“Can we bump the experience to 2:30 as a substitute of two pm?” I texted Dave at 2:15. “I’ve received one thing essential to wrap up earlier than I can meet you.”
After pushing ship, I stretched my chain out on its facet throughout the workbench, one finish hooked onto a small tack pushed into the wooden countertop and the opposite held taut with my proper hand. In my left was a drained, blackened brush lacking half its bristles. If it wasn’t for my burning and watery eyes, I might have seen the mist of aerosol brake cleaner hanging within the air as I furiously scrubbed the light gold chain. Just some minutes earlier, I had been utilizing a small decide to go on the tiny nooks and crannies of my narrow-wide chainring, most likely trying and sounding so much like my semi-rabid Shiba Inu when she’s chewing on one other itchy spot. Earlier than that, I first used a really particular flat-head screwdriver to scrape my already-clean pulley wheels clear after which cleaned them once more with a clear rag that I sprayed with brake cleaner.
Then I staggered outdoors to put down on the grass for twenty minutes whereas airing out my store.
I wrote a factor from my excessive horse awhile again about how extra of us needs to be engaged on our personal bikes. In it, I stated that you will (perhaps) lower your expenses, have extra mechanical sympathy, and blah blah blah about one thing or different. However I additionally talked about that, not like lots of people, I actually do get pleasure from cleansing my drivetrain:
 | Talking of black grease, even a job as menial as cleansing your nasty-ass drivetrain can really feel each constructive and cathartic; perhaps it is simply the solvent speaking, however freshly cleaned pulley wheels make me completely satisfied. |
I really like that after I carry my bike up onto the restore stand after an particularly soiled month of pedaling, its cassette and chain can appear like they have been on the backside of the cat shelter’s solely litter field for the final month. However a mere three hours later and it has been eliminated, scrubbed clear till my fingertips ache, reinstalled, and drip-lubed one curler at a time with a bottle of scrumptious Dumonde Tech lube that I’ve written “LEVY” and “NOT YOURS” on with a black felt marker to remind my thieving girlfriend not waste any on her at all times soiled drivetrain.
As a lot as I might like to undergo that ritual earlier than each experience, stripping the chain of lube that is crept in between the rollers, plates, and pins with high-pressure industrial solvent is an end-of-the-month job and could be counter-productive in the long term to carry out extra usually. As an alternative, I do the identical forensic sharpening of the vhainring and pulley wheels earlier than nearly each experience, however merely give the chain a dry wipe-down and lube an hour or two earlier than I head out. Wiping off any and all extra Dumonde Tech from the chain and each tooth on the ring and each pulley wheels is the very last thing on the record earlier than rolling out the door thirty minutes delayed.
“Possibly you want a faster pre-ride ritual,” the identical lube-stealing girlfriend stated whereas I grumbled about having to hurry. “You are awfully loopy about your chain. Possibly you should not be so explicit…” she adopted up with, tailing off on the finish to ensure I might hear her eyes rolling as she walked away. Upon a little bit of self-reflection, she might need a degree of some sort, particularly after I contemplate that my life might be burning down round me and I might most likely be half-clueless simply as long as my drivetrain is shiny and shifting completely. Somebody with extra perception than I’ve would most likely inform me there is a deep-seated cause for that, however we’re let’s preserve this floor stage, please.
Factor is, whereas I may be a bit anal-retentive about my drivetrain, I am comparatively careless about how the remainder of the bike seems simply as long as it is set-up accurately and nothing is about to rattle off. It is in entrance of me as I kind this, trying a bit unhappy and at the moment lined in a 5lb layer of mud and dirt. You’d discover drained, light paint and loads of scratches for those who had been capable of wipe any of it away… which you most likely cannot as a result of it is epoxied to the body due to a thick coating of drink combine from a summer time of soul-lifting adventures. It seems to be a sizzling mess, certain, however are you aware what else it’s? Completely dialed; the suspension is operating completely, the rotors aren’t even fascinated about rubbing, and my tires and pressures are bang-on the place they need to be.
And in contrast to my pals who spray their bikes off after each single experience, mine would not make the slightest creak or groan. My recommendation: take care of what issues, and sure, you must positively be cleansing your bike when it is tremendous soiled. However as a substitute of making an attempt to drown it with a backyard hose, give your bike a cursory dry wipe-down and concentrate on what issues, which is having the ability to see your reflection in your chain.
So yeah, I assume I will admit that I generally is a little explicit about cleansing my drivetrain bits. I requested a few pals their ideas, hoping to be taught that they too get pleasure from scrubbing a series on a sunny Saturday afternoon. “I examine suspension strain and sag earlier than each experience,” My Buddy Wayne replied. “I simply have to scrub the filth on the hub and spoke junction,” Matt advised me. “You are f*cking loopy in relation to your drivetrain,” Dave answered.
Dave might be proper, however aren’t all of us a bit choosy about one thing? On the subject of your bike and the opposite gear you employ, what are you perhaps a bit too explicit about?
