Brown Sludge

BobbyTrigger

cleaned the bike as normal, then lubed it to death as i generally do.

next time i went back to it i noticed a load of brown sludge coming out of the steerer tube at the join to the forks and also brown sludge coming out of my skewers.

obviously i realise this isn't great but potentially how bad could it be?

i guess a trip to the LBS for a service is required.

Bozman

I'd guess that your headset is shot, I got the same result after using my CR1 this winter. It's quite an easy job to take it apart, clean it and replace the bearings.

cycleclinic

water has got into the headset bearings causing rust. What lube are you using you do know some of those spray lubes remove the grease in bearings i.e sp[raying GT85 or worse WD40 all over your cassette can often remove grease from hub bearings.

Luning a bike to death is not a good idea. On a bit of lube on the chain is required nothing more. If the headset bearings feel notchy they need to be changed.

BobbyTrigger

cheers. i guess my skewers are cattled too?

finishline oil for chain, cassette etc... GT 85 for frame, cable housings etc..

slowbike

I doubt it's the skewers - probably sludge from the hub bearings ...

Matthewfalle

Yup - as per cycleclinic: sounds like water ingress into headset causing potential rust on bearings and skank in bearing grease causing the grease to go all skanky.

Its not a biggy though and no need to panic: just drop the forks out, clean the headset bearings, regrease and reassemble.

No need for new one unless it really jazzed and, as above, all notchy, but a good clean and regrease will work wonders.

The skewers aren't really an issue: take out, clean, clean through the wheel where they go through, light oil/grease. reassemble.

Re lubes: chain and a wipe over the cables to prevent rust and that's about it. Chain is degreased with Jizer once a week. I tend to change all cables (inners and outers) about every 9 months anyway (before they go jack) with Shimano lones from the big Shimano cable box down the LBS (nowt fancy butt good quality) - two gear cables, outers, two brake cables & outers cost £15.

No need to cover the frame on GT/WD/whatever: car shampoo wash every couple of weeks (including good clean of the chain with same), car polish every few months, job jobbed.

graeme_s-2

My new favourite video shows how to remove, clean and refit a headset (something I'd avoided in the past until I saw how easy it is).

http://roadcyclinguk.com/how-to/techniq ... adset.html

BobbyTrigger

great video cheers!

cycleclinic

There are lots of cleaning regimes you can do for chains I find Rock n roll lube does the job well enough cleaning is not needed unless you want it clean. As I have little spare time one less job to do is very welcome for me.