You mean my gears are not black?

[Caden]

I had forgotten that my 16-month-old road bike didn't actually come with black gears. I just gave it a thorough cleaning but I'm wondering if the level of cleaning I gave it is more than most folks here do. It took me nearly two hours! I think I would've saved time by completely taking it apart and just throwing everything into a can of gasoline. Do you folks get yours clean enough that none of the teeth (front or back) have *any* black on them at all and the bike looks brand-new?

The hardest bits were the rear derailler - tough black ridges of gunk on the idler wheels or whatever you call those and surfaces almost impossible to reach with a brush. Then the chainrings. Oh my god! How do you clean these properly without taking them apart? I used full-strength simple-green on everything including the cassette. Rinsed with low pressure water of course.

Does it get easier with repeat cleanings?

[Retro Grouch]

I had forgotten that my 16-month-old road bike didn't actually come with black gears.

Does it get easier with repeat cleanings?
It gets easier with more frequent cleanings.

If I'm working on a bike that's real grungy, I do some disassembly. I start by clamping the bike by the seatpost and remove both wheels. I remove the chain and cassette and soak them in a parts cleaning tank or a coffee can with some mineral spirits. It's easier (I'm not sure about faster) to pull the drive side crankarm and remove the chainrings. After reassembling the chainrings I put the cassette back on the freehub body and take a folded over rag to floss between the cogs. The freehub holds the cogs in one direction for cleaning and lets them turn the other way to expose another dirty part.

[dekindy]

I take a rag and floss between the gears and then wipe the teeth. The freehub allows the wheel to only turn one way so you don't have to hold the wheel. I have it in my bike stand or you can turn the bike upside down if you do not have a stand or just take the wheel out and put it on the ground.

Dumonde Tech says to use soap and water to clean the chain and get the gunk off and reapply lube. Degreaser takes all the lubricant off and you are starting over each time you remove it. The lubricant will build up a coating on your chain and extend it's life if you don' take the lubricant off with degreaser. I have a Park Tool Cyclone chain scrubber.

Clean the cogs and one of the chain rings and then move the chain to the clean gear/ring combo. You will probably have to go back and wipe off the chain ring and cog you were using, but the chain will not get clean running over dirty gears.

If you just run your chain through a rag for several revolutions after each ride you will keep most of the gunk off the chain and it makes it easier to clean when you do clean the whole drive train. Dumonde tech recommends not applying new lube until the chain actually starts making noise.

Let chain dry overnight and run chain through a rag to wipe off excess lubricant. This will help keep the gunk from getting on.

Also storing your bike in a clean environment helps. I saw much improvement when I cleaned the garage floor. Everytime I drove the car into the garage it was blowing debris into the drivetrain.

[MarkInNC]

Not sure about what is best, but I use engine degreaser on the chain and sprokets. I cover the wheels and tires with a plastic tarp then spray down the dirty parts wait about ten minutes, wipe with a paint brush, and then clean up with some dry spray cleaner and rag. Chain and gears come out shinney. I use wax lube and alway wonder how everything gets black again after a few hundred miles.

Mark

I had forgotten that my 16-month-old road bike didn't actually come with black gears. I just gave it a thorough cleaning but I'm wondering if the level of cleaning I gave it is more than most folks here do. It took me nearly two hours! I think I would've saved time by completely taking it apart and just throwing everything into a can of gasoline. Do you folks get yours clean enough that none of the teeth (front or back) have *any* black on them at all and the bike looks brand-new?

The hardest bits were the rear derailler - tough black ridges of gunk on the idler wheels or whatever you call those and surfaces almost impossible to reach with a brush. Then the chainrings. Oh my god! How do you clean these properly without taking them apart? I used full-strength simple-green on everything including the cassette. Rinsed with low pressure water of course.

Does it get easier with repeat cleanings?

[threaded]

I wax my chain, so I tend to only need a bucket of warm water, a hose-pipe and a brush.

From what I hear, and read here, I'm sure chain-oil is a conspiracy amongst the bike-shops to sell more stuff.

[roadnsnh]

Twine of the appropriate diameter, wetted with degreaser, does a good job of cleaning your cluster.

Pulley gunk can be scraped off by holding the blade of a screwdriver on the line of gunk and turning your crank. Then wipe with a rag.

Leland Yee