Thread: Wet Bike
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Old 04-13-11 | 03:21 PM
  #22  
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BCRider
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Joined: Mar 2008
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From: The 'Wack, BC, Canada

Bikes: Norco (2), Miyata, Canondale, Soma, Redline

One point to bring up for foul weather riding is that when washing the bike you do NOT want to use a hard pressure spray from the hose nozzle. Doing so will cause a sheet of high velocity water to slide along any shafts or axles and this can shoot in past any grease or fork seals and you end up with water in where it should not be. Cartridge BB's for example are tough components. I think I've only had issues with one ever. And that came on a used bike so I don't know how it was treated. All the rest have been washed using a hose nozzle setting that produces a gentle rain like spray that woudl be suitable for even delicate outdoor garden plants. That way there's not enough pressure to push any water past any seals or shields.

For the same reason I don't spray the side of the freehub or freewheels on my bikes. There's no seal on that side other than the shield which isn't a seal so much as a deflector. When I wash and rinse the rear sprocket cluster the rinsing is always done from up beside the tire so only the sprockets receive the direct gentle spray.
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