Maaknplan Posted November 3, 2020 Share Degreaser is just that, it dissolves oil and grease. The smallest amount of degreaser left in the chain will destroy any lube dasilvarsa and gummibear 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karman de Lange Posted November 4, 2020 Share Think I should give it a go.... No cleaning or at least not the levels I am currently doing so. Question, does not cleaning the chain and just lubing not affect shifting? I assume you at least scrub or scrap off the gunk/dirt? nope .. 0 issues.. shifts as soon as you touch the lever. I've never done anything, I really just add lube as soon as starts making noises or before a longer event. The chain has no buildup .. i use Squirt Lube .. the excess just falls off. MORNE 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MORNE Posted November 4, 2020 Share nope .. 0 issues.. shifts as soon as you touch the lever. I've never done anything, I really just add lube as soon as starts making noises or before a longer event. The chain has no buildup .. i use Squirt Lube .. the excess just falls off.Same. The excessive waxy bits fall off...rather annoyingly if you like to work on your bikes indoors while the wife isn't home and you have to crawl around the floor washing off wax with hot water haha Karman de Lange and DieselnDust 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted November 4, 2020 Share Same.The excessive waxy bits fall off...rather annoyingly if you like to work on your bikes indoors while the wife isn't home and you have to crawl around the floor washing off wax with hot water haha ek ken hom daai1 MORNE and TheoG 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted November 4, 2020 Share Huhu ... neeeee manne ! Technically it is VERY possible we are damaging the chains, and causing premature wear, by over cleaning ... especially when the water and degreaser is not properly removed before re-lubing .... BUT ... riding around with a dirty chain and drive train .... I will rather replace the chain a bit earlier, and enjoy a CLEAN bike Then again, I DO take a lot of care to remove all degreaser, and to dry out the chain properly before re-lubing. I also over lube, working that lube into the rollers ... then remove the excess lube .... let it dry, then wipe down any remaining excess lube from the chain. Having started out my career as an artisan I simply can not turn a blind eye to maintenance, my OCD keeps me awake .... and yet I fully appreciate the dangers of "poor" maintenance when degreaser is not removed properly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karman de Lange Posted November 4, 2020 Share Huhu ... neeeee manne ! Technically it is VERY possible we are damaging the chains, and causing premature wear, by over cleaning ... especially when the water and degreaser is not properly removed before re-lubing .... BUT ... riding around with a dirty chain and drive train .... I will rather replace the chain a bit earlier, and enjoy a CLEAN bike Then again, I DO take a lot of care to remove all degreaser, and to dry out the chain properly before re-lubing. I also over lube, working that lube into the rollers ... then remove the excess lube .... let it dry, then wipe down any remaining excess lube from the chain. Having started out my career as an artisan I simply can not turn a blind eye to maintenance, my OCD keeps me awake .... and yet I fully appreciate the dangers of "poor" maintenance when degreaser is not removed properly.... Never think dirty bike is not maintained. I hardly wash my bike, but everything is tip top condition and always tuned. I just can't be bothered to wash it. It gets dirty every day. I've serviced my fork more times than I've washed my bike ....... bullet77, DieselnDust, T_Boss and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted November 4, 2020 Share washing the bike too often i also really bad for the suspension fork and shock. Water and detergent gets past the seals and displaces the lube oil creating stiction and higher seal wear. There's so little lube oil in the fork lowers that the amount of water getting in becomes a real problem MORNE , dasilvarsa and Maaknplan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR ◣◢ Posted November 4, 2020 Share washing the bike too often i also really bad for the suspension fork and shock. Water and detergent gets past the seals and displaces the lube oil creating stiction and higher seal wear. There's so little lube oil in the fork lowers that the amount of water getting in becomes a real problem mmmm. I wash once a week using a soft brush and hot soapy water unless the ride was really muddy in which case the bike gets a proper wash and gently rinse right after the ride. So what is the right amount that you should wash your bike? You'd think that these bikes shouldn't be this sensitive considering what they cost. A R20k fork can't get wet twice a week? Dunno about that. Seems ridiculous. DieselnDust 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karman de Lange Posted November 4, 2020 Share mmmm. I wash once a week using a soft brush and hot soