Chainring removal and cleaning?

[Blue Hills]

The crevices @Blue Hills means are unreachable with 'an oily rag' let alone the idea of 'buffing them over'.
His functional 'test' is the sensible OCD-avoiding way ahead.
@newts I suggest, as an experiment, you remove the crud, buff away, and then take the chainset off and take the rings off. See if there is any dirt left there.

thanks ajax - you've persuaded me.
One less thing to fret about.

 

[newts]

The crevices @Blue Hills means are unreachable with 'an oily rag' let alone the idea of 'buffing them over'.
His functional 'test' is the sensible OCD-avoiding way ahead.
@newts I suggest, as an experiment, you remove the crud, buff away, and then take the chainset off and take the rings off. See if there is any dirt left there.

Thankfully my ocd isn't that bad & a rag removes enough for me to call it a clean bike.

 

[Blue Hills]

Nope. It's never occurred to me to do that. I do occasionally try to get into the nooks and crannies with an old toothbrush though.

If I did I'd probably make a balls-up of putting it back. Somehow get the bolts the wrong way round, or too tight, or too loose. Or put the chainring on upside down or inside-out or backwards or something.

Very easily done even with the best of notes made - I've put a chainset back together the wrong way at least twice.
I seem to remember getting one back apart involved some dremelling of a bolt.

 

[mpemburn]

I used to disassemble and clean the chainrings regularly in the old days when I used Campagnolo equipment. Haven’t done so with my Shimano at all. Toothbrush and rags mostly do the trick. I’ve started using a wax-based lube (BananaSlip All Weather) on the chain, and the whole geartrain stays free of grit a lot better than with the Tri-Flow I used formerly.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Seriously nerdy question here.

Do folk ever remove their chain rings to clear all the grot out that sits in all those chainring/crank corners?

Or is it just pointless - the grot/road debris will just get there again in no time?

And maybe is in any case no great problem/won't degrade anything if you just make sure the main body of the chainrings is kept clean?

I have only ever really removed all the chainrings and cleaned everything when I have had to replace one.

No, and if you do, you are meant to replace the bolts.

 

[All uphill]

No, I use my toothbrush to clean up once or twice/year.
Be careful with use of any solvent around the bottom bracket bearings.

And clean the toothbrushes well afterwards or they taste terrible.

 

[Ajax Bay]

@Blue Hills "Do folk ever remove their chain rings to clear all the grot out that sits in all those chainring/crank corners?"

No, and if you do, you are meant to replace the bolts.

May I enquire why you think the (edited after @silva's comment) steel chain ring bolts are best replaced, o minging one? Is this an OEM recommendation or from another source? I can't see a wear or fatigue reason.
Threadlock when refitting every time - I only remove if I need to replace (or swap) a ring.

 

[silva]

The only reason I can think of, to replace bolts, is when they got damaged somehow. Maybe that advice was for aluminium ones. Thread can wear (but since seldom moved, rather uncommon), but a stainless sleeved nut I found as quite easy to damage, so alu is probably easier.
But I got rid of the standard chainring bolts which put an end on that story.

 

[rogerzilla]

Some triple chainsets require that the whole RH crank (and BB spindle, if HT2) be removed to get the granny ring off. I did that the last time I gave the LHT a proper clean.