Basic Maintenance Question (Cleaning and Degreasing)

[bdc43]

I'm in the process of tuning up my bike for the new season and I had a question re. cleaning the cogs on the cassette (didn't have to last year since it was a new 6-speed freewheel I got with my 9C kit). Is the 9C motor hub pretty well sealed? Would there be any chance of some degreaser leaking into the hub casing when I spray the gears ? I remember Justin at Ebikes.ca saying that some of his customers had water leak into the motor from the wire harness, but that's on the left side and the cassette is on the right side. I realize that on a regular non electric bike it's recommended to spray degreaser down from a vertical position in order to avoid any contamination of the wheel hub. I assume it's probably good practice when working near a hub motor.

 

[amberwolf]

Nothing on a bike or ebike seems to ever be sealed well enough to keep everything out completely, so anything you can do to mitigate getting it into the places you don't want it is best.

I would not spray degreaser on a cassette or freewheel (or anything else), because it will get inside the bearing area of that as well, carrying grit into it and contaminating the grease in it, accelerating wear of it.

Instead, I would put it into a cup and then dip a brush (old toothbrush, etc) into it, and then use that to scrub the areas needing cleaning, and wipe them off with paper towels or scrap cloth rags, etc. It uses less degreaser, makes a lot less mess on the ground or wherever you are doing it, and runs far less risk of contaminating areas you don't want it in.


Typically, if I am going to the point of cleaning stuff up, I also tend to just take it all the way apart and repack bearings and stuff, too, so I can actually just wipe all the grit/grease/etc. off of each individual part, including each separate cog or chainring.

Chains I don't usually clean except to brush them off with a dry brush, because again degreaser or other liquids (including lubricants!) will wash grit inside the chain links, where it will stay and accelerate wear. The worse the chains are to start with, the bigger their existing gaps will be, and the larger particles will be washed in, and the faster wear will accelerate from that point on.

 

[dogman dan]

Real bikers will disagree, but I just hose stuff off with water, then like to re lube with dry lubes like white lightning or whatever.

Don't WD 40, unless you have a chain that is rusted stiff. If you really have a grimy freewheel, hammered from 3000 miles of use, then replacing with a clean one would not be out of the question. Nor would removing the freewheel, then cleaning and re oiling it. Slacker that I am, I'll take a crusty, rusty old freewheel, and after cleaning, soak it in regular motor oil, then let rag dry it and reinstall. Gets the accumulated grit out of it if enough oil runs in one side, and out the other.