Cleaning your bike after a wet commute

2»

Comments

  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Jamey wrote:
    A hundred and sixty quid for a cassette? Bloody nora. What makes expensive cassettes better than cheap ones?

    Less weight. It's genius. You pay more for less.

    At the top end, the Campy Ultra-Uber-Record 12 cassettes are £350. And they're literally no more than an empty box! Weight weenies trample each other to get them. :D:D:D
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • Jon8a
    Jon8a Posts: 235
    I ride a singlespeed, I clean it once a year whether it needs it or not.

    Clean bikes attact more attention...
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,714
    Wipe it down occasionally, maybe some lube on the chain once in a while. The key is to use cheap crap bits on your commuter. Mine uses aSora 8 speed cassette and chain, costs £20 off ebay for a new chain/cassette. They get changed once a year generally, with cheap chainrings being replaced occasionally.

    I don't allow a speck of dust to stay on my Cannondale though. It has to shine!
  • DiggingDeeper
    DiggingDeeper Posts: 225
    I'll clean it (them) when I can no longer push the peddles round.

    Or buy a new one , that's probably easier.
    [1]Ribble winter special
    [2] Trek 5200 old style carbon
    [3] Frankensteins hybrid FCN 8
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    I tend to just keep the chain clean and then service them when bits start to show reduce performance. But I work in a bike shop so little and often maintanence is easy for me.
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Greg66 wrote:
    Jamey wrote:
    A hundred and sixty quid for a cassette? Bloody nora. What makes expensive cassettes better than cheap ones?

    Less weight. It's genius. You pay more for less.

    At the top end, the Campy Ultra-Uber-Record 12 cassettes are £350. And they're literally no more than an empty box! Weight weenies trample each other to get them. :D:D:D

    Twelve? I was not made aware of the availability of yet another sprocket? Why not? Campy snobs, you have let me down...

    Oh and I'm not planning to crash it. And if I do I may well replace record with something cheaper. Or not. I'll see how I'm feeling.
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • STEFANOS4784
    STEFANOS4784 Posts: 4,109
    There is no 12th. it's just a joke :? Unless those dam roadies have tricked me too..............
    winter beast: http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff016.jpg
    Summer beast; http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr34 ... uff015.jpg
  • pst88
    pst88 Posts: 621
    Yeah I think I might've cleaned my chain a few months ago... keep meaning to clean the whole bike any week now.
    Bianchi Via Nirone Veloce/Centaur 2010
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Greg66 wrote:
    Jamey wrote:
    A hundred and sixty quid for a cassette? Bloody nora. What makes expensive cassettes better than cheap ones?

    Less weight. It's genius. You pay more for less.

    At the top end, the Campy Ultra-Uber-Record 12 cassettes are £350. And they're literally no more than an empty box! Weight weenies trample each other to get them. :D:D:D

    Twelve? I was not made aware of the availability of yet another sprocket? Why not? Campy snobs, you have let me down...

    Oh and I'm not planning to crash it. And if I do I may well replace record with something cheaper. Or not. I'll see how I'm feeling.

    12 speed is not for the uninitiated. You'll just have to make do with 11 for now.

    *wanders off to play with his 14 Super Record Electronic Gruppo.
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    jashburnham wrote:
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Greg66 wrote:
    Jamey wrote:
    A hundred and sixty quid for a cassette? Bloody nora. What makes expensive cassettes better than cheap ones?

    Less weight. It's genius. You pay more for less.

    At the top end, the Campy Ultra-Uber-Record 12 cassettes are £350. And they're literally no more than an empty box! Weight weenies trample each other to get them. :D:D:D

    Twelve? I was not made aware of the availability of yet another sprocket? Why not? Campy snobs, you have let me down...

    Oh and I'm not planning to crash it. And if I do I may well replace record with something cheaper. Or not. I'll see how I'm feeling.

    12 speed is not for the uninitiated. You'll just have to make do with 11 for now.

    *wanders off to play with his 14 Super Record Electronic Gruppo.

    :lol:

    Damn it. So when do I get to be in with the in crowd and up my sprockets? It's all about the sprockets, I understand. Am I cool yet?
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    jashburnham wrote:
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Greg66 wrote:
    Jamey wrote:
    A hundred and sixty quid for a cassette? Bloody nora. What makes expensive cassettes better than cheap ones?

    Less weight. It's genius. You pay more for less.

    At the top end, the Campy Ultra-Uber-Record 12 cassettes are £350. And they're literally no more than an empty box! Weight weenies trample each other to get them. :D:D:D

    Twelve? I was not made aware of the availability of yet another sprocket? Why not? Campy snobs, you have let me down...

    Oh and I'm not planning to crash it. And if I do I may well replace record with something cheaper. Or not. I'll see how I'm feeling.

    12 speed is not for the uninitiated. You'll just have to make do with 11 for now.

    *wanders off to play with his 14 Super Record Electronic Gruppo.

    :lol:

    Damn it. So when do I get to be in with the in crowd and up my sprockets? It's all about the sprockets, I understand. Am I cool yet?

    No.

    *Whispers: It's not really cool to talk about it so openly.
  • flattythehurdler
    flattythehurdler Posts: 2,314
    You need 6 blades on your leg razor before they'll entertain a puchase of super 14
    Dan
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,064
    inspired by the general lazy attitude of this topic I just threw a bucket of water over my bike after today's epic, no doubt tomorrow it will be a heap of rust, if so I will hold each any everyone of you personally responsible :evil:

    slackers.... :roll:
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • hillclimbingnut
    hillclimbingnut Posts: 26
    STEFANOS4784 wrote:
    There is no 12th. it's just a joke :? Unless those dam roadies have tricked me too..............

