carlspeed

I went on a long ride today and about the last 5 miles I noticed that the drivetrain was progressively getting stiffer. It's not really bad, but if I throw the pedals backwards when the bike is on the hanger, they don't go very far. It's like something is binding. The components are 105's.

I took the chain off the front crank and it's a bit better, but not much. I took the chain off the rear cassette and it's a little stiff too.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer, and here is what I think it is.

The bike has been ridden a bit over 500 miles since I've had it. It wasn't used for about a year prior to me getting it, however, right before that it was serviced by a LBS. I haven't oiled the chain since I've had it. With all the dirt and grime that I get on myself when I ride, I'm guessing I've neglected the drivetrain for too long. I used to use WD-40, and I read here that it's bad, and I've kept putting off going to the LBS and getting some good chain oil...

Am I probably right? What's the best way to re lube this thing properly, instead of doing what I did back in the day and flip it upside down and spray WD-40 everywhere why I pedal it with my hands? Thanks in advance.

cracker7213

My guess would be that the bearings in the BB are in need of some tlc. I would do an overall on the BB and clean and relube the bearings. If its a cartridge BB a.k.a., New, then you can simply replace it. When your at the LBS getting the new BB, pick up some finish line chain oil for $5. It's worth it. WD-40 is as good as using salt water. It will actually get rid of the grease in your drivetrain, leaving it metal on metal which would significantly stiffen up the drivetrain. Honestly, i would bring it in to the Bike shop. You will be glad you did.

doOde

what bike you have?
why year 105 parts?
cartridge or cup/cone bottom bracket?

FBinNY 

You have three systems involved and unless you isolate them you're just blowing smoke. To isolate the actual problem you'll have to use a divide and conquer method.

First spin the wheel with your fingers on the top loop of the chain and see if the cassette is trying to spin and feed the chain. You can also test this by removing the wheel, and installing with the chain off. Spin the wheel and hold the cassette to test for freehub drag. If you have freehub drag, donm't take it apart just yet. Look behind the cassette, or remove it and check if a bit of road debris or piece of string is wound up back there binding the cassette to the hub shell.

Next drop the chain inside the inner chainring and park it on the bottom bracket shell. You might need to use a piece of cord to hold it clear of the chainrings. Now spin your cranks and both watch and listen. They should spin freely and be silent or have a smooth whirr kind of sound.

Now put it all together and check the chain for internal friction by back pedaling slowly in a middle gear with your hand pushing the lower RD pulley forward slightly to slacken the lower loop so it sags a few inches. Feel the RD cage for any jerkiness as a stiff link or section of chain spools through. Also watch the chain spooling into the lower loop for any links that don't straighten by gravity alone.

If all the above are OK, it's possible that your RD pulleys are stiff, but I doubt that's your problem.

Also be aware that some chain lubes can thicken or harden increasing the parasitic drag within the chain causing greater internal friction. Just on a hunch you might dry clean and re-lube the chain and see if that solves the problem.

carlspeed

Ok, I'm going to grab some decent chain lube from the LBS today and try my best to clean and relube everything. I'd rather take it to the shop, but A. I want to learn, and B. I can't afford my shop.

The bike is an '06. Components the same.
I took the chain off the front crank and it was still a bit stiff. The rear wheel spins freely. it seems like the rear cassette its a little stuff going in reverse as well. It doesn't seem like anything is damaged, just not clean and smooth.

doOde

bottom bracket shouldnt be sticky. when you give the arms a toss how many times they go around?
id recommend against lubing working parts on the frame.

as for the freehub, not sure what FBinNY thinks, but i think you can remove the cassette and work a little oil into it?

FBinNY 

I agree that the cranks should spin freely without the chain on, which is why I suggested testing them that way. I'm not sure that the number of turns they spin is a good test, unless you know how they spun previously. Seal drag and/or parasitic drag from a heavy grease can make BBs feel a bit stiff, but if it spins smoothly and quietly it's probably OK, even if there's a bit of drag.

As for the freehub, I agree that a sticky one needs lube. There should be as closes to zero froward drag as possible on a cassette when the wheel spins. My reference to holding off and checking for debris first, is because that's a common problem, and finding it sooner rather than later can save you unneeded labor. If there's no external cause for friction, it needs service.

carlspeed

When I checked it last night there was definitely extra drag on the crank with the chain off. I'll take a closer look at it when I get home. I have a feeling a lot of dirt somehow got in there from the beach road and I need to clean it out. It's definitely not as free as it was yesterday before my ride.

