How long to clean drivetrain and bike?
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09-08-23, 04:18 PM
#27
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The most thorough I ever do includes a tooth brush for dust on the chain and/or a similar brass wire brush at the cassette to remove any gross debris or flakes of wax. Probably 5 minutes of actual work if I'm superlatively thorough. Not that any such attention is warranted more than maybe once per season or so.
The chain goes in a preheated crockpot for 5 minutes, and get reinstalled at my convenience anytime after it has cooled enough to be stiff.
I wax my stainless steel Wipperman Sx chains when I hear "the rattle of pearls." So far they refuse to generate any measurable wear. So, maybe I am spending too much time fussin' over cleaning.
The chain goes in a preheated crockpot for 5 minutes, and get reinstalled at my convenience anytime after it has cooled enough to be stiff.
I wax my stainless steel Wipperman Sx chains when I hear "the rattle of pearls." So far they refuse to generate any measurable wear. So, maybe I am spending too much time fussin' over cleaning.
09-08-23, 05:18 PM
#28
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As part of prepping bikes at my co-op, we do a through cleaning before tear and rebuild. Usually, all that needs to be done is spray with Simple Green or, my preference, Armor All Extreme Wheel and Tire Cleaner, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes and spray it off. We often have to do a bit more wiping when we take parts off but grand total of cleaning is usually far less than 30 minutes.
Sometimes we get something like this
I trashed the crank and cleaned the rest. It took about an hour but that is a particularly nasty example.
For my own bikes, I seldom need to clean them other than with a hose or occassionally the car wash.
Sometimes we get something like this
I trashed the crank and cleaned the rest. It took about an hour but that is a particularly nasty example.
For my own bikes, I seldom need to clean them other than with a hose or occassionally the car wash.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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09-08-23, 10:35 PM
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As part of prepping bikes at my co-op, we do a through cleaning before tear and rebuild. Usually, all that needs to be done is spray with Simple Green or, my preference, Armor All Extreme Wheel and Tire Cleaner, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes and spray it off. We often have to do a bit more wiping when we take parts off but grand total of cleaning is usually far less than 30 minutes.
Sometimes we get something like this
I trashed the crank and cleaned the rest. It took about an hour but that is a particularly nasty example.
For my own bikes, I seldom need to clean them other than with a hose or occassionally the car wash.
Sometimes we get something like this
I trashed the crank and cleaned the rest. It took about an hour but that is a particularly nasty example.
For my own bikes, I seldom need to clean them other than with a hose or occassionally the car wash.
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09-09-23, 08:32 AM
#30
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We have tons of cranks of much better quality so it just wasn’t worth cleaning.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
09-10-23, 07:30 AM
#31
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About an hour.
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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.
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Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.
09-10-23, 03:43 PM
#32
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... my preference, Armor All Extreme Wheel and Tire Cleaner, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes ...
09-10-23, 06:29 PM
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Hasn’t yet. It foams a bit but I wouldn’t worry about it around seals.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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09-10-23, 10:00 PM
#34
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Got to test out my time this week, I've been looking for bikes for a refugee family and was handed a trek 820 and a trek 800 that have been sitting in the corner of a very dirty garage for that last decade. From start to finish, full tune, hub regreasing and adjustment and full clean I was 2.5 hours for the pair. The kid's size trek 820 had clearly been messed with and needed some fiddling to get the shifters and front der back in line. The original owner, on seeing them finished described them as looking like new, and they were spotless, Total of 6 rags just for cleaning and another for lubing the chain and cleaning bearings. I use separately since grease rags go in the garbage but cleaning rags head into the wash, they might have a little oil on them from the frame but the windex does help to break that down. So based on time for tune, wheel trues and bearing adjustment taking the pair from crusty to clean was about 20 min but I never have personal bikes as dirty as these.
09-11-23, 01:31 PM
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I only ride the belt drive Rohloff anymore. I first use a clean rag to wipe around the hub were there is a little oil that sprays onto it. Everything else is warm soapy water. I also use dawn.
09-11-23, 02:09 PM
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Since switching to a wax-based drip lube (Silca Super Secret), my drivetrain cleaning time is much quicker, and way less messy. My typical between-ride hose-off, wipe-down, and re-lube takes 15 minutes, including some breaks to play with my dogs a couple of times. If it takes me an hour or more, it involves a larger maintenance/repair issue, or I REALLY went looking for something to clean (disassembly of the rear derailleur cage and deep-clean of the jockey wheel bearings, for example). The need for that kind of cleaning has diminished, too.
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09-19-23, 08:30 PM
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I'd say about 30mins for a full clean. Degrease chain, wash bike, apply new lube, etc. Sometimes I find the process kind of cathartic. All depends on the kind of day I am having.