    They have Stef ...... they have a 13. Campy thought why just increase it by one when we can do it by 2. They call it unlucky for some specially if they ride it hard!!

    hehe
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    DiggingDeeper wrote:
    I'll clean it (them) when I can no longer push the peddles round.

    Or buy a new one , that's probably easier.

    :lol:


    The chain was grinding like hell tonight. Think it needs a lube tonight.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Having turned the back wheel around, added a new sprocket and lengthened my chain, I have concluded that I may need to clean my bike.

    So what do you clean yours with? I cleaned the chain with fairy liquid...
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    Did anyone else hear thunder?

    I think this might have just turned into a chain cleaning thread.
    My photography // My helmet cam videos // My bike
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Baby wipes and kitchen towels, Muc Off, De-Greaser.

    I take the cassette apart once every six weeks or so. I need a new chain though.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Having turned the back wheel around, added a new sprocket and lengthened my chain, I have concluded that I may need to clean my bike.

    So what do you clean yours with? I cleaned the chain with fairy liquid...

    A damp cloth. I steer clear of degreaser if I can help it - this is achieved by cleaning regularly.
  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    Hi,
    Mine gets the chain oiled when it gets dry. Maintenance generally on a break-fix basis with cleaning sometimes preceeding it (so I don't get quite as dirty while fixing...).

    I usually shake it before putting it away to get the worst of the rain off...

    Mudguards help- after the death of the Winter Hack I'm using the Nice Fixie, it's more fun to ride but only has raceblades and the bike is noticeably grottier as a result (salty grit in the brake calipers is bad news).
    I have a new frame for the Winter Hack, though.. it will ride again when I have the time to put it together! Much nicer, too- the old one was a Raleigh Equipe, made of old gas pipe, I think. The new one was once a Dawes Linear and has seamless Cro-Mo (albeit not butted), nice lugs and better paint!

    Cheers,
    W.
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Yeah, the brake calipers are really grim at the moment. I'm cleaning those reasonably regularly by taking them off the frame and also running some kitchen towel through the bolt hole.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    cjcp wrote:
    Yeah, the brake calipers are really grim at the moment. I'm cleaning those reasonably regularly by taking them off the frame and also running some kitchen towel through the bolt hole.

    Worth looking after. The Pearson has lost two calipers this winter, both cheap jobbies that failed totally.
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Yep, another scrub due this weekend. And the wheel rims. I'm running the Open Sport front in this weather to give the CXP a rest - also the the rear is a newer CXP rim, so want to balance them out a little.

    I'm close to replacing the cassette too, but really not sure it's worth it with all this guff still on the road.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    cjcp wrote:
    Yeah, the brake calipers are really grim at the moment. I'm cleaning those reasonably regularly by taking them off the frame and also running some kitchen towel through the bolt hole.

    Toothbrush is your friend. And a blob of WD40 in the main pivot. Once had a Campy caliper seize and die.
    cjcp wrote:
    I'm close to replacing the cassette too, but really not sure it's worth it with all this guff still on the road

    Is it jumping? If not, I wouldn't bother. Once it starts jumping though, that's such a PITA that I usually do it immediately.

    Bloody bike store which is normally very reliable but shall this time remain nameless has just sent me a cheaper cassette than the one I ordered and paid for. No box, just stapled in a plastic bag with the instructions. Fortunately Campy cassette instructions tell you which sprockets share carriers as you move up the ranges, so these "accidents" can be spotted quite easily. Not terribly happy though...
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Greg66 wrote:
    Toothbrush is your friend. And a blob of WD40 in the main pivot. Once had a Campy caliper seize and die.

    Yep. Do this already (not told the kids though :wink: ). It was beginning to get a bit sticky a couple of months back.

    cjcp wrote:
    I'm close to replacing the cassette too, but really not sure it's worth it with all this guff still on the road

    Is it jumping? If not, I wouldn't bother. Once it starts jumping though, that's such a PITA that I usually do it immediately.

    Hmmm. Well, the chain is now hopping from the 53 to the 39 when I change into the 23 or 25 and apply a bit of force on the pedals eg standing on them. It's only started doing this in the last couple of weeks. It could be a worn chain or a stiff link, so I'm going to give the chain a wash and lube this weekend and see how it goes. It's fine on the other sprockets, other than needing a cable tune (given how recent this hopping on to the 39 is, I don't think it's a tuning problem).
    Bloody bike store which is normally very reliable but shall this time remain nameless has just sent me a cheaper cassette than the one I ordered and paid for. No box, just stapled in a plastic bag with the instructions. Fortunately Campy cassette instructions tell you which sprockets share carriers as you move up the ranges, so these "accidents" can be spotted quite easily. Not terribly happy though...

    :x
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • steve-m
    steve-m Posts: 106
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Having turned the back wheel around, added a new sprocket and lengthened my chain, I have concluded that I may need to clean my bike.

    So what do you clean yours with? I cleaned the chain with fairy liquid...

    Supposedly not a good idea as it contains salt.
    Fixed, commute: Langster 08, FCN6
    Road : Aravis (byercycles) Shimano 105 triple
    Hybrid: Trek 7.2 FX, unused / unloved
  • flattythehurdler
    flattythehurdler Posts: 2,314
    Is that why it says not to drink it on the bottle?
    Dan
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    steve-m wrote:
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Having turned the back wheel around, added a new sprocket and lengthened my chain, I have concluded that I may need to clean my bike.

    So what do you clean yours with? I cleaned the chain with fairy liquid...

    Supposedly not a good idea as it contains salt.

    Muc-off any better?
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • flattythehurdler
    flattythehurdler Posts: 2,314
    No. it says not to drink that either.
    Dan

Categories