I think it just needs to be taken apart and cleaned. The rear wheel still spins perfectly smooth, so I'm thinking that some extra crud got into the cassette and made it into the crank bb.

peripatetic

Might want to figure out what you might need to replace in the BB before dismantling it. If it's in need of work, that won't just be a simple re-lubing; you'll either need new bearings and grease, or a new cartridge BB. Either way, it's more of a drag to have everything dismantled and be waiting to get the replacements.

blamp28

This is key information. If this is a regular route and you also have used WD-40 in the past, these can contribute to bearing wear. I'm not saying you should avoid the beach road. I ride places like that all the time. It's just that you have to be aware that you will be exposing your bearings to more potential wear and should be monitoring. If you have used WD-40 in the past on the BB area, you may have helped to clean out the grease on those bearings. WD-40 is a solvent with a small amount of lubricant. It makes a great product for loosening stuff that is stiff or stuck but the lube portion is minute and goes away rather quickly. You might try to see if you can get some spray lithium grease to work its way into the BB.

carlspeed

I haven't used wd-40 on this bike. That's mainly the reason for it being so long since I've lubed it. Waiting until I found the right stuff to use. It wasn't that sandy, but I did notice substantially more dirt on my body when I got home than normal. That's what us leading me to believe that it's just really dirty and just needs to be cleaned. It's not making any most our doing anything to make me believe that something is broken.

doOde

your technology is a bit out of my reach as ive not worked with anything '06 but id imagine your running cartridge bearings, hardy but non serviceable, so squirting a load of lube in there wont hurt. give it a shot to see if it helps, doesnt really matter what kind... is this bad advice?

BCRider

Since it is '06 stuff your BB is a sealed cartridge unit. That being so it is not servicable other than by replacement. Also be sure you do not blast it with a hose when cleaning. Any rinsing you do with a hose must be only hard enough that you would use it on a fragile garden plant. Otherwise you risk blowing water in past the seal contact points. If that happens bad things will soon follow.... which may be what is happening if you cleaned the bike with a hard spray at some points in the past. As for taking the BB apart for cleaning there is nothing inside to clean and there is no easy way to inject any grease into the bearings which are hidden behind the seals. If your sealed BB cartridge has gotten stiff for any reason then it's a case of simple replacement.

At the back end if your freehub is sticky and rough you can try flushing it with WD 40, work it a little and then turn it cassete side down to drain out. The trouble is that by sending WD40 into the freehub you will also flush the wheel bearings so this flushing and re-oiling is best done during a wheel bearing removal and cleaning. But if you catch the freehub early enough in it's downhill slide to ruin you can save it and get many more years of use from it. If the flushing doesn't work and it's still gritty and stiff then at least the axle is already out and you can remove the freehub easily for replacement.

Unlike FB I've had more than my share of gummed up derraileur jockey pulleys. Winter commuting around here ensures that they will rust tight or gum up on a regular basis. The good news is that it takes very little to clean and polish them and lightly grease and put back together.

Last is the chain. You'll need to flush it well to get rid of any sand that got embedded from a beach ride.

carlspeed

Thanks for all of the responses.

Just as an update, I cleaned it a bit today. I took the rear wheel off and used some old RC Nitro fuel to clean and degrease the chain, cassette, and the crank sprockets. I then re lubed them with some light weight motor cycle chain lube (relax, it's only until I can get to the shop to buy some good chain lube) and put everything back together. It's not as free spinning as my wife's new bike, but then again, her's has about 60 miles on it, and mine probably has 3-4,000 so it's probably about right. I want to get some sort of a tool to take the cassette off so I can REALLY clean and re lube it, and also figure out how to take the crank out of the basket and at least re lube it if I can't change the bearings. If I can't change the bearings I guess I'll go till it gets a bit worse and replace the crank instead of just the drop in unit? Seems foolish to replace just that when I could get a whole new unit for just a bit more, and then I could rebuild it as well. That's what you guys are for, to help me make good decisions. Keep the thoughts coming I appreciate them all.

Is it ok to use WD-40 as simply a cleaning agent? If I was to spray it on the chain and sprockets, then re lube after I cleaned off the excess WD-40? I also took apart the sprockets on the rear derailleur, they weren't too bad, but they were getting a little rough. Nice and smooth now... What lubes/oil do I need to get from the LBS for overall maintenance? A grease for the BB, chain lube, and then random oil for the cables and stuff? Oh, and as I was cleaning everything I noticed that the chain feels a little loose, like it's getting worn a bit maybe... Is it worth getting a link to install for easy removal, or just run it till it craps out, and replace it with a good chain that has a link it in?