Just got the nerve to actually touch my race bike (I usually leave it to my wrench) looking to clean up the drive train for a race this weekend. I’m of the belief that I am not good enough at all this to have the “optimal setup” on race day. That being said, my calf hit the chainring and left a big black mark. This means it’s time to do a thorough cleaning obviously. I’m curious how others are preparing their bikes and cleaning them for their events.
What I’ve done:
Removed chain, cassette and soaking them in degreaser for 24 hours
Removed the freehub and cleaned all the grim and grit and regreased it
Cleaned my skewers with rubbing alcohol and then lightly greased the threaded portions and springs
Scraped the gunk out of my RD jocky wheels and then cleaned with degreaser and brush
The last item I’m debating is removing the chain rings to soak as well as remove the cranks to clean up gunk and regrease. Curious what others are doing, if I’m missing anything, and whether or not I did anything I shouldn’t have. Feedback is welcomed and appreciated.
FYI The bike has roughly 200KM on it total since it’s last “service” and it is getting the once over in a couple of weeks by my wrench.
Every couple of weeks you bring it for service? Your bike mechanic must love you. In all seriousness I usually give it a once over every 4-5000KM or twice a year. You could have it sparkling and ride 25KM and get a black mark on your calf from the chain.
I probably should do more, but quite frankly I am ignorant to bike care. I’m actually trying to educate myself more, especially since I intend to have a nice race bike next Spring. I’d rather screw something up on my road bike and use that as my learning bike for making mistakes. You certainly do a lot more than I do though. After reading about the amount of watts saved from simply having a clean chain, I have tried to get in the habit of at least degreasing my chain and putting some fresh lube on it the day before the race. I take a clean paper towel and wipe off most of the fresh lube on the chain (as per everything I’ve read about proper chain lube technique). My front brake caliper was also sticking a bit so I tried to lube the bolts and work the cable a bit.
As you might expect from reading my response above, I know nothing of bike maintenance and repair. Something I intend to work on over the next few months. I know my rear derailer needs some adjustment since it skips over gears sometimes when shifting. Kind of annoying. There is a good video on youtube I found for making these adjustments so I may tinker with it soon.
Yes he does love me and my OCD nature. Cases of beer and Tim Horton gift cards go a long way I also have all the tools so he just comes over my place and does his thing while teaching me some of the finer details. He’s the perfect “Mechanic coach” to get me up to speed so I can do this for myself in the future.
Art’s Cyclery has a great series of maintenance videos on youtube that I am a subscriber to which has helped me a great deal in the past. Now with a hands on “coach” I’m hoping to learn more and more. Like you I’m confident working on my wife’s bike or my friends bikes as their demands are not quite as high as mine when racing so I’m ‘good enough’ to get away with that.
Looks like some good videos. Thanks for the link. My local bike shop actually puts on a weekly 1 hour workshop where they go through various things like this, but unfortunately I’ve never been able to make it. Just bad time of day/week with having to pickup child from daycare and wife coming home from work. I’ve rebuilt a motorcycle and an old jeep from the frame up, you would think I wouldn’t be as intimidated by my bicycle. I guess I’m not really, but I simply haven’t taken the time to really educate myself yet either. Probably a good ‘winter’ task.
Instead of soaking I simply take the cassette apart and clean with brake clean. Yes I do every tooth. Probably takes 15 minutes.
Chainrings I’ll do the same but leave them right on the bike.
Chain I never remove and never clean with a chain cleaner. Instead after about every other ride I take a rag sprayed with WD-40 and run the chain through it then dry rag until pretty clean. My chains last forever that way. I’ve got a 4000 mile 11 speed chain on my road bike right now and I can’t even get the .5 side of my chain checker in the chain without pressure.
I do try to clean all I can before a race. I spent 2 hours last night prepping the TT bike for this weekend. That’s everything above and a good clean / wax to the frame and a once over on fasteners. Install race tires and wheel cover.
