DIY service

[gbb]

Steady day at work allows me to give the bike some TLC....here's what i've done....what have i missed?.
General clean with soapy water, wipe dry, compressed air to blow out those hard to get to areas.
Remove brake cartridges, clean, inspect for debris.

Remove chain, clean liberally with WD, blow out links with compressed air ( you'd be amazed how much crud comes out of a cleanish looking chain when you give it a good blast with air), soak in a tub of oil, wipe clean and re-fit.

WD the cassette, blow out with comp air. Gets all the debris out nicely from between the cogs.

Oil the jockey wheels (after removing debris and dirt from the derailleur)

Clean the chainset with a cloth, lightly soaked with WD.

Have i missed anything ?

What can i use to give my slightly aged Conti Gatorskins a newer look (particually on the sidewalls). Washing them cleans them, but they look a bit...well, aged. Shoepolish maybe ?
Celeste bar tape ? Looking dirty, any suggestions ?

 

[Globalti]

Did you wax polish the frame?

 

[ChrisKH]

Steady day at work allows me to give the bike some TLC....here's what i've done....what have i missed?.
General clean with soapy water, wipe dry, compressed air to blow out those hard to get to areas.
Remove brake cartridges, clean, inspect for debris.

Remove chain, clean liberally with WD, blow out links with compressed air ( you'd be amazed how much crud comes out of a cleanish looking chain when you give it a good blast with air), soak in a tub of oil, wipe clean and re-fit.

WD the cassette, blow out with comp air. Gets all the debris out nicely from between the cogs.

Oil the jockey wheels (after removing debris and dirt from the derailleur)

Clean the chainset with a cloth, lightly soaked with WD.

Have i missed anything ?

What can i use to give my slightly aged Conti Gatorskins a newer look (particually on the sidewalls). Washing them cleans them, but they look a bit...well, aged. Shoepolish maybe ?
Celeste bar tape ? Looking dirty, any suggestions ?

How about some car tyre wall paint for the Gators. Mmmmmnnn shiny.

 

[gbb]

Did you wax polish the frame?

Actually, i usually give it a spray with Silicone spray. But, you have to avoid the braking surfaces like the plague. It makes the brakes howl like a banshee if you get silicone on the wheels ...and its dangerous

Ive got some car polish in the cupboard...polish it is then

No tyre paint here Chris...maybe i'll root through the cleaning cupboard when i get home.

 

[Gary D]

On the Celeste bar tape....

I have the same, and it tends to get grubby very quickly

I use 1001 Carpet cleaner and a small nail brush. Spray it on, quick scrub to agitate and then thoroughly rinse off. Works well.

However, I spotted another thread where peeps recommended all sorts of weird solutions such as WD40, white spirit, thinners etc

Gary.

 

[gbb]

On the Celeste bar tape....

I have the same, and it tends to get grubby very quickly

I use 1001 Carpet cleaner and a small nail brush. Spray it on, quick scrub to agitate and then thoroughly rinse off. Works well.

However, I spotted another thread where peeps recommended all sorts of weird solutions such as WD40, white spirit, thinners etc

Gary.

Excellent Gary...SWMBO can obey me for once, and shift her carcase down the shops and get some

 

[Mortiroloboy]

For cleaning 'bar tape, I find good old fashioned drop of fairy liquid (other bands of washing liquid are also available!) does the trick, just plop some onto a damp dish cloth and rub the tape clean.

 

[Plax]

Where did you get the compressed air from? That sounds like a really good idea!

 

[Mr Pig]

I wouldn't use WD40 on anything on a bike. It's not a lubricant, more of a release agent, and if it gets into bearings on the bike it'll break up the oil or grease. I'm happy to strip the old oil off things but I take them off the bike first and re-lubricate with 'hopefully' good lubricants.

I like 'Finish Line Cross Country' for the chain.

Every now and then I split the rear derailier cage, two little Allan screws, and clean out the jockey wheels. If you do that take care as they are different and the derailier won't work properly if you mix them up.

 

[gbb]

Compressed air ?..i'm an engineer with a fully equipped workshop
Brilliant for blowing off, or out, any crud.
Cant do any harm, i saw the Pro teams using it at the TdeF in London.

WD40 Mr Pig..depends what you use it for.
In the cogs of the cassette, brilliant at shifting and breaking down the crud...followed by a blast of air. Comes up like new. Better than using water and detergents.
Same applies with the chain. You should see the crud that comes out of a chain you've just used WD on to loosen the grime..even after you've liberally cleaned the outer links.
Blow out the WD with comp air, then soak in a bath of oil. Ive been doing it for years. My 8 speed chain on an old Raleigh lasted 3000 miles, winter riding and all.
WD shifts crud. Get rid of the residue, then oil. Caused me no problems whatsoever.

 

[Mr Pig]

Fair enough. I guess just used as a cleaner it's not going to do much harm. After the air there isn't going to be much left. I use a similar process at work for cleaning mechanisms on machines, soak with solvent and blast with air.

On my bike I prefer to use something that leaves less residue, like a degreaser. To clean my chain I remove it, wash it in white spirit, wash the white spirit out with warm detergent solution then dry the chain in the oven.

Have you stripped, cleaned and re-lubed the wheel hubs? What about the pedal bearings?

 

[robbarker]

Every bike workshop should have an air compressor. They are fantastic for cleaning parts and maintaining chains.

Going back to the original question, the other thing you need to do routinely is service your gear cables.

Change gear to the largest cogs front and rear, then, without moving the wheels, click the shifters down to bottom gear again. This creates enough slack in the system to be able to unhook the gear cable outers and slide them along the cable.

Clean the exposed part first - GT40 on a rag, then dry with a bit of old towel, then lube with wet chain lube.

Once you've done that unhook and slide the outer cable along and expose the inner cable beneath it. clean and lube it in the same way, then put it all back together.

 

[Globalti]

It would also be worth replacing the section of cable outer curving around to the rear derailleur as this wears and gives you bad shifting. I replace mine every 6 months.

 

[Stick on a Giant]

Checked headset bearings and lubricate?
Check seatpost not seized?
Personally I'm not convinced by lubing cables, just gets c**p to stick and draws it into the cable housing where it causes drag, in my experience.

 

[Mr Pig]

Personally I'm not convinced by lubing cables...

I run Finish Line inside my cable outers all the time, have done for years and it works well. If you've got glands etc on the ends of them you don't get much muck into them at all.