Thanks for the responses, I'll make sure to document the progress on the "Shout" experiment. I might not get to it tonight, but I'll try and post the progress some time in the next couple days.
Originally Posted by
EjustE
well... I think that Shout would do...Any sort of decent household degreaser will do.
That's logical enough for me, but Shout isn't a degreaser - it's a laundry stain lifter (spray), which is why it didn't occur to me to try it. And yep, there is no rust on the spokes, just a bunch of dried grease or something. One of the bikes I'm going to clean has wheels with 80's Campy road hubs, can't remember what spokes or rims...probably DT Stainless, but they're really crudded up from grease, dirt, and what might be road tar. The other is on my '79 Raleigh Sports with Sturmey hub...again, probably steel spokes on the rear wheel (not sure, but that's my best guess).
As I said, I'll try and document the progress and see how it ends up. Shout has saved me in many a pickle, but usually only when I spill wine on a shirt or something. If it pans out that it's a good de-crudder for bikes, it will be a experiment worth having conducted.