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Cleaning or repairing weather damage

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Cleaning or repairing weather damage

Old 08-27-12, 09:51 PM
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Cleaning or repairing weather damage

I purchased a new mantis ghost mountain bike about 2 months ago and a couple weeks after having it the pedals broke off. When that happened I just put it on the side of our storage house which has extended roofing so it protected the bike from rain but not from weather. After a little while and a few rain storms I noticed the bike was rusting in various places. That isn't my concern though. I also noticed the freewheel is starting to rust a little and looks very dried out and the chain looks dry and weathered too. I haven't done any maintenance or care on the bike. When I ride it, I can hear random click noises coming from the rear derailleur. I guess the chain needs umm.. oiling or something? I don't know. I've never worked on bikes before so I don't know what I need to keep them going. What should I do about the rust and clicking noise? Also what about the chain?

Here is my bike...

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Old 08-28-12, 01:28 AM
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casey86, You can use some WD40 and a Scotchbrite pad to remove the surface rust from unpainted items. You can use any oil (not WD40) to lubricate the chain, in a pinch. After the bike's cleaned up consider moving it into the shed.

Brad
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Old 08-28-12, 01:41 AM
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That's a a low-end bike at best, don't expect too much from it either way. Still, the pedals shouldn't have broken off - that's bad.

Surface rust on chain and freewheel is pretty much an aesthetic issue. Check that you haven't got any frozen links, then oil it to to stop the rust progressing.

"Random noises", as you describe it, can be anything. Shifter cables tend to settle a bit, so you might need to do a little bit of tuning. Or there are a couple of stiff links causing chain chatter.

If you're able to ride with the saddle at that angle, w/o immediate discomfort, I'd say that your saddle is set too low.
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Old 08-28-12, 08:49 PM
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Random clicks could mean bearing problems as well. I am sure the bearings are too tight if no adjustments have been made 'out of the box' so check those as well.
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Old 08-29-12, 12:46 AM
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Thank you all for the replies. Very helpful advice! I did some work on it today and already it sounds much better and looks better too.
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