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In preparing for Mad Anthony Cyclocross race at Fort Wayne I’ll be swapping shifting components between two of my bikes so that the Titus Racer X 29er gets new SRAM X9 components and the Specialized Rockhopper gets its SRAM X7 stuff. Since this involves a fair amount of disassembly I figured I’d completely wash both bikes, including their drivetrains, and thus tonight I pulled the cranksets apart and washed them. Since the last similar cleaning both had become well-packed with gritty dirt and the chainrings had built up the typical packed in oil and dirt mixture.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get the bikes washed and the reassembly / parts move started, and then Wednesday I can take the Specialized out for a test ride at Stony Creek.
How do you get rid of that thick, sticky oil that collects on mechanical things like cogs and bearings? That kind of thick goo which likes to smear, rather than come off no matter how much degreaser is applied.
James: For the really heavy stuff I wipe it off with paper towel before using degreaser and a toothbrush. I normally don’t have a lot of heavy oil/grease on things because I’m fairly conservative with lubricant applications. For the chain I apply lube, let it sit, then wipe then chain down. After all, lube on the outside of the chain does nothing but attract dirt.