Idiot question, sorry. I gave my bike a nice shower yesterday and it looks great. Soapy water, degreaser everywhere. Didn’t remember the cassette or chain were actually silver under all the grime =)
Took it out for a short ride today and something isn’t right. When I pedal it feels like something isnt lubed properly - no sounds, just feels difficult to pedal. Haven’t put the PM yet to quantify but something isn’t right.
I lubed the chain (1 drop in each joint) and a drop in each of the spin wheel on the rear derailer. I wiped off excess on each.
What am I missing? Do I just need to lube everything again?
that’s about all you need to do, clean out the dirt and oil in the chain and on the cogs, dry the chain and put some clean oil on it. Make sure your wheels are spinning ok and not crooked in the dropouts. It’s a chain and some cogs, not a lot that can go wrong. Sometimes a broken frame will only rub under power, take a close look at your clean bike and check for damage, broken spokes, cracked welds, etc.
The lube should be applied to the drive chain at the rear gear set while pedaling backwards. Use a good lube like white lightening or rock n roll gold. Pedal backwards for another minute or two then wipe of excess while pedaling backwards.
Lube pivot point on brakes, derailleurs, etc. with something like tri flow. Work the lube in then wipe of excess.
I have never washed a bike. I probably have 10K miles on my road bike. I just keep it clean with spray cleaner / wax / etc. Then lube as necessary. It looks new besides the normal paint chips / etc. No parts issues either.
About 3/4 to 1 full revolution when I give it a flick. It feels pretty easy which makes me think it’s something in the drive train rather than the crank
Give it a hard flick and see how many turns you get.
You can check your wheel and BB bearings without taking anything apart or removing them (except the chain). Take the chain off and see how they spin. The pedals will probably make the crank turn funky, but it should be smooth and easy. The wheels should slow down slowly and then rock back and forth for awhile before coming to rest.
remove the wheels and hang the bike in a tree or workstand. Gently turn the crank and see if it binds, then grab each arm and check for wiggle toward the midline. Hold the rear wheel by the endcaps and spin it slowly and feel for binding or grinding and wiggle the axle to check for freeplay
that’s about it for your driveline. If the chain is utterly gunked up it will start skipping
when checking for issues like rubbing brakes, just give the wheel a very slight spin and see if it winds down or stops all at once, this tells you more than spinning it fast.
sometimes a wheel will rub or bind only when it has your body weight on the bike. look for missing paint from a rubbing wheel on the frame.
I have an ultegra RD … and I pulled the chain away from the pulley’s and notice the top one (guie pulley) doesn’t spin freely at all, whereas the bottom one will spin a few revolutions easily. I’ve tried to lube the pulley but it looks like it’s a sealed bearing. There doesn’t appear to be anything stuck in it. I’m so confused.
I have an ultegra RD … and I pulled the chain away from the pulley’s and notice the top one (guie pulley) doesn’t spin freely at all, whereas the bottom one will spin a few revolutions easily. I’ve tried to lube the pulley but it looks like it’s a sealed bearing. There doesn’t appear to be anything stuck in it. I’m so confused.
don’t be confused! it’s just a bushing that is perhaps full of crap. The top and bottom are different, so don’t remove them and mix them up. Instead, just remove the bolt that goes through the middle of the wheel, remove it and plop it in solvent, you can remove the metal caps, wipe it out and put some grease on the wear parts and put back on, repeat with the other jockey pulley
they are supposed to have some side to side play, that’s ok
i clean mine up with a paintbrush and diesel fuel from time to time, they get kind of grimey
Was able to pull off the top pulley (derailleur stayed on), pulled the 4 pieces apart (keeping them in the right place with a zip tie), clean everything with degreaser, let air dry for an hour, relube everything and put back together.
If anyone else tries this, there is a small, flexible, rubber piece that houses the bearing. Careful putting the bushings back together as I squished the rubber piece the first time I put it back together
The pulley still doesn’t spin as freely as the bottom one, but from reading comments elsewhere it’s not supposed to. However, it spins much better than before.
I have an ultegra RD … and I pulled the chain away from the pulley’s and notice the top one (guie pulley) doesn’t spin freely at all, whereas the bottom one will spin a few revolutions easily. I’ve tried to lube the pulley but it looks like it’s a sealed bearing. There doesn’t appear to be anything stuck in it. I’m so confused.
don’t be confused! it’s just a bushing that is perhaps full of crap. The top and bottom are different, so don’t remove them and mix them up. Instead, just remove the bolt that goes through the middle of the wheel, remove it and plop it in solvent, you can remove the metal caps, wipe it out and put some grease on the wear parts and put back on, repeat with the other jockey pulley
they are supposed to have some side to side play, that’s ok
i clean mine up with a paintbrush and diesel fuel from time to time, they get kind of grimey
I always rode cheap 105 or lower components, first time I encountered the sealed bearings on the Ultegra was a bit puzzled as to what they were for - never had a problem with unsealed bearings over thousands of miles.
cleaning them up is still a good idea, but typically the pulleys can’t generate enough friction to be noticeable when pedaling. Most likely is some kind of rub, brakes on wheels or wheels on frame. Bearing contamination from washing is possible but again unlikely to be generating forces high enough to be noticeable.