Here is what I do before every race (I’m a bike racer so that means almost every weekend):
Spray simple green degreaser all over the drive train. Chain, cassette, chainrings and derailleurs.
Fill a bucket with soapy water using palmolive dish soap.
With a sponge (one of those dual sided kitchen sponges with the green abrasive on one side), spin the chain backwards through my soapy sponge. Dip the sponge and repeat until the chain is clean.
Do the same for the jockey wheels.
I use two different brushes to clean the chain rings. A bigger one for the far inside and far outside and then a Park brush that is meant to get between the rings…
Pull the back wheel off and use the big brush to clean the cassette. Stand over the wheel with the cassette on the right. Run the brush down forward and back. Repeat until the cassette is clean. You are basically scrubbing down through the cassette against the stopping pawls, then as you pull back the cassette ratchets back and the next down stroke cleans a new section, etc.
With the back wheel off use your sponge to clean the front and rear derailleurs.
Now that your drive train is clean.
Using a DIFFERENT sponge than you used for your drive train, clean the tires, rims, spokes and hub of both wheels.
Use that same sponge to clean the frame, handlebars, etc. Pay careful attention to make sure you clean around the brake calipers and especially under the bottom bracket where your cables run. For those of us still using mechanical derailleurs, that sticky drink mix we use tends to gum up the shifting.
Put the wheels back on and spray the bike down with water to clean off the soap.
10a. Don’t spray high pressure water direction at your bearings. Hub, BB, etc. Use a shower type of setting.
Let it dry for a couple of hours and then lube the chain and perhaps put a bit of white lightening where the derailleur cables go through the cable guide under the BB.
This can all be done in 10-15 minutes. Well, except for the drying part.
Awesome thanks Kevin! I tend to clean the bike after every single use (indoor or out) so the cleaning of the frame, tires, rims has been done already. I haven’t gotten a good clean on the cassette, chain, chain rings at all. I began using one of those crappy “chain cleaner” tools you clamp onto the chain. I am never happy with the amount of “black” that comes off the chain when wiped even after doing that 2-3x.
For the brakes well, honestly I don’t use them so they are pretty much like brand new. They are also covered and require a 2mm hex to remove which helps keep out gunk. All of my riding on this bike is done during a race or on the computrainer both of which require little to no braking. I did check those out the other day and everything seems perfect at the moment thank god.
One of my main limiters is the fact I live in a condo and I have no space/room for a bike stand nor do I have a hose to use. Other than that you’re suggestions are bang on what I was doing the majority of the time. Really appreciate the feedback and guidance.
To keep my bikes in good shape I wipe them down after every ride to get off all of the sweat and road grime. Once a month or before a race I break it down and clean it along the lines of what nslckevin said.**** My LBS says I always have the cleanest bike of all their customers every time I come in. Simple, takes 5 minutes after each ride and 20 minutes a month for a total clean.
I’m actually obsessing on what will keep my pricey bike in the best working condition due to the hefty investment. I train plenty there is no worries there and I wasn’t saying anywhere that I was doing this for performance gains. It’s more so a preventative maintenance. Thanks for your feedback however
Disc wheel money went into the roadie and I’ve truthfully been happy so far with the cover setup. I’m also running wheels from 2013 for those who noticed! I’m not loaded by any means but I sold my car and bought a bike because it’s my principal hobby and passion. As I live in an urban city where the car was no longer needed it was a fair trade off. I’m trying to take care of it just like I did my car; treat it well and it lasts and works close to new. It’s also an incentive to take it apart rather than just leave it be helping me learn more about bike maintenance procedure and benefits. Twisted logic perhaps but working well for me at the moment even if it turns out it is OCD lol
I also have all the tools so he just comes over my place and does his thing while teaching me some of the finer details. He’s the perfect “Mechanic coach” to get me up to speed so I can do this for myself in the future.