grolby

This evening I decided to give the ol' workhorse a somewhat-more-dedicated-than-usual once-over. I've got a derailer that squeaks while I pedal. This only started happening in the last couple weeks. Coating the chain with tri-flow hasn't helped much. It seems like the cage is what's squeaking. Is this a symptom of too much grit in the drivetrain? It sure LOOKS dirty. I've been planning on giving the drivetrain a good clean when I get the chance - the bike co-op guy recommended warm water w/soap (he recommended something like Simple Green) and a toothbrush to clean all the grime off. Will this work well without causing problems? I obviously plan to relube my chain before riding after cleaning.

I also cleaned off my rims. There were a couple of things I noticed. First, the rear rim in general gets WAY dirtier than the front. I've actually noticed this for a while, but it seems pertinent to bring it up. Lots of crud gets on the part of the rim where the spokes join. The entire interior curve is covered in grit and grime. The interior curve on the front rim is basically clean, if a bit tarnished. Why is this? For what it's worth, I have full fenders without mudflaps.

Second, the braking surfaces of both rims were dirty, but in totally different ways. The rear just had more of the road grit and dirt on it. The front was covered with a nasty black coating, which rubbed off except for residue, which looks like typical brake pad residue. The coating was way thicker, though. It kind of reminded me of soot, in fact - it was packed into the grooves in my front brake pads, and came out as a powder when I used a knife blade to scrape it out. I'm guessing that this was from my pads themselves, especially since I use the front brake far more often than the rear brake, but why am I getting so much of it? Of course, there's also some black sooty crap smeared on my sidewalls all the way round, so I dunno...

Anyway, a summary then: Drive train cleaning, need advice, why are my rear rims dirtier, what's this sooty black crap all over my front rim and sidewalls?

I love cycling in winter, but it sure is high maintenance, especially since my converted singlespeed bit the dust (after three days of use, natch).

KleinRider

I don't see any problems with how you've been instructed to clean the drivetrain (I use Simple Green myself).

I would suspect the rear wheel gets the brunt of the junk thrown off the front wheel. Even though you have fenders, the front one doesn't go all the way to the ground (for obvious reasons) so the dirt goes to the rear wheel. The front wheel coating is from the brake pad. As you stated, you do use it more, and it provides most of the stopping power due to the weight shifting forward (yours primarily) as you apply the brakes. It's similar to brake dust on car wheels, same thing with them as to why the front wheels always look a whole lot worse than the rear wheels (weight transfer).

babaluey

Most likely it is from your brake pads; but, just make sure the brakes are only contacting the metal rim and never touching the side of the tire. That could generate a high volume of crud, AND is death to a tire.

jeff williams

I'd go over the derailler well, get all the stuff out from around the cogs.
Re oil all pivots.
Clean the chain well and even clean the cogset teeth (don't flush any water or soap into the hub, it'll mess with your grease!).

The black on the rear is a mix of road slime with chain oil.
The front brake reside tells me you know how to properly stop.

Colored sidewalls are goofy..I have red ones .
The company I ride does this is to designate they are from tire factories in Japan not Korea, and are a higher quality compound\ the red is a layer of the tire -mine >Kevlar.
Other companies may just do it for looks.

A nice red low carbon pad can be nice front, I use them on my mtn bike to lock the front and keep a harder 'drag' black pad rear.
The softer pads don't seem to mark up the rims.

Keeping the pad and rim clean will help braking and keep the rim brake surface integrity longer.

grolby

Aha! Thanks. Maybe I'll make myself a mudflap and see if I notice any difference on the rear rim. In any case, good to know that the black crap is from my pads. Now if only I didn't have to clean it off! No, the pads are not dragging on the tire, thank goodness - getting them adjusted right was difficult enough without causing other problems. I wonder if it's possible to find some unused, NOS cartridge springs for Shimano XT cantis... hrm...

Anyway, thanks y'all.

jimhens714

I'll second what everyone else said about the sooty black stuff. I get the same exact grime on my bike. I have more black on the front not because of any increased braking but for two reasons I believe. One is that there is spray from the front tire to the rear effectively rinsing alot of it away and second also because of the spray there is more road grit thrown on the rear rim. That's why the rear always sounds alot raspier when you apply that brake and also why the rear rim gets alot more wear. BTW I apply both brakes simultaneously always...

I use simple green to scrub the tires, rims, brakes, both derailleurs, and the freewheel cogs. Then I use triflow to lube all the derailleur pivots and brake pivots. I use Pedro's Road Rage on the chain. Last but not least when I get the squeaky derailleur you described I remove both of the derailleur pulleys and thoroughly clean them and regrease and reassemble. That's usually where the squeak comes from.

I just made myself a mudflap. It hangs off the rear of the front fender and comes within about 2" of the ground. It really cut down on the road grime spray on the rear wheel and drivetrain. I also installed a set of Kool Stop Salmon pads. No more sooty black crap and they really stop great even when wet.

andygates

That sooty black stuff is road grime, in winter everyone gets it if they do decent miles on heavy roads. It accelerates rim wear, so make it a part of your routine to clean the rims and brake blocks regularly - I just use soapy water and a scrubbing brush.

supcom

The squeak in your rear derailler is probably from dry pulley wheels. Try removing them and putting a light coat of grease on the sleeve bearings. That should shut them up.

eubi

You know, if you are going to put on a mud flap, why not hang it from the bottom bracket? It will deflect more of the junk thrown off by the front tire. Just be sure it's not so long it gets sucked under your rear wheel, or so wide you hit it with your pedals.

Just thinking out of the box...

2manybikes

A good long, wide mud flap on the front fender (not the BB) does a lot to reduce dirt and even drive train wear. I use two pieces of mtb tube glued together with patch glue. you need to have two thicknesses or it curls right up. Run stiff wire sideways in a couple of places to keep it wide open. As long as it is flexible you can go right down to about 1" from the ground or even to the ground. This makes a big difference, even on your feet getting dirty. Be careful when walking the bike on the stairs or when at a stop light, you can step on a long mud flap.

jimhens714

Hanging the mudflap from the back of the front fender also deflects some of the spray that fills up your shoes with water...

2manybikes

Not to mention your legs, pedal bearings, the chain, the bottles, the frame, the front derailleur etc.

eubi

Good point.

I'll get back in my box now.

pctpaul

One could always get a bike with disc brakes. Last year after grinding out the rims on my old bike I purchased a Coda Elite by Jamis Bikes. Not only do I no longer worry about rim grind, the braking power in wet conditions is only marginally compromised. Since the bike came with a flat handlebar, my LBS advised bar ends...and do I love 'em!

grolby

Well, I would love a bike with disc brakes, but that is in the distant future. My current bike is a 1986 Miyata 210 - no way is it disc-compatible. The next bike I pick up is likely to be another used vintage steel (possibly aluminum - I want an early 90s mtn frame if possible) bike, for use as a singlespeed or fixed gear beater/tooling around bike, so I'm not too likely to find one that'll mount discs. It's too bad, I would love to have disc brakes, but it looks like I'm stuck with rim brakes for the near future.

As for handlebars, I've found that drop bars are great for longer-distance commuting and hauling @ss, but I would really prefer a flat bar with bar ends for tooling around campus and riding in snow.