Monday, November 9, 2020

Saturday, October 31, 2020 -- Cleaning the bike chain & bike...

It's a warm day (high 70's).
I setup the bike stand and place old t-shirts under the bike to catch all the drips from when I use the Park chain cleaner.
It makes quite a mess on the ground...


I've been using a "wet" lube lately and it definitely attracts more dirt and a blackish oil/dirt covers all the chains and gears.
Quite a mess...


The freewheels on the derailleur collect a lot of grease also.


The derailleur body itself is pretty dirty too.


The front derailleur is very greasy and the front chainring's gears are black with grease/oil (they should be silver!).


The RH brake lever's top cap is dented from a previous crash.
I had "fixed" these when I did some major maintenance on the bike last year.  Already damaged...  It's cosmetic only though.


The front brake caliper is very dirty.
The pivot mechanism piece is badly corroding...


this is the rear brake caliper.
The corroded screw faces the front of the bike & is exposed to the direction of the bike and all the dirt that's kicked up by the bike.


This is the other side of the rear brake caliper.  Some of the hardware on this side are also corroding.
Both calipers are working OK.
I had replaced the housing and cable last year and also cleaned and lubed everything.
It's functionally holding up for now.


The front side of the front derailleur.  The grease/dirt on the chain guide is pretty bad.
Everything that faces forward is covered in a coat of dirt...


The "groupset" on the bike is Shimano's top of the line DuraAce, but several generations old (7800).
I think there may be 3 or 4 newer generations with the latest being called 9100 series, I think...


The Mavic wheels have these special alloy (aluminum) nipples that are corroding.
None of them will turn due to the corrosion.
If I have to replace a spoke, I'll most likely have to drill it out.
That's what I had to do (very carefully) when a spoke broke & I replaced it...
Just finding/getting replacement spokes is difficult.


 The chain and rear derailleur after cleaning.
The one darker colored link is the "missing link."
It's the link that can be removed & reinstalled.


The rear freewheels and derailleur after cleaning.

I also cleaned the gears on the rear cassette, the cable housing and the derailleur hanger.

The front chainrings are difficult to clean.  Difficult to access the gears between and around the "spider" for the crank arm.
The larger chainring has been cleaned and the gear teeth are silver again...

Front brake caliper after cleaning.

Rear brake caliper after cleaning.

This is the phone mount on the handle bar.
It can use being tilted back a few degrees...

I cleaned the whole bike (wheels, spokes, brake levers, frame, etc.).
I used a dry lube for the chain this time.
The chain usually doesn't get quite as dirty/black with the dry lube.
It's ready to ride.
The first ride after a complete clean and new lube on the chain usually feels pretty good... (kinda like driving a thoroughly cleaned car vs. a very dirty one)


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