Bicycle Mechanics - Cleaning the cassette and crank...

I've noticed that the cassette and crank seem to pick up a massive amount of road-crap during the wet, winter months; especially sand and dirt (no salty roads around here).

How do you keep them clean?

I grab each end of an old sock, stretch it out and crease it longitudinally, and "floss" between the cogs and between the rings. Old toothbrushes are also decent crevice-cleaning tools.

You can also get a prett cool cog brush [follow this link] (http://www.parktool.com/tools/GSC_1.shtml) from Park Tool that does the job pretty well. The serrated end is sort of a gunk-grabber for between cogs. Clean the cassette with a citrus degreaser or simple clean.

For really stubborn grit -- and when I find myself riding in cruddy weather -- I remove the cassette and clean each cog individually. I also do a complete overhaul of the serviceable parts of the rear derailleur a couple of tikes a year, as needed.

nylon stockings work well for this task. Just stretch & floss.

Spray a bunch of cleaner over the dirty crap, then use a brush and bursh it all out......"flossing" is dumb and all it does is smear the crap all over the place, making it harder to clean.

Originally posted by velocipedio
You can also get a prett cool cog brush [follow this link] (http://www.parktool.com/tools/GSC_1.shtml) from Park Tool that does the job pretty well. The serrated end is sort of a gunk-grabber for between cogs.

Yup, I've got one. That end works well for grabbing the bigger pieces of gunk. You can just flip it around for the smaller pieces.

A LINK TO BUY (http://www.excelsports.com/item.asp?major=&minor=&description=Gear+Cleaner+Brush+GSC%2D1&vendorCode=PARK)

velo

See some earlier theads/links in this catagory or in "Road BIke' and other cats., there's some good stuff there.

Ride Clean
Pat

Pedro's Tooth Brush works pretty well too.

Cheers...Gary