Cleaning and Lubing the Drivetrain

“Greatest is the samurai who lets his sword rust in its scabbard”. But, we can’t really equate this quote with cycling, can we?

Its was already over a month since I had started my commute. It didn’t take me long to come to terms with the reality that the maintenance clock ran a lot faster for those who used their bikes on a daily basis. I had planned a close encounter with my drivetrain two months from now but I was starting to hear all those metallic cries for unctuousness, already.

Rear cassette- before cleaning

Jockey wheels- note the dirt accumulation

The chain hardly has any lubrication left on them. The inner surface is shining due the the abrasions caused by friction

The front cogset. Can you see the damage caused due to chain derailings.

All dusty and dirty

Note the dirt buildup on the front hub

One month of heavy use and my chain, cogset, cassette and deraileures were covered in dust (not to mention the rest of my bike but that is out of topic, period). All that remained of any previous lubrication was this blackish brown powder that still hesitantly kept clinging on to the jockey wheels.  Creaky sounds while riding, more pressure on the pedals and increased resistance added up with a couple of faulty gear shifts made me prepone the first “Clean & Lube the Drivetrain” day to this day (night, in fact) of March the 13^th 2012.

I’ve been going through some tutorials on the internet plus some threads in BZ and cyclists.in which, of course, made the job quite easy as a game being played in cheat mode. Still, I scored a bunch of fails and fouls. I shall discuss them as I give you a walkthrough of this gala event.

It started off with some disappointments as I couldn’t procure all the desired stuffs for my mission. My hometown (like most of the ‘hometowns’ in India) is yet to fully acknowledge the bikers in all their entirety. Also, I did not want to shell out a lot of ‘kyaash’ as this was a learning drill. Now that was one of the first wrong decisions that I made w.r.t to this C&L day. So, two hours of sniffing around the markets and shops equipped me with the following:

Items that I used to clean & lube my drivetrain.

1.       ARB AP3 white grease (used for bearings)- 200gm pack- 45.00 Rs.

2.       WD-40: a solution to remove rust, grease and dirt, to prevent squeaks and protect metal- 63.8gm spray can- 95.00 Rs.

3.       Cloth gloves- 20.00 Rs.

Cloth gloves- they can come real handy

4.       Vim drop dishwash active gel with lemon- My citrus degreaser- stole from the kitchen.

My citrus degreaser- ;-)

5.       Screwdriver set

6.       An old hair-dyeing brush- couldn’t find a better option then.

7.       Old toothbrush-1 nos

8.       Cotton waste and rags- plenty

9.       Tray- to keep the soap water

10.   Old news papers- to keep the floor clean.

 I wanted to get that ‘White Lightening’ initially but as always couldn’t find it at any local stores. But I think this WD-40 works pretty much the same way. I should have been a bit more careful while choosing the grease. This ARB, I learned, is not the best for bike chains. Vim liquid as the citrus degreaser did a fine job. I took special care to not to let it into the hub. I also fancied of getting that 'parktool' chain cleaner. It looked like a laser gun used in Star Trek.

I gathered all the items required and stared meditatively at them for about 5 mins. No, not a spiritual exercise but I was genuinely confused where to start from. I just put the bike on the kickstand and started off. However, the idea of placing the bike upside down didn’t cross my mind.

Step 1: Making the chain visible- Yeah, it was all covered in grit and dirt and what not. I took an old piece of ‘Tantex Banyan’ and wiped off most of the dirt from the chain and cogs.

First round chain cleaning using cotton rag

Step 2: Screwing the drivetrain- This is a simple and easy technique that I saw in one of those YT videos. All you need is a screwdriver. Place it alongside the rotating surface (say the bearing ends of jockey wheels etc.) and just turn the pedals. You cal see those grit getting chiseled off the wheels, just like that. I liked this process so much that my screwdriver tip is half a millimeter shorter now.

Chiseling off the dirt using the screwdriver 

Step 3: Brush your teeth..and chains- I took a few drops from the vim liquid (the advertisement says 1 drop can clean up to 15,000 plates. They should try chains next time), diluted with tap water in a tray, dipped the toothbrush in it and scrubbed off the remaining dirt from the chains and stuffs. After brushing I wiped the parts with dry cotton and let it dry up.

Cleaning the drivetrain using the degreaser solution

Step 4: The WD-40 incident- Now, this is another fun part. All you have to do is to shake up the can a bit and swooooooshhhhh!. Spray it all along the cassettes and chain and you can see this fine black dirt particles dripping down. The drivetrain gets shinier and cleaner. It dries up quite fast and has got an oily feel to it. So I instantly rubbed it off from the rims to avoid future brake-fails. My brother gave a comment that this WD-40 will become thick and viscose, grease like on drying up. Nothing of that sort happened. By this the cleaning part came to an end and we took a break for dinner.

