How to clean your drivetrain??

Good one..step 1,2,3....

 

the seals should keep the grease in place unless you ride old lower end bikes like me, which don't have seals. bear in mind that grease is oil + thickener and if you dilute it with oil you will just wash it out with oil.

I like old bikes and you mostly see thickened grease on old unused bikes. you find an oily dusty stain around the hub which to me suggests the oil creeps out of the grease when a bike is unused. There's never enough on the spokes or rim to conclude the stain is caused by oiling.

I have worked on bikes which I had purchased new or serviced, and grease is fine even after years, but those bikes get used so the grease gets stirred up.

The way to deal with grease issues is to repack. Contamination is a bigger worry than anything else, IMHO.

 

Dang. If I had those conditions I wouldn't wash my chain at all, just oil and wipe, unless I played it from side to side and heard grit crunching around inside the chain.

I only clean when the chain gets wet or dusty (puddle water carries grit into the chain).

 

Wipe. Pro Link. Spin crank, shifting up and down the cogs. Wipe.

That's it.

If you spend more than 10 minutes cleaning your chain, you need some serious therapeutic intervention.

 

Oil, water, and soap can mix together to form a thick brown sludge. Stop pouring oil on your cassette. I believe the oil is what is causing the dark color. Look up "emulsion" if you want to learn more.

I think you only need to clean the chain and cassette if they get muddy or wet with rain water. You never need to pour oil on it first.

 

!) STOP overlubing your chain. The only thing that needs lube is the space between the pins and the rollers. Do not put lube on your cassette. Do not "flood" the chain with lube. One drop per roller, or wet a quarter sized spot on a towel and hold it against the chain while you rotate it. With either method, wipe of thye excess after the carrier fluid evaporates.

2) Clean your chain & cassette more often. Every hundred miles is about right. In other words, don't let it get grungy.

3) If you still have questions, see the bicycletutor online and watch the clip on chain maintenance. bk

 

Thx alot guys.I think I knew what to do with it now!