Quote Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl View Post
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.

Quote Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl View Post
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.