WD-40

Step 5: Grease balling- I used this old dyeing brush to apply the grease. This is definitely not the best way to apply the grease to the chain. Then I started wondering whether you actually require grease itself for lubrication. Using machine oil etc could also have done a better job I guess.

Applying the grease

Only while starting to grease the chain up that I noticed that as soon as the grease touched the chain, it was turning black. This was only because there were a lot of dirt still present in the chain and had not got washed off completely. I think if you need a 100 percent cleanup of the chain, you might very well have to remove it and clean it separately by dipping it in soap solution and all. I saw some threads showing this coke tin and chain technique. Anyways, I had not tool to remove the chain or no intention to do it in the first place. Hence, paying the price for it was inevitable. I couldn’t get my chain completely cleaned and this made the greasing part less perfect.

Result: Rather than a complete success, the mission was more or less a ‘hard-work gets paid-off’ scenario. I was able to get a load of dirt off the drivetrain. It runs more smoothly for the time being and the gear shifts seem to be ok too. But it also seems that I did over-grease the system as I found some grease particles spilled on the chain stay. Still, it was a great learning experience which has made me furthermore emotionally attached to my bike. Oh, come on guys, things like this do happen.

BSA Plug-in Helmet

Got it for 650Rs.
It is a Ladies' model but I couldn't find any differences apart from the color and design.

Firefox Gloves 20962

I had visited “The Bike Store” at Palarivattom, Kerala today. I had searched around the vicinity and could find only this bike shop that hosted some decent accessories. They deal in Firefox, Trek, Giant etc. I guess that is a good service centre too, though I have no personal experience to testify it.

I wanted a helmet, a cyclocomputer, a pair of gloves and a good number lock. Though I didn’t get a helmet (In fact I didn’t get a good one from anywhere at all.), I got the remaining.

I am an average built person with average (don’t ask me how to define that.) hands. So I picked a pair of Firefox Gloves 20962, size “L” gloves from the choice of none else.

Firefox Gloves

Firefox gloves appear to be pretty decent for that price tag. I got one with yellow colored lining and the entire glove is synthetic. Nylon, perhaps.

The best thing about it is the lush gel padding on the palms. They are very comfortable and dampen quite enough vibrations and impact. I have used it for over 100 Kms and never once did I feel any tightening or any numbness or compression.

Firefox Gloves-Gel padding

The palmar surface is mesh-like and hence there is satisfactory heat dissipation due to which my palms have not got sweaty and wetty.

Another very good thing about the glove is that it has rubber paddings right over the knuckle area which are capable of protecting your knuckles from a good degree of lacerations if at all you fall.

The material covering the thumb area has a good texture that gives it excellent grip.

The major downside is the overall stitch quality. It is very flimsy at some areas like the ‘finger-holes’. Also the synthetic material used to line the medial side of each fingers appear to be another vulnerability.

Making a final verdict, the Firefox gloves are just OK fine, China made gloves and for a price tag of 350 /-Rs, it is fair enough for a casual commuter like me. Though I am currently a satisfied user, I am already thinking of an upgrade. That is just a ‘human thing’, I hope.

Secure your lock!!-Firefox Number-Lock review

What is that one thing which gives you a sudden bolt of anxiety+worry+uncertainity ?

……….???.......????.......???.......???.....???!! Enough!!! Time Out!!

I’ll tell you. Misplacing keys. All kinds of them. Car Keys. Bike keys. Apartment keys. Locker keys. It goes to Bike locks too.

Since I am very notorious in loosing keys and also because I worry my holy soul out all the time I loose a key, I decided to get a Number lock this time for my precious GT Transeo 4.0

So, I bought this… Firefox lock 20258 . 

Firefox Lock 20258

The first impression I had was ‘heavy’. It is heavy indeed. Thanks to the 12x1000 mm long metallic cable and its seemingly strong 4 Digit lock mechanism.

Firefox lock with plastic seat mount

It is very intuitive and simple to set and reset the numbers. There is a knob on the lock-end. Twist it, set the combination, twist it back and you are all set. So, what happens when you have already set the lock and then forgot the password? God, may help you!! Alternatively, the combination can be jolted down and hidden somewhere. And if you forget where you had hidden it..this time only God can help you!!

