How do bike shops....

[mickle]

That's what I said.

I know! I was agreeing with you! (jeez)

 

[mickle]

Do they remove the parts or just hang the frame over the bath and clean the relevent parts.
How do you remove all the solvent ? I trust they lube the items well after...i used to watch the guys at work clean a bearing, then load it with grease..without removing the solvent very well. That solvent would immediately attack the new grease...seemed a bit pointless doing it when they couldnt be bothered to do the job thoroughly.

These solvent baths are excellent by the way....commonly used in engineering workshops. They'll clean the greasiest and oiliest (is that right ???) of things.

Drip dry, wipe em off, leave to evaporate, relube. For rear mechs, remove the J-wheels, degrease the cage plates, fit new uns and re-asemble. Try not to get solvent near the bushes. Great for chain-rings and cassettes. I dont use them on chains unless they are really manky yet new enough to save (I think everyone knows my position on solvents and chains by now! )

The stuff cuts straight through chain mank.

 

[magnatom]

Shops use a solvent-tank for cleaning parts. Its like a kitchen sink featuring a hose with a brush on the end of it. Solvent is pumped up from a tank underneath into the 'sink' and flows back through a filter.

I wonder if the wife would complain if I use our bath for this purpose? I expect there would be a reaction something like this:

 

[Dave5N]

I wouldn't do this to a rear mech often - I don't take 'em apart enough in a routine weekly service to regrease the main pivot etc properly. You would end up with a very dry mech indeed.

I get mine pretty clean on the bike with a bit of elbow grease and a brush. harder work but less time than dismantling.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

I wonder if the wife would complain if I use our bath for this purpose?

Quite apart from your Wife's reaction, you shouldn't really dispose of solvents in domestic drains. From the sounds of it, the solvent baths that mickle speaks of filter and reuse the solvent, so I imagine they only have to occasionally dispose of the gunk that they collect from the filter.

 

[palinurus]

You took your bike in for a service and they cleaned it?

I have never, ever, had a bike shop do that.

OK. I mostly hate cleaning bikes but hate working on cruddy bikes even more, so I clean mine first outta courtesy. But Mrs P. rarely does, I certainly don't clean it, and nor do the bike shop when it goes in for a tune-up.

I'm guessing that the Magnatom's bike shop used an oily rag, that's what I use for the shiny bits. Especially useful for this were those single socks that I used to bring back from the launderette (that's where they go, see). Except now we have our own washing machine- no problem; socks are cheap in Primark.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I think they lick it clean in some kind of warped sexual ritual

 

[domtyler]

I think it's far more likely that they perform some kind of subatomic scanning that analyses the composition of the bike, identifying any dirt or crud and then blasting away the foreign elements using a high powered laser or disrupter beam.

 

[Tynan]

my 'pressure washer' post was supposed to be silly given the dire warnings elsewhere

 

[Gerry Attrick]

You took your bike in for a service and they cleaned it?

I have never, ever, had a bike shop do that.

OK. I mostly hate cleaning bikes but hate working on cruddy bikes even more, so I clean mine first outta courtesy. But Mrs P. rarely does, I certainly don't clean it, and nor do the bike shop when it goes in for a tune-up.

I'm guessing that the Magnatom's bike shop used an oily rag, that's what I use for the shiny bits. Especially useful for this were those single socks that I used to bring back from the launderette (that's where they go, see). Except now we have our own washing machine- no problem; socks are cheap in Primark.

From the quality of work done by some bike shops I've used in the past, I think that all they did was clean it!

 

[008]

I happened to walk past a bike shop once and saw a guy outside scrubbing a bike, minus rear wheel, with a brush and a bucket of what looked like plain soapy water. As I got nearer, he carried the bike back in the shop and I assume finished the job inside.

 

[giant man]

must have been too dirty to work on i guess, can't see any bike shop not doing it unless they're asked.