TL;DR -- Overhaul time
Silty water got everywhere - everything is gritty feeling. Everything seems to have a few drips of water in it - so I've taken it down as far as I can get everything (though I did leave the front fork attached since its open at the top and bottom.
What a mess... You know what the worst part is? I just checked the map, the detour wasn't 7miles... it was barely 3mi... what a dumb decision that quickly got worse and worse!
Thanks for the advice folks! I think I've learned my lesson with giant puddles that are 10s of meters long! ::blushes::
Originally Posted by
pdlamb
You really should have picked the bike up and carried it across the deep parts.
Everything that moves and was underwater should be cleaned, dried, and re-lubed. (Except you might get by just rinsing the spokes and rims, and maybe dribbling a bit of oil on the spoke/nipple interfaces.) Chain (just clean with mineral spirits and re-lube), bottom bracket, hubs, derailer pivots, brake pivots, cables, probably up the the lower headset races. This would be a good time to hit the inside of the frame with Frame Saver or equivalent, if you've got a steel frame, after you've dried it and while it's all opened up.
I definitely should have picked it up! It was maybe 6 inches deep for a while and then suddenly dipped down and it just got worse from there... wish I had slammed the brakes on as soon as I felt the front wheel dip!
Yup - steel frame - I'll need to order in some framesaver though. I suspect wd40 might serve a similar purpose but I won't do anything just now though.
Glad you mentioned the spoke/nipples, I nearly forgot them ::blushes:: - I was too busy worrying about everything else - but sure enough there's water that's leaked into the little wells where the nipples go - tyre's off and giving it a dry out just now.
Originally Posted by
Koyote
I'll be a bit of a contrarian here.
You should pull out the seatpost and turn the bike upside down, in case there is water in the frame. Even if nothing comes out, I would leave it in a sunny area (w/out seatpost) for a couple hours to let any moisture evaporate.
You should certainly clean the chain and lube it.
If your hubs have sealed cartridge bearings, they are fine; if they are cup & cone bearings, I would probably open 'em up for a cleaning and fresh grease, but you could wait to see if they develop any roughness.
I wouldn't worry about the bottom bracket bearings - they are probably fine. If not, you'll figure it out when they show problems.
"Even if nothing comes out" they said! It was at least half-filled with kinda-gross water... but now its on my kitchen floor!
I'm glad you mentioned that! I couldn't even tell, even with the seatpost out. Yup - cup and cone... its very tempting to leave the hubs and cross my fingers that there wasn't water ingress - it was repacked a week ago, and I always over-grease to try and keep water out... but, I dunno... I can't
feel any grittiness and it seems to spin freely... buuut...... I'll leave it for now. Any problems on the test-cycle and it'll be an instant-stop.
Originally Posted by
GlennR
I would disassemble it and give it a good wash and clean. Just be glad it wasn't salt water.
Oh, that'd have been nasty - I'd need to give it another bath when it got home!