[dougclaysmith]

Sorry for the thread if this has been asked before, but I did a search and did not come up with any good hits.

Any way, often in group rides I see, real nice pretty clean cassetts. I wounder to myself, man, that sure is nice and clean, how does he get it so clean?

How do you guys do it? I do have a chain cleaner, and try and get in there with a brush and clean it and make it all nice and shinny, but as soon as I ride, it jet black again.

Suggestions??

Thanks for your time.

 

[cru_jones]

Sorry for the thread if this has been asked before, but I did a search and did not come up with any good hits.

Any way, often in group rides I see, real nice pretty clean cassetts. I wounder to myself, man, that sure is nice and clean, how does he get it so clean?

How do you guys do it? I do have a chain cleaner, and try and get in there with a brush and clean it and make it all nice and shinny, but as soon as I ride, it jet black again.

Suggestions??

Thanks for your time.

Make sure not to overlube the chain...it can only hold so much. Also, pre-lube your chain a couple of hours before a ride, and gently wipe off the excess. The lube will get down into the links where it's needed, and the excess won't attract road grime (oil, etc).

 

[Travis]

simple green and a big brush

 

[Mootsie]

Make sure not to overlube the chain...it can only hold so much. Also, pre-lube your chain a couple of hours before a ride, and gently wipe off the excess. The lube will get down into the links where it's needed, and the excess won't attract road grime (oil, etc).

Also using a product like Prolink helps too. It doesn't attract the dust and doesn't grease up.

 

[Zipp0]

Every so often I break mine down and clean each individual cog and spacers with a rag. Then I take off the chain, degrease it, hang to dry, lube, and wipe off excess. With all that attention, the chain and cogs are dirty pretty quickly after a ride or two. But, from what I have seen, a drivetrain that looks a bit dirty doesn't really mean that it will wear any faster than a clean one.

Also, it probably means the people in your group aren't putting in a ton of miles, or they have lots of free time to clean their drivetrain after ever ride. I like riding more than cleaning, so I do the thorough job every month or so, and just lube in between.

 

[Tommy Walker]

White Lightning CleanStreak Aerosol Degreaser

 

[Argentius]

I am too busy riding to worry about that, but the "nice day wheels" don't see a filthy chain too often, so that cassette stays clean longer.

As others have said, don't over-lube, but if you ride in the rain, not much you can do.

 

[Guest]

Sorry for the thread if this has been asked before, but I did a search and did not come up with any good hits.

Any way, often in group rides I see, real nice pretty clean cassetts. I wounder to myself, man, that sure is nice and clean, how does he get it so clean?

How do you guys do it? I do have a chain cleaner, and try and get in there with a brush and clean it and make it all nice and shinny, but as soon as I ride, it jet black again.

Suggestions??

Thanks for your time.

I clean and relube my drive line once a week (road bike on paved roads only). I first use Finish Line Degreaser to clean the chain. (Shimano recommends using a citrus cleaner, but you have to use water to remove it and I don’t see how you can keep it from rusting since you’ll never get all the water off, especially under the rollers). I hold a rag behind it so that the overspray soaks the rag. I then grab the chain w/ the soaked rag and spin it backwards to remove as much dirt as possible. Once I’ve completed the chain, I take the soaked rag (usually an old T-shirt) and fold it so it’s a double layer. I force the rag down between each of the cogs and use the rag to spin the cassette. It works its way down and in no time the cogs are spanky.

I then put one drop of Pro Lube on each roller then spin the chain backwards holding a rag on the chain to remove any access lube from the outside of the chain where it doesn’t do any good. As cru_jones said, it’s important to not over lube the chain because it causes a lot of dirt/dust attraction. I use Pro Lube and it seems to stay pretty clean, but I don’t allow it to get black.

 

[BikeRider]

Take the cassette off, put it into a ultrasonic cleaner with some diluted Simply Green and run it for a while. Comes out looking like new.

 

[MaddSkillz]

I typically lube and clean the cassette and chain once a week or every other week.

 

[MR_GRUMPY]

I clean my cassettes at least once a year.

 

[frdfandc]

Take some degreaser like the White Lightning Clean streak and a rag. Spray the degreaser on the rag and floss the cassette with the rag.

Also, as mentioned before, don't over lube.

 

[JoelS]

Clean cassettes? Some of you guys must have a lot of time. I just use a chain cleaner gadget that fills up with citrus degreaser and clamps around the chain, then rinse, and air dry. Lube, packpedal, wipe off excess, and ride. The entire clean and lube takes about 15 minutes total, but spread out so that it can dry before lubing.

Chain gets changed when it needs to. Cassettes usually last me 4 or 5 chains.

I didn't buy my bike to look at. I bought it to ride. And ride I do.

 

[Retro Grouch]

A park chain brush and this stuff works wonders.

 

[cyclesport45]

I get my cassette clean every time I buy a new one on ebay.

Kind of the same cleaning schedule as Grumpy....

 

[nayr497]

Yep, I'm a once a week cleaner like others.

I'll wipe down the chain, then the rings, then "floss" the cassettes with the edge of the rag. Lube, run it through the different cassettes, let sit for a few minutes, wipe down. I had been leaving on too much lube. I think if you are doing it fairly often and don't ride in a lot of grit/rain you don't need to leave that much lube on the chain.

Now I just want a garage/basement/shed so I don't have to haul my stand out into the backyard every weekend...hate doing that!

 

[Dereck]

There's a purpose in life for those worn-out Tee-shirts!

Strips of them make great 'floss' for cleaning up between your cassette's teeth and cogs

D

 

[RRRoubaix]

While the "flossing" bit works great for the area between the cogs, I find I have a hard time keeping the sides of the cogs themselves clean.
Even wiping w/ White Lightning doesn't seem to quite do it...

 

[framesti]

cassette cleaner

A park chain brush and this stuff works wonders.

Is car brake cleaner too strong? Simple green is not good for chains I believe.

 

[viciouscycle]

A piece of old cardboard fits between gears real nice, nice to be able to reuse things as well.