Bike Chain Cleaning

I have been neglecting a lot of things I wish I weren't. I blame the dissertation, but it's likely more than that at work.

Among the things that had gone too long was the bikes drive chain. It needed a good cleaning. The crud kicked up from 18 miles a day during the summer in Dover for 2 years, and then 8 miles daily last year had mixed with constant re-applications of lube to produce an evil schmutz that seemed to get on everything.

"I get greasy just looking at your bike," she had said.

I finally picked up the sword, erm, can of brake cleaner and a tooth brush, and got to work. Working on bikes is far easier than cars. The parts are small and light, and everything you need fits into a small toolbox.

The crankset and cassette came clean pretty easily, but the chain was a real travesty. I soaked in goo-gone, wiped it clean, soaked it in a washtub with hot water and dishsoap, scrubed it with a toothbrush several times, changed the water and did it again. Then, in an act of desperation (everything it touched was still getting greasy!), I put it in the dishwasher.

I want to say that helped, but the white towels still had light grey smudges when I handled the chain. At least it was metal-white, and not black. I thought it was black-anodized before. Apparently not.

I had heard that high-teflon lubes were essentially permanent. I now have to agree.

I re-coated it with a light coating Pedros Extra Dry, gave everything a spin, then toweled off the drips. The drive train feels much lighter now. It's so nice, clean, and mechanical now. That should have been done along time ago.

I was stupid and pushed a crossbar completely out of the chain, then dinged the bar trying to shove it back in neccisitating the removal of a link. Other then that, the drivetrain is in surprisingly good condition. I have likely doubled (or more!) the milage since replacing the stock parts (circa 1995) with the current ones in 2006, and I would have expected concommitant wear. Perhaps the combination of riding on streets and better components has resulted in a longer life span.
 
Certainly, there are parts that are wearing. The sound of grit is audible in the bottom bracket. The rubber bearing cups are dry-rotting. The rear derailure in particular is suffering from my exuberant shifting. It's loose on its mounting, and both gears have considerable play. The tires are a little questionable, but they are not giving regular flats.

Let it roll, I say, let it roll.