cleaning bikes in the winter - Page 3 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

12-20-2003, 02:36 PM

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 02:04:07 GMT, David
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>> > Yes, this stuff is a water
>> > dispersion chemical that strips all muck and grease off better than
>> > any other expensive and lousy biodegradable degreaser.
>>
>> BS. It's physically impossible. Spray some WD40 in a pail of water, and

The proof is in the pudding, it works, and works well, as a
degreaser (which was it's original design intention, BTW).

>> see that it floats like any other petroleum distillate. It's just oil. It
>> can't displace water. Don't believe the label or the hype.

That experiment wouldn't result in any _displacement_, just the two
liquids staying separate from eachother.

>Let's experiment with the same pail of water, we can fill it with half
>water and half oil. They won't mix.

That is a much more applicable experiment.

To make equivalent experiments, though, spray a little water in a
pail full of WD-40.

>What WD-40 does is similar to the above experiment. What you want is a
>solution that displaces water under pressure or agitation from any
>metal links and joints. It is water that can cause rust to form and

Indeed, imagine the inside of an STI lever; you spray WD-40 in
there, under pressure from the can. Does the WD-40 all bounce off
the water, or does it push the water out? Then, the WD-40 is pretty
harmless inside there, unlike the water.
--
Rick Onanian

12-20-2003, 02:38 PM

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 21:44:54 -0800, "Lucy Gaciarz"
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
>I think the best way to clean bike is using central vacuum cleaner. Works
>perfectly for me.

Who sells a central vacuum cleaner that can be installed in a bike?
I'd like one. <BFG>

>Jurek
--
Rick Onanian

12-20-2003, 03:33 PM

In article <3JnDb.785$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>,
"Matt O'Toole" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:

> My latest solution is my favorite so far. I bought one of those big cans (like
> a paint can) of parts cleaner from an auto parts store. It has a little
> platform of wire mesh inside, for the parts to sit on, just like a full sized
> parts cleaner at an auto repair shop. Just remove the chain and let it soak in
> there while cleaning the rest of the bike. You'll want to agitate the chain a
> few times while it's soaking. When done, pull it out, rinse it out in the sink,
> let it dry, and relube. The cleaning solution remains in the can with the dirt
> settling to the bottom, as a self-contained system, to be reused for years.

Hey, that's the old school, traditional, Right Way. I've gotta
get me one of those, too. The convenience of those drain trays
is especially unsurpassed when cleaning batches of loose
bearing balls. My memories are of the full sized units (well,
one of 'em, anyways -- kept under the open-air back porch/stairs);
it's good to know there are more petite versions available.

Bike cleaning for apartment dwellers has its own logistics, though.
Some domestic environments just aren't conducive for kick-over-able
cans of unpleasant, malodorous goop.

As for undoing chains -- I wonder if these Super Links are more
compliant than SACHS/SRAM/whatever-it-is-now Power Links? My least
recent Power Link undoes like it's supposed to, but ones I've
gotten since that one are stubbornly unopenable.

cheers,
Tom

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12-20-2003, 05:57 PM

Rick Onanian wrote:

> >> Spray some WD40 in a pail of water, and
>
> The proof is in the pudding, it works, and works well, as a
> degreaser (which was it's original design intention, BTW).

Actually, WD-40's original purpose was as a rust preventative (on
Minuteman missles, IIRC). It should have been called WB-40, for
"water barrier".
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

12-20-2003, 11:01 PM

Tom Keats wrote:

>Bike cleaning for apartment dwellers has its own logistics, though.
>Some domestic environments just aren't conducive for kick-over-able
>cans of unpleasant, malodorous goop.
>
>As for undoing chains -- I wonder if these Super Links are more
>compliant than SACHS/SRAM/whatever-it-is-now Power Links? My least
>recent Power Link undoes like it's supposed to, but ones I've
>gotten since that one are stubbornly unopenable.
>
>
>cheers,
> Tom
>
As another apartment dweller, you make a good point. We all need a
garage for our miscelleanous junk!
Regarding the chain statement - a couple of my chains are up for
cleaning. One of them has a removable link by whatever name - didn'th
they used to be called Master Links? Anyway, it is a Sram chain, and
the last time I cleaned it (in a bucket of orange degreaser combined
with a blast from a garden hose), I did not know there was the easy
release link and used my chain tool instead. This time (bet on January)
I will try the easy link thing, and report back.

Keep smilin' keep stylin' ;-}
Bernie

12-22-2003, 03:22 PM

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 17:57:44 -0800, Terry Morse <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
wrote:
>Rick Onanian wrote:
>> The proof is in the pudding, it works, and works well, as a
>> degreaser (which was it's original design intention, BTW).
>
>Actually, WD-40's original purpose was as a rust preventative (on
>Minuteman missles, IIRC). It should have been called WB-40, for
>"water barrier".

Well, a few weeks ago, I read the history on an "anniversary
edition" can of WD-40, and I could swear it said that it was
developed as a degreaser, but, from the WD-40 website:
:WD-40 literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt.
:That's the name straight out of the lab book used by the
:chemist who developed WD-40 back in 1953. The chemist, Norm
:Larsen, was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent
:corrosion—a task which is done by displacing water.

Come to think of it, the history that I read was that employees of
the company kept taking it home as a degreaser, and that was what
caused them to sell it outside of military use.
--
Rick Onanian