It also comes with a plastic seat-post mount and its pretty decent. But still, you have to take some extra care because the seat-post mount has a spring clamp that attaches to the plastic latch and the whole mechanism is very flimsy. It is highly advised that the lock cable be looped around the seat post or anywhere nearby rather than just hanging it from the mount. Trust me. I've already lost my lock somewhere on the road and this is what the seat post mount came of use.

My colleague's Sigma sensors where far away from the magnet and it was not working well due to this. The seat post mount that came with the Firefox lock was lying useless as I had lost the lock. So we just trimmed it and used it as a mount for the sensor It's working just fine now!

Again, not a superfab product but it is a value for money stuff. Rather than a reliable sturdy solution to lock your bike, it is more of a cheep good looking substitute which gives you a sense of security. Well, that’s more important than actual security, right?

Derailleur Gears Vs Hub Gears

Its very premature to publish such authoritative topics like these. But this information helped me to get rid of this very big confusion that I was having regarding what gear system to choose. Here, I have tabulated whatever information I have collected regarding them.

Particulars	Derailleur Gears	Hub Gears
Maintenance	High on effort t and cost(because of open system)	Less on effort and cost(closed system protects it from dust, water and physical trauma)
Chain	More flexible, less durable	Wider stronger and enables effective force transmission
Chain Path	Higher and more flexions due to two pulley wheels giving additive friction	Smaller chain path with no pulleys.
Grease tattoos on trousers(A big concern for work-commuters)	Frequent since the drivetrain is exposed	As the drivetrain is enclosed this issue is almost unheard of.
Sturdiness	Fragile	Sturdy
Ease of use	Complex due to two shifters and issues of ratio overlap and cross-chaining.	Only one shifter present making it very user friendly and hassle free, a benefit for beginners and in high-traffic.
Shifting while pedaling	Not possible in most models	Possible (important for city rides and trails)
Coaster brakes	Usually absent	Present. Effective in rain and snow. Very less maintenance. Complex and costly repairs. Inefficient heat dissipation. Not suitable for long descents. Longer response time and chances of skidding.
Shifting force required	High	Low
Gear Ratio	High overall gear ratios	High ratio present only in top models like Rohloff Speedhub
Weight	Very light	Heavy
Cost	Cheaper	Very expensive
System mechanics	Simple and can be easily repaired	Complex system; complex repairs
Efficiency	98%	92%
Rear wheel removal(think of a flat while touring)	Piece of cake	Difficult
Best suitable for	Go Fast riders (Performance, speed, sports)	Leisure Riders (Commuting, recreational rides)

Inception

Pulling the head back from the monitor, wiping off the drool on the table, swiveling on this creaky old office chair and gazing outside those dingy curtains shot a new thought into me. Why do you dream from the midway? Why cant a dream have a normal start, like in the real world? (Yeah, I agree. It was Mr. Dicaprio who asked that question first time in the history of mankind, somewhere in the movie "Inception"). Well, I was climbing a happily steep mountain road in my Cannondale Quick with all my gears and stuffs. Don't ask me the location yet. But it was gorgeous. Should be some bikers' paradise somewhere in...ah crap! That's the good or bad thing about a dream, right? It either ends before you want it to or it never ends even if you desperately want it to.

Back to reality. I am not a cyclist. At least I am not one right now. I am just chasing another dream.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been looking up some cycles (bike in India mostly means "Bajaj Pulsar" kind of affair). For a cyclist in real life, you need a cycle to start with. No, I don't have a Cannondale. See, I told you I was dreaming earlier and if I remember correctly, I started dreaming while watching this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRFNKhNhhJQ

If I could starve myself for a month and abstain from all that is called a 'social life' for about the same period of time, I might be able to procure some 25, 000 Rupees. Being a dynamic (meaning too uncertain in my own decisions), and fitness conscious person, commuting to work is prioritized. But I have to satisfy my adventurous split personality too. World wide web says that I need a Hybrid 'bike'. I feel the same too.

So the hunt has officially begun...Its gonna be a month full of  www.bikezone.com and www.parktool.com and www.jimlangley.net scavenging. Not to mention all the cowdungs google is gonna throw up on my screen. Well, I have to admit that 99% of times it is a life saver. Of course I am going to check out links that are posted in the comments as well. But I can't really expect any comments on a noob blog, can I?

So this is what the first post boils down to:
I am an amateur, absolute newcomer to the cycling world, interested in daily commuting and occasional off-road trips and I am looking for a nice entry-level hybrid bike, that will not burn a hole in my pocket which is holding a stash of 25,000 Indian Rupees.



Hail Comte de Sivrac!!