Bicycle Mechanics - cleaning bearings

I've been overhauling a couple bikes recently. I have a few questions I guess.

First off, what would you guys recommend for cleaning ball bearings inside casings?
I've been soaking 'em in white gas, but some of the gunk still remains inside the casing.

Second, what about lubing rear single speed sprockets?
When I spray WD-40 inside 'em they seem to feel more grainy when I turn them.




cycle on

I've been overhauling a couple bikes recently. I have a few questions I guess.

First off, what would you guys recommend for cleaning ball bearings inside casings?
I've been soaking 'em in white gas, but some of the gunk still remains inside the casing.

Second, what about lubing rear single speed sprockets?
When I spray WD-40 inside 'em they seem to feel more grainy when I turn them.




cycle onHmmm WD40 being a degreaser and NOT A LUBE I wonder why your bearings would be worse than before. You'll want to use some Phil's Tenacious oil for the freewhell - it's by far the best stuff I've found for the job. As far as cleaning goes I like the Bio Degreasers from Park Tool and Finish Line

you use the WD-40 to clean the bearings. after that you need to dry or wait for it all to dry, then apply grease.

sd

As said - WD-40 is an excellent degreaser. So, I personally use that to get crud off of all of my parts.

For bearings I can touch, I use Park grease. For bearings and other parts that I can't touch (cartridge bearings) I use Slick-50 One Lube or Tri-Flow, though I would think that Phil's Tenacious Oil would work just as well. Tri-Flow and One Lube are both teflon based lubricants so they don't break down as quickly as regular oil does. They get in and coat the parts and help them stay running smooth for a long time.

Why do you add anything to sealed bearings? Putting oil in a greased bearing only thins out the grease.

I've been overhauling a couple bikes recently. I have a few questions I guess.

First off, what would you guys recommend for cleaning ball bearings inside casings?
I've been soaking 'em in white gas, but some of the gunk still remains inside the casing.

Second, what about lubing rear single speed sprockets?
When I spray WD-40 inside 'em they seem to feel more grainy when I turn them.


cycle on


I use paint thinner (mineral spirits) to soak parts. An old tooth brush will allow you to get down inside the bearing case to dig the old grease out. Soak for a while, scrub with tooth brush, rinse in clean solvent, let dry, apply fresh grease, reassemble.

I'm not sure what type of sproket setup you're running but it sounds like the WD-40 is loosening up some grit somewhere. As mentioned, WD-40 has a lot of solvent in it, along with a light viscocity oil. Further lubing is needed for high load parts like a chain/sproket.

Good luck.

Ed

Why do you add anything to sealed bearings? Putting oil in a greased bearing only thins out the grease.
Because cartridge bearings come in various grades of quality and quite often have a very thin coating of grease on them. That grease may be less effective than a good teflon lubricant.

As well, grease will break down and get pushed out of bearings, cartridge or not. So, the grease that comes in cartridge bearings may last for many months, or several years, or may not even be good right out of the box. I have had cranks that made a ton of noise on me until I found it was a cartridge bearing issue. I cleaned and sprayed them with One-Lube and haven't had any problems with them for the past year. Quiet and smooth.

For getting gunk out of awkward places, a can of basic automotive brake cleaner works wonders. Nothing like powerful non-residue solvents being propelled out of a tiny tube at high velocity for blasting yuck out of odd places. Of course, it will completely remove any lubrication, so only use it if you are planning on full re-greaseing the bearings. Oh yeah, and don't breath it in, get it on your skin, or let it drip into the grass. ;)

peace,
sam