caring for drivetrain
 

I am curious what people do to care for their bike's drive train (chain, crank, cassette, bottom bearing, rear hub, front and back derailleurs) for the different type of riding they do. Aside from adjustments, how do you care for your bike to clean it, lube it, etc...?

I notice that as soon as I take my bike through a ravine especially these days, there is so much tall grass, weeds, and crud that within a few minutes I have twigs and leafs sticking out of the cassette and crank, the chain looks and sounds like it is covered in greasy sand, and the bike starts to make all soft of annoying grinding and clicking noises. I find layers of the chain grease get caked onto the rear derailleur cogs and start causing the chain links to stick. Today I plowed out through a meadow and came out with a floral arrangement sticking out of the shifter on the handlebar.

Is it normal to have to clean the bike after every such ride? If I stick to paved roads, I obviously have none of that, but I really like the rougher terrains. I have been cleaning the drive train with a wire brush and carburetor cleaner to break down the greasy grime on the gears, derailleur springs and cogs, chain. And re-lubricating the whole bunch with teflon dry grease.

For the hub and BB I have been putting on a little bit of high speed high temperature motor bearing grease on the outside but it seems near futile as all it just sits on the surface and clearly does not run into the actual bearing. My worry is the carb cleaner eating away on the bearing grease originally in there.

I use Simple Green mixed with water and scrub down the drivetrain with a few different sized scrub brushes and an old toothbrush for the tight areas..

Rinse off well and dry then I lube everything up.

I live in a very dry climate so I use a dry lube

Maybe don't use it. Using anything like degeaser around hubs and BBs can eat out the grease in the bearings and if they get rusty, may seize up. I made a very expensive error once by regularly degreasing my chain on the bike. I was using one of those fancy chain cleaner devices, and the fluid still got into my rear hub and eventually the bearings seized the wheel.
Sadly just trying to let lube run into your hubs and BB is next to impossible. You will have to undo them (if loose bearings) and do it properly.

you might try pulling the cassette down to the individual cogs and waxing all the parts up. i use wd40 on the chain and wipe the dirt off with rags, then apply a teflon dry lube.

I fashion a cardboard "shield" to protect the hub, and then use a spray degreaser on the cassette and chain. I'll run the chain through a clean rag to wipe it clean.

For lubrication, I've gone back and forth between a dry wax type lube and a wet lube, and prefer to use a wet lube. Personally, I use Breakfree CLP, a mil-spec firearm cleaner, lube, and protectant (CLP) that produces a very smooth and silent ride and doesn't attract as much dirt as many other wet lubes. It helps that I already have cans upon cans of the stuff for my other "toys". If I do use a dry lube, it's good old White Lightning.

Cheers,

i use tri-flow superior lubricant for my chain and any moving parts that need lubing. a old tooth brush and some dawn is what i use to keep my cassette looking brand new.

As in dish soap?

didn't think of that, I have just tried a dry rag.... took forever. WD40 as solvent and a rag, still took a while, and now a carburetor cleaner/throttle body cleaner, spray and all the grime just drops instantly. A quick wipe and the cassette is all shiny again, dries nearly instantly after wipe, but like I said I worry what it can do if it seeps into the hub/bearing.

I try to spray in an away direction or "shield" what I can with a rag. I am curious if anyone had problems with WD40 eating away the bearing grease, I might just go back to that.

Dawn Power Dissolver ? Foam Spray For Cleaning Tough Greasy Foods This is the best stuff. Stronger than dish soap. I use it to detail my cars even. Spray on, let it sit for about 15 min (not in the sun), then come back and you hardly have to scrub at all. I have a hard time finding it in the stores though. Walmart is hit or miss. Target sometimes has it as well. Amazon :D