Other people's gears

[ComedyPilot]

It's not hard to keep on top of your bike gears - just degrease/wash/dry/lube after every ride.

Must have passed about 12 riders today and 8 of them had squeaky black/dirty chains

Watch this - clean it and offend my eyes/ears no more

 

[Brandane]

It's not hard to keep on top of your bike gears - just degrease/wash/dry/lube after every ride.

Must have passed about 12 riders today and 8 of them had squeaky black/dirty chains

Watch this - clean it and offend my eyes/ears no more

30 minutes? After every ride?
Don't get me wrong, I like to keep on top of my bikes mechanically, but that certainly will NOT be happening!

 

[PaulSecteur]

When I used to sportive a lot I was surprised at the amount of top end bikes with very poorly adjusted or maintained gears and indexing.

 

[Milzy]

Yes, this boils my urine also. I know a lad who polishes his frame all the time and the cassette is black with thick dry oil,dust etc. He'd be better been the other way around.

 

[ComedyPilot]

30 minutes? After every ride?
Don't get me wrong, I like to keep on top of my bikes mechanically, but that certainly will NOT be happening!

There are options....

 

[Brandane]

And another thing; spraying WD40 (or any other lubricant) the way he did, downwards onto the brake calipers while the wheels are fitted?

 

[winjim]

Quick wipe down with an oily rag anyone? All that washing up liquid and degreaser is going to, well, degrease things. I put the grease there for a reason in the first place!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Clean the bike after every ride?
Wot, when I get to work, then again when I get home?
If then I decide to jump on the bike again for some reason?
Clean it once more?

 

[Chris S]

Buy something with a Sturmey Archer AW hub. You might need to trickle some motor oil down it if it's been standing over winter but apart from that it will work perfectly every time and probably outlast the bike.

 

[snorri]

It's not hard to keep on top of your bike gears - just degrease/wash/dry/lube after every ride.

........................but it is hard. Why should a relatively lo-tech machine like my bike require more day to day maintenance than my car which covers twice the annual mileage?
I know why, it's because the market is flooded with bikes for wannabe racers and clever marketing which has resulted in the majority of UK cyclists being sold bikes which are more suited to occasional sporting or leisure use rather than daily transport which is what they had wanted the bike for when they approached the salesperson.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Once a week wash bike, once a week check bike, if chain is dirty wipe with rag, if chain is very dirty clean with white spirit and an old paint brush, if the chain is dry relub, job done

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I'm not going to clean or lube my chain for a year........and that'll show you.

Are going to ride during that time?

 

[swee'pea99]

just degrease/wash/dry/lube after every ride

Are you insane? There's no excuse for filthy, poorly maintained gears, but the idea that avoiding it involves that kind of effort is ludicrous. I keep everything running sweet by cleaning things occasionally and by going easy/carefully with lubes - so's to avoid picking up crap in the first place. Degreasing/washing the actual chain is, as I understand it, a no-no in any case - it removes internal factory-fitted lubes that you actually need, and can't replace. No, I wipe down the chain and re-lube maybe once a fortnight; attend to the gears and cassette occasionally, and all is well.

 

[Moon bunny]

I read threads like this and realize why I chose belt drive and hub gears.

 

[mcshroom]

Just fitted a new set of chainrings, cassette and chain to my Tourer. Not sure the OP would have liked the state of the old stuff but I knew they were all dead anyway so just ran them into the ground. It was all indexed and running reasonably smoothly (other than the chain-suck from the worn rings) just filthy

You can clean the chain if you want to @swee'pea99, but then need to lube it again properly. I've had to on my MTB recently after riding 4 miles along the beach at low tide. Chain off, cleaned in white spirit, dried, wet lube applied. Unfortunately forgot to dry the casette after washing so that now has a few orange teeth that need sorting