delbiker1 

My bike project today was a detailed cleaning/maintenance of my Zeppelin Airborne Ti road bike. I had dismantled it yesterday evening down to bare frame and fork. I cleaned, polished and lubed all the components, including the BB. I did not do the cables as they have relatively few miles since they were changed. Also did not do the headset and wheel hubs. The hubs had been done by the person I purchased them from not long ago. The headset seems to fine, but will do that at some later point. The wheels are Bontrager Race Light that are in good shape, but I did notice a slight wobble in the front when I rode the bike late this afternoon, truing tomorrow. They still had the decals on them, but I removed them today. I am not a fan of big, showy decals on wheels. They were not easy to remove, but I got it done, and then cleaned all the adhesive residue off of the rims.

I spent a fair amount of time cleaning and polishing the frame/fork. The fork is a Look carbon fiber that I sprayed with bike wash and then wiped down. For the frame, I used a blue Scotch-brite pad and Goo Gone, and then wiped off really well. I polished it, and the fork, with a product I had not used before, SC1 High Gloss Coating spray, made by Maxima Racing Oils. The frame and fork came out really nice. I am impressed by the SC1, easy to use and really brings out a shine.

I put it all back together with one hangup involving the rear derailleur. Somehow, I lost one of the bushings for the pulley wheels. I wound up getting one from a spare derailleur I had stashed. I have no idea what could have happened to the lost one. Also took a bit of adjusting to get both derailleurs operating as they should. I took it out for a quick 8 mile ride this late this afternoon and all is good. I think a clean, shiney bike might really be faster.

It was definitely well worth the time and effort. The bike looks the best it has in the almost 3 years I have owned it. The shifting and braking are right on, no squeaks, creaks, or freaky things. Following are a couple of pictures of a freshly cleaned, polished and lubed Airborne Zeppelin.

joelcool

Awesome, beautiful bike! I've always liked Ti, nice to see one get some love.

Eric S.

You mentioned not replacing the cables - I don't replace cables unless there's a good reason to. As long as things move well, they get better with time as the strands wind tighter.