Monday, March 2, 2009
Mr. Clean
After a week of great riding in Boston I spent some much needed time cleaning my bikes last night. If you don't already own some simple green or similar type product go out and get some. I know the bike specific companies offer their own cleaning solutions that they claim are ideal for bike specific applications but for $3/bottle simple green is pretty friggin' hard to beat. Use the $5 you saved to buy a burrito at the end of your next hard ride.
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7 comments:
A 1/2 teaspoon of dishsoap in a bucket to hot soapy water is great for removing the salt. Cheaper than "green" options and most of us have it sitting next to the sink full of post ride dishes.
soap and water is a good idea too. i like the convenience of the spray bottle and keeping it in the work area. i suppose one could also keep a spray bottle of soapy water.
You guys are complete pussies.
Nothing, I mean nothing, gets your bike clean like carburetor cleaner. I have a big bucket of it, I just tie some wire to the parts I want clean, drop it in and let it soak for a while, and pull it out--completely devoid off all grease, grit, paint--it destroys everythign but metal. But my drivetrain is sooooo clean.
It is probably the worse stuff in the world for the environment, but I've been using the same container for 8 years now. You can pick it up at NAPA or Autozone---get the gallon size.
Oh, and don't use it in a basement, or you will get cancer. But other than that, best cleaner out there.
zack what the hell are you doing? you will never get grease or lube back into certain parts of the chain! never remove it and soak it in heavy degreaser!
I'll have to dig up the article, but there was a study on drivetrain effeciency--it found that as long as the chain was clean and everything was adjusted the same, there was no significant difference between a well lubed chain and a nonlubed chain. It seems lube's primary purpose is to reduce noise, and keep things clean.
i think colin murphy subscribes to Zack's theory of optional chain lube. His bike was so fuckin' noisy a few weeks ago.
please folks, lube your chain at least a little for the sake of those around you.
My chain gets lubed, but I'm not sold on its necessity(other than to make others think you take care of your bike). Now that I use one of those Connex quick disconnect links, my chain gets cleaned a lot. My being cheap necessitates getting every last drop of use out of a component before getting rid of it.
Cary will be happy to know that I actually have a completely built and rideable cross bike and road bike. Not too long ago, that wasn't even possible.
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