like messing with it might
screw it up (story of my life..)

heather

How did you "look inside it" without taking it apart?

If you've ridden your bike in conditions worse than a slight drizzle,
then I'm confidant your hub bearings need to be overhauled/replaced.

Manufacturers made them sealed to increase sales of new hubs instead of
allowing riders to overhaul and re-use them. And, in order to keep the
riders in the dark as to why they did this, they simply marketed the new
hubs with buzzwords like "sealed" and "non-serviceable." The reality is
they get corrupted just the same as the old hubs, except now you have to
replace them instead of merely overhauling them.

Manufacturers could have made them serviceable, but they chose not to.

Magilla

MagillaGorilla said:

If you've ridden your bike in conditions worse than a slight drizzle,
then I'm confidant your hub bearings need to be overhauled/replaced.

Dude, I'm glad you're back. This place was getting way too serious
with all that LANCE and Tyler [censored], not to mention Laff sharing
his obsessive/compulsive disorder with us.

Did you ever get that SRM out on the track to collect some data?

Bob Schwartz

MagillaGorilla said:

Riding several hours in the rain introduces dirt and road grime into the
hubs. They should be re-packed/replaced.

It doesn't need to "wash the grease out" in order to corrupt them with
dirt and road grime.

The only people who should be riding in the rain are pros who get new
wheels and bottom brackets whenever they want.

Dumbass -

Why don't people just buy new cartridge bearings from:

www.mcmaster.com

they've got everything.

thanks,

K. Gringioni.

In article <[email hidden]>,

h squared said:

Howard Kveck said:

There are actual "sealed bearings", however, not on a bike.

i've been told (by perhaps dubious sources) that actually sealing a
bearing cause it to experience a lot more friction (or something like that).

The seals are complex and bulky, so that's true. And why they're usually used
were power loss isn't that much of an issue. Besides, those bearings are usually
pretty expensive.

--
tanx,
Howard

Butter is love.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

h squared said:

so [...] using
advice from "magillagorilla, this guy i know on the internet" is just
going to sound too hilarious when everything goes wrong

Isn't that sorta like pointing at wikipedia as an authoritative source?

Heather, bearings are cheap. Once a year you should take your bike in
for a general service at a trusted bike shop and ask them to check
and/or replace all of the bearings on a bike.

You may not think that the additional friction of worn bearings is much
but consider: A typical 35 mile ride might take two hours of riding
time. That's 120 minutes. At 80 rpm that's say 10,000 revolutions or
20,000 pedal strokes. If you add just one ounce to each pedal stroke
with worn bearings (not an unusual number) that is 20,000 ounces or
more than half a ton you've moved.

Tom Kunich said:

Heather, bearings are cheap. Once a year you should take your bike in
for a general service at a trusted bike shop and ask them to check
and/or replace all of the bearings on a bike.

You may not think that the additional friction of worn bearings is much
but consider: A typical 35 mile ride might take two hours of riding
time. That's 120 minutes. At 80 rpm that's say 10,000 revolutions or
20,000 pedal strokes. If you add just one ounce to each pedal stroke
with worn bearings (not an unusual number) that is 20,000 ounces or
more than half a ton you've moved.

when i was skating i had 20 bearings to deal with. since they're
rotating only an inch off the ground, they get quite dirty and worn. so
i was constantly changing and cleaning bearings- there were little piles
of them all over the house, separated into various grades of "fast".
(just so you know that i'm not thinking bearings don't matter, etc.)

the bike still rides ok, though. i'm not in a hurry when i ride it, so i
don't mind extra work, as long as there's no danger of the bearings
seizing or otherwise failing (i've had them "literally explode" when
skating). but considering that i've had my bike about 4 years, it's
probably time to do *something*. i'll ask the shop to change the
bearings when i go there, thanks tom.

heather

h squared said:

Tom Kunich wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You may not think that the additional friction of worn bearings is much
but consider: A typical 35 mile ride might take two hours of riding
time. That's 120 minutes. At 80 rpm that's say 10,000 revolutions or
20,000 pedal strokes. If you add just one ounce to each pedal stroke
with worn bearings (not an unusual number) that is 20,000 ounces or
more than half a ton you've moved.

But as a percentage of the amount of work you've done it's
still very small.

Quoted message said:

when i was skating i had 20 bearings to deal with. since they're
rotating only an inch off the ground, they get quite dirty and worn. so
i was constantly changing and cleaning bearings- there were little piles
of them all over the house, separated into various grades of "fast".
(just so you know that i'm not thinking bearings don't matter, etc.)

Bearing friction is much more important for skates than
for bicycles. The reason for this is basically that the
wheel bearings are about the same radius for both (1-2cm),
but the skate has small wheels, about 3cm radius, while the
bike wheels are about 33cm radius. So if the bike and
skater are traveling at the same speed, the skater's wheels
are rotating 11x as many rpm, which means the speed of the
bearings is 11x as fast and 11x as much power is lost to
friction. Even if the bike is going twice as fast as the
skater, bearing friction is still 5x as big for the skater,
and the bike rider is losing way more power to air drag than
bearings.

Which is just a longwinded way of saying that you were right
to worry about fast and slow bearings for skates but it would
be hard to ever measure a practical difference between fast and
slow in bicycle bearings.

Quoted message said:

the bike still rides ok, though. i'm not in a hurry when i ride it, so i
don't mind extra work, as long as there's no danger of the bearings
seizing or otherwise failing (i've had them "literally explode" when
skating). but considering that i've had my bike about 4 years, it's
probably time to do *something*. i'll ask the shop to change the
bearings when i go there, thanks tom.

Bike wheel bearings hardly ever seize completely - they can
either get too tight, in which case the wheel won't spin freely
by hand, or too loose, in which case the wheel can wobble side
to side a little and the bearing surfaces will wear out. It's
not a safety issue, but it is a routine-maintenance item.

h squared said:

the bike still rides ok, though. i'm not in a hurry when i ride it, so i
don't mind extra work, as long as there's no danger of the bearings
seizing or otherwise failing (i've had them "literally explode" when

When Edinburgh was the Gay Capital of Europe, I had an interesting few
minutes explaining to a police officer why I was carrying a bottle of
vegetable oil; initial opener of "it's for lubricating my axle" leading
to further questioning rather tha the intended opposite...

Stu Fleming said:

explaining to a police officer why I was carrying a bottle of
vegetable oil

Funny story, but why did he need to ask for an explanation in the first
place?!

--
E. Dronkert

Stu Fleming said:

h squared said:

the bike still rides ok, though. i'm not in a hurry when i ride it, so
i don't mind extra work, as long as there's no danger of the bearings
seizing or otherwise failing (i've had them "literally explode" when

When Edinburgh was the Gay Capital of Europe, I had an interesting few
minutes explaining to a police officer why I was carrying a bottle of
vegetable oil; initial opener of "it's for lubricating my axle" leading
to further questioning rather tha the intended opposite...

i hope you didn't use the phrase "literally explode" when you were
explaining things to him..
😉

h