Cleaning the bikes

"Claire Petersky" wrote: (clip) Slug guts seemingly permanently stuck on the
inside of the fenders.(clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Would spraying the inside of the fenders with something like Armorall or
silicone spray make the cleaning easier next time?
^^^^^^^^^^
Time for lunch, and then I'll bring down my husband's bike next.
^^^^^^^^^^
Why can't he do his own? (Or is he busy making your lunch?)

Part 2:

I made lunch for my husband and me, and after we were done, I then started
in on his bike. His bike took about an hour and a half to clean, and I
didn't even do the frame cleaning that I did on mine. He doesn't clean his
bike very often -- maybe we both do it a couple times a year. He also
re-lubes a dirty bike, something I wouldn't do. Oh, and he also doesn't wipe
down the chain after lubing. He doesn't ride as often as I do, and he rarely
rides in the rain, but still, his bad habits (or lack of good ones) meant
that the drivetrain was a piece of work.

After that, it took me a half hour to clean the downstairs bathroom. I don't
clean bikes in the garage this time of year -- too cold. It makes a mess of
the bathroom, but it needed its floor scrubbed anyway. Even without the bike
grease it was pretty disgusting.

Leo wonders why my husband doesn't clean his own drivetrain. I'm more
thorough when it comes to drivetrain cleaning, and apparently I enjoy it
more, since he does it so rarely. So I might as well.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
newsKFBd.4254.
>
> After that, it took me a half hour to clean the downstairs bathroom. I
don't
> clean bikes in the garage this time of year -- too cold. It makes a mess
of
> the bathroom, but it needed its floor scrubbed anyway. Even without the
bike
> grease it was pretty disgusting.
>

do you not have a garage (I guess not)? If you can ride in the cold, why
can't you clean in it?
personally, I just can't see cleaning a dirty drivetrain inside my house.
If I were in your shoes, I'd take mine to the LBS.

>

In article <[email protected]>,
"Roger Zoul" <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> newsKFBd.4254.
> >
> > After that, it took me a half hour to clean the downstairs bathroom. I
> don't
> > clean bikes in the garage this time of year -- too cold. It makes a mess
> of
> > the bathroom, but it needed its floor scrubbed anyway. Even without the
> bike
> > grease it was pretty disgusting.
> >
>
> do you not have a garage (I guess not)? If you can ride in the cold, why
> can't you clean in it?

Let me take this one: physical activity keeps the blood pumping, and is,
for most of its participants, an inherently desireable activity. Bike
maintenance is essentially sedentary in character, and you want dextrous
use of your fingers. It's just no fun to do such things at 0-10 degrees,
where your fingers are either well-gloved or chilled. A careful layer of
newspaper will allow clean bike maintenance on just about any hard
floor, so why not do it inside?

> personally, I just can't see cleaning a dirty drivetrain inside my house.
> If I were in your shoes, I'd take mine to the LBS.

You have to prep your work area, but I've done bike maintenance in my
kitchen once or twice. Then again, it caused my lovely bride to buy me a
bike shed, so you know, win-win.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com
Verus de parvis; verus de magnis.

"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> OK, so I just finished cleaning my bike. I haven't done it for a while, so
> it was quite a chore. There seemed to be fir needles wedged into nearly
> every component. Slug guts seemingly permanently stuck on the inside of
the
> fenders. Schmutz everywhere.
>
> Now, the drivetrain is gleaming, and freshly coated with some heavy-duty
> rainy day lubricant. The rims have been scrubbed and you can once again
read
> the logo on the tire. The frame, while not perfect, at least is not
> encrusted with grit and mud.
>
> Time for lunch, and then I'll bring down my husband's bike next.
>
>
> --
> Warm Regards,
>
> Claire Petersky
> please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
> Home of the meditative cyclist:
> http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
> Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
> See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky
>
You ride with him and work on his bike?
I married the wrong woman!
Do you have a sister?

"Roger Zoul" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> If I were in your shoes, I'd take mine to the LBS.

You want to pay for our bikes to get cleaned? It's a deal!


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Roger Zoul" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > If I were in your shoes, I'd take mine to the LBS.
>
> You want to pay for our bikes to get cleaned? It's a deal!

Sure. Bring them to SC and I think about it.

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 02:41:20 -0800, Ryan Cousineau <[email protected]>
wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> "Roger Zoul" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> "Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> newsKFBd.4254.
>> >
>> > After that, it took me a half hour to clean the downstairs bathroom. I
>> don't
>> > clean bikes in the garage this time of year -- too cold. It makes a mess
>> of
>> > the bathroom, but it needed its floor scrubbed anyway. Even without the

>
>> personally, I just can't see cleaning a dirty drivetrain inside my house.
>> If I were in your shoes, I'd take mine to the LBS.
>
>You have to prep your work area, but I've done bike maintenance in my
>kitchen once or twice. Then again, it caused my lovely bride to buy me a
>bike shed, so you know, win-win.


Yep. I live in an apartment, no garage or other work area. Clean the
wheels in the bathtub, chain in various jars under the kitchen sink,
and a stand set up in the kitchen with a drop cloth for the frame.

It ends up being the only reason I clean regularly, but I'm a guy.

Eric

"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> OK, so I just finished cleaning my bike. I haven't done it for a
> while, so it was quite a chore.

Claire, Claire, Claire don't do it now, it will just get dirty again,
wait until spring.

EXCUSE ME? I think after all that work your husband shuld get off his
duff and do his OWN bike, don't you think????

- -

"May you have the wind at your back.
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

"Chris Zacho "The Wheelman"" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> EXCUSE ME? I think after all that work your husband shuld get off his
> duff and do his OWN bike, don't you think????

Are you married? Do you ever do things for your wife?

My husband is more experienced with power tools, so he's the one that uses
them. A long time ago I was electrocuted in my kitchen, so I am really
freaked out about electricity. He replaces light fixtures. He's the family
tech guy, and has set up the household computer network. He is completely
and one hundred percent in charge of the VCR and knowing what's on TV.

But if he knows what's on TV, I'm the one that reads all the movie reviews
and know what movies are good right now. I am the one that schedules the
kids for things like trombone lessons and basketball practice, and makes
sure that they have things like music stands and gym shorts. I do most of
the cooking.

This is what relationships are about, aren't they? You don't keep a little
tally sheet of who has done what, you both take care of each other, and
appreciate each other's efforts.

And I enjoy riding with my husband, and know he's happier when he gets
exercise, so I don't mind encouraging him along with giving him a clean bike
every so once in a while.

You wouldn't help clean or fix your sweetie's bike?


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Chris Zacho "The Wheelman" wrote:
> EXCUSE ME? I think after all that work your husband shuld
get off his
> duff and do his OWN bike, don't you think????

Aren't you wandering into sex-role stereotyping here?

--
Mike Kruger
(whose older daughter took auto shop in high school)

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
SNIP
>A long time ago I was electrocuted in my kitchen<

yar...

-a

In article <[email protected]>,
Mike Latondresse <mikelat@no_spam_shaw.ca> writes:
> "Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>> OK, so I just finished cleaning my bike. I haven't done it for a
>> while, so it was quite a chore.
>
> Claire, Claire, Claire don't do it now, it will just get dirty again,
> wait until spring.

My poor ol' workhorse, Ol' Pig Iron, has seen better days.
So today I begrudgingly festooned my pretty little latest
acquisiton (the Norco Mountaineer w/ V-brakes & grip-shifts)
with the commuterata from the old bike.

Sigh. I really wanted to keep Diana The Lizard Queen
special; maybe make a polo bike out of 'er. Oh, well.
At least I haven't yet subjected her to the ignominy
of hauling a trailer full of shovel, grub hoe, asphalt
rake, wrecking bars, etc. Only 'cuz I can't afford a
trailer. And she's clean as a whistle, with like-new
rims.

I want a raise!


cheers,
Tom

--
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