tajimirich

Hi all, been a while, happily my steel frame Shogun Ninja (1989, the good year) is so badass that it never breaks.

However, I live in Japan, and the recent Typhoon season did awful things to my bike - rust popping up everywhere.

So I decided to sit down and give it some attention. Carefully removed rust as best as I could, repainted certain discreet areas with weather resistant paint in matching black, then applied the fantastic, but awkwardly applied, muc-off HC B-1.

Now, my breaks are squealing and vibrating on the rims of my wheels, and when I am out of the saddle putting extra power into my pedals the left pedal shaft groans and squeaks against the bracket.

What's the best substance to get in there and just strip away any and all Muc-Off that might be causing this? I've got a few litres of isopropyl alcohol, might that help?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks!

reconnaissance

I would wipe the brake pad faces with isopropyl alcohol, the rims as well. They’ll stilll squeak for a couple of rides, but will go away. That pedal noise is an indicator of a bearing in need of lubrication. Get some oil in the pedal bearings as soon as possible. You might need to overhaul them at some point and replace the balls and repack with good quality grease.

Save the muc-off for cleaning the dirt from your painted frame.

tajimirich

Thanks mate!

Yeah I've got two muc off products, the pink cleaner and this cool HC b-1,
I do give my bike many good cleans

I don't think my bearing is in trouble, the whole set up was riding silent as the night literally minutes before I applied that spray, so I so think it's the spray... I'll ask my bike guy to help me remove the cranks so I can isopropyl them and the bracket

andrewclaus

The directions for that product say do not apply to braking surfaces. Clean or replace as needed. If you sprayed some into any bearings, those bearings should be torn down and regreased or replaced.

KerryIrons

While oil is better than nothing, it is a rare bicycle application where bearings should oiled instead of greased. Pedal bearings definitely should be greased.

tajimirich

Thanks.. prior to applying the spray I had stripped down my whole bike for cleaning and it was kind of late in the day so I just tried to cover important bits with a towel and spray.. didn't work out.

I'll try my best to clean it all up.

tajimirich

I just want to add that those bearings don't make any groaning noise for 90% of my rides? It's only when I'm pushing off from a stand still and I'm rocking the bike from side to side, or in a crap gear going on to a surprise climb, when I'm bending the frame a bit that the sound comes, leads me to think there's just a bit of spray between the crank and the bracket that occasionally comes into contact

JohnDThompson 

Be aware that some low-end pedals are not user serviceable. Dripping oil into the bearings may be the only option short of replacement, if the OP finds this.

tajimirich

My cranks are Shimano ultegras.. a couple of gens old..
again I'm not sure my bearings have been bothered, I think it's more that I've got some HC b-1 between the bracket and the crank and when I apply non-linear force on it the two parts rub together a bit... If the bearings were stuffed surely they would sound like that all the time.. which these don't
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JohnDThompson 

The noise could be coming from the bottom bracket rather than the pedals, and is not necessarily related to the Muc-Off. If you have another set of pedals you could swap in to see if the noise persists, you might be able to eliminate pedals as the source of the noise. If it is, in fact, the bottom bracket, the fix will depend on what type of bottom bracket you have, e.g. old-school cup-and-cone, internal cartridge, external bearing, press-fit, etc.

tajimirich

It's a modern dura ace bracket
I don't think there's anything wrong with the pedals or the bracket, they were working right up until the moment I accidentally sprayed my HC b-1 a bit close to them, and they currently work fine, unless I get out of the saddle and do my mark Cavendish impression