Autumn bath

[pardes]

I did use SimpleGreen today, a goodly dose in hot water. I've used it on my bikes for a couple of years now (after citrus oil to remove the black gear gunk first). But to tell you the truth I have never really been that pleased with how well it works, and will be trying other stuff out next time I think.

My Trek, after several days in the rain has gotten a little caked with crud. I don't have a CLUE about how to clean a bike. How does one go about this....other than the obvious painted parts that need soap and water? I need a BleeckerST_Girl bike cleaning primer.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My Trek, after several days in the rain has gotten a little caked with crud. I don't have a CLUE about how to clean a bike. How does one go about this....other than the obvious painted parts that need soap and water? I need a BleeckerST_Girl bike cleaning primer.

I'm no expert. Here's another thread with more info:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=27696

But I can say that you should get some citrus degreaser from a bike supply place to clean the stubborn black gunk off your chain and gears. Don't leave the citrus on your bike paint for more than 5 minutes (bad for the finish). Do front gear, then rinse, then do back gears for instance.
Buy a bunch of various cheap brushes at some bargain store. Get long bristles soft, long bristles stiff, even a dust pan brush and dish washing brush are good. You'll find uses for all of them and they'll all get ruined in time.
A hot sudsy bucket of soapy water with a big soft sponge and a handi-wipe sponge are good too.
DON'T AIM ANY HOSE SPRAY INTO YOUR HUBS. Spray/rinse the hubs from above on gentle hose setting.

After washing, let chain dry and lube it. Be sure to wipe the chain thoroughly after lubing with paper towels. The lube should be INSIDE the links, not all over the outside of the chain where it would just cause dust and road grit to stick to the chain.

Hope this helps?

[pardes]

DON'T AIM ANY HOSE SPRAY INTO YOUR HUBS. Spray/rinse the hubs from above on gentle hose setting.

Oh darn! I really had visions of hosing it down at high pressure. Actually, I really was.

After washing, let chain dry and lube it. Be sure to wipe the chain thoroughly after lubing with paper towels. The lube should be INSIDE the links, not all over the outside of the chain where it would just cause dust and road grit to stick to the chain. Hope this helps?

I suppose this means I have to BUY some chain lube. Maybe I'll wash it down, throw it on the bus, and let Howard at the LBS lube it. It makes him feel needed.

Last week I managed to pedal for two miles with a very strange sound coming from the back gears. I kept looking down and didn't see anything. When I finally pulled over I realized I had left a bungee cord dangling from the seat which had wound itself round and round through all of the gears and it sheared off the hook. However, the hook on the other end was still fastened to the bottom of the seat and under such tension that I didn't think I was ever going to get it off. (Now I carry scissors!).

I'm still cleaning bits of bungee parts from the nether regions of the gears. That 's when I had the first fantasy of the high pressure hose like the firemen use to blast out the last bits.

[Aggie_Ama]

My roadie has brifters (Shimano 105) but my commuter has Tiagra which has brifters with thumb levers. We went out to do a long ride one day after I had been riding my commuter a lot and I panicked and told DH "OH NO!!! My shifter is broken, the lever broke off!!" I was looking for the non-existent thumb lever. And I often have to remind myself which one I am on to remember. I am 27.

[DebW]

I put bar ends on my older bike this year (replacing the downtube shifters) so it's the same as my new bike.

[Zen]

I panicked and told DH "OH NO!!! My shifter is broken, the lever broke off!!" I was looking for the non-existent thumb lever. And I often have to remind myself which one I am on to remember.

After i got the FX, the Pilot didn't get much attention. When I finally did ride the Pilot I cursed the front shifter for not working,

I had completely forgotten about the barcon on that side

[Crankin]

Well, I'm not putting Ultegra on my Jamis. I always take a little look at the arrows on the shifters on this bike, because I only ride it maybe once a week. Sometimes, I'll be riding up a slight hill and think, gee this feels hard and I realize I'm in my big ring. This never happens on my road bike. The mountain gearing on the Jamis throws me off a bit, too, but I just deal with it.
I don't think it's my age, I never have been able to remember any sequence of things when it is in the physical/mechanical domain. Using a computer is not fun for me, although the Internet always seemed just like the library, so that's not been a problem. I had a lot of trouble with remembering how to shift when I switched to the road bike from the mountain bike with slicks, but I eventually got it.