Preventative Maintenance 101
 

After decades of riding the streets of the city deraileur free, I'm back on the saddle of a 24 speed fury.
What is the best way to keep my rear cassette, front & rear derailleuers, and chain clean and working?

1. Don't over-lube.

2. Experiment with lubes, there are some that attract less gruck than others. (please, not another 42-page chain-lube thread!)

Pay attention to them and clean them as needed. A clean drivetrain will last sizably longer than one just run with more lube added to the old lube mixed with road or trail grit.

Yeah, i definitely don't want over lubed gears that collect a lot of grit and gunk, but HOW do I clean it? Do I just sacrafice one of my hole ridden t-shirts and a few Q-tips and wipe away, or is there a little more ingenuity I can apply, or something I can buy to make the job easier?

High pressure steam or water would clean away road grit. Lightly lubricate afterwards. I like to use 100%paraffin lamp oil to clean my chains. It does not break down the lubrication, but it does loosen grit and grime. The high pressure wand washes it away.

I used to clean my chain by removing it from the bike, then soaking it in a cottage cheese container filled with Simple Green degreaser for a while. But that's kind of a pain.

I recently got one of the Nashbar chain cleaner tools, and I'm actually quite impressed with how well it cleans. Only cost me $5 too. Basically it's like a little tiny car wash with brushes that rotate and scrub the chain. You just fill it with half a cup of degreaser, clip it onto the chain, and turn the pedals for half a minute or so. Less mess, less hassle, and it cleans very thoroughly.

http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/medium/PT-CM5.gif
(that's a fancier model, but the $5 Nashbar one is similar and works very well)

If you are riding pavement: no problem. Just lube sparingly.

http://www.rocklube.com/

Going to give this a whirl. At $10 for a small bottle it's pretty expensive but my mechanic swears by it.

I'm more concerned with cleaning the cassette and rear derailleur area. I can just wipe the chain down with a rag and oil it, right? Won't high pressure steam/water create rust? There's no way to dry in btw. those gear and derailleur crevices.

Every time I ride, if I remember,I wipe the chain with a paper towel, the same way you use a rag and oil, and throw the paper towel away. About 30 seconds time, hands stay clean.

About every 10-20 times I ride the bike, very sparingly oil the chain. Maybe 1/2 teaspoon of oil (any oil works).

I never take the chain off to clean it, just measure the chain for stretch (wear) often and replace well before the wear limit.

Less is more.

Cleaning the cassette and RD are actually a lot less important than cleaning the chain. Chain wear is GREATLY worsened by dirt in the chain, and cassette wear is greatly worsened by chain wear. That's why it's important to clean the chain with a solvent that will hopefully dissolve and flush out dirt-filled lubricant. You should read Sheldon Brown's article on chain wear: www.sheldonbrown.com/chain

The rear derailer will last many chains and cassettes (barring some accident) and doesn't usually need much more than a cleaning and a touch of lube on the pivots. All but the crummiest rear derailers are mostly aluminum and not prone to serious rust.

Since we are all taking about clean and degrease the chain. I'm wondering whether it's good to use those engine degreasers sold at auto parts stores. They are usually much cheaper than the degreasers at LBS. Maybe brake parts cleaner is also a choice, which is cheap, non-sticky and won't stay. So it could be better than WD40 for clean purpose. Does anybody use them to clean your bike?

I personally use Simple Green. Costs about $3 for a gallon at Home Depot. It's safe to put down the drains, no toxic fumes, and doesn't hurt your hands. Yet it's a very effective solvent for cleaning bike parts.

Yes! I use brake cleaner from an auto store. Flat out works FAST! I only use it on the freewheel or cassette by taking off the wheel and holding it so the degreaser runs away from the spokes and tires. I don't like all the crud running all over everything. It works so well you don't even have to spray it full throttle. You can just kind of goose it or finesse it if you will. This way you will have a lot left over for use for another time.

Then I use ProLink chain lube. Prolink has a cleaner in it as well and it seems to keep everything clean. It does such a good job that I don't think I will have to use the brake cleaner again for a very long time. You can use brake cleaner on the chain as well. I have done this in the past and it also works very well. But I do it in a way as to not let all the crud and degreaser get all over the paint. It's not that the paint gets hurt but if there is any wax on your paint there won't be if the brake cleaner gets on it.

J B

Use a dry lube.
Wipe the chain off and lightly relube after avery ride.

Brush off the cassette and derailleuers every 3 - 4 rides.

Rock & Roll (lube)
 

Great stuff! Best I've ever used. Your mechanic is a wise man.;)

Richard

I usually use WD40 pretty much for everything nowadays. Would that be a problem for a bike chain?

If you like spending that kind of money & experimenting try out Purple Extreme .Other than cost, i don't think there is anything better or equivalent in performance.

WD-40 = Water Displacement

If you read the text on the can you not find the word lubricant anywhere. I use it to clean and degrease, cut the adhesive left after pealing off labels and removing shoe heal marks on tile floors.

If I want to lubricate something I reach for my bottle of Tri-Flow.
http://www.triflowlubricants.com/

I just feel WD40 is too sticky. It attracts dirt to the chain even when I ride in dry condition. Of course, I can do more clean and wipe off everything. But I don't like this trouble. Some bike lubs dry on the chain, and repel dirt.

when I was a kid I used either motor oil, WD-40 or Johnson's Baby Oil

What about jockey pulleys?
 

What about bushing type derailer jockey pulleys? I am running mine dry on my Shimano equipped bikes since it seems they came that way. The Park Tool web site says to lightly lube them with some stuff they sell that looks just like White Lightening chain lube. Will that work?

For that purpose, I would NOT recommend a thin oil-type lubricant. It's simply too runny for derailer pulleys. The thing to remember is that they're basically plain bearings (just two metal surfaces pressed against each other.

I use grease to lube derailer pulleys. I remove the bushing and plastic pulley, clean them thoroughly, then STUFF the bushings full of grease and reinstall the whole thing. I then wipe off the excess, This keeps the pulleys spinning smoothly and above all quietly. Because they're packed full of grease, it seems to take longer for them to get dirty again as well.

I just had the oil changed on my car and as the guy was throwing away the container of Mobil One, I thought wow, this is supposed to be such great stuff for car engines, why not a bike chain.

Anyone got a good reason why not before I put it to the test?

I wipe the chain clean and relube whenever I notice it's real dirty, hear any noise, after a wet ride or every week or so with an old t-shirt or sock. About every 2 months/1000 miles I will pull the chain (SRAM power links are great) drop in an old 2 liter soda bottle, shake it up and let is soak for awhile. Fish out with an old spoke, dry and relube. I know one guy who keeps two chains in rotation; one soaking one on the bike to reduce the cleaning time and swaps out like every 2 weeks (again power links kick a$$) Buy one of those little go/no go $10 chain checkers and check when cleaning and your cassette will last a long time; mine has 12,000 on it.

I've used Brake cleaner on the cassette, and it does quickly get rid of grease, but I worry about the impact on the wheel bearings. I just rebuilt mine cause they were grinding. Try getting some cotton 1/4" rope at the hardware, cut off a few feet and floss the cassette :D

Jockey pulleys I disassemble, clean and pack with auto wheel bearing grease.

A full sized fender works wonders at keeping your drive train clean in wet/gunk conditions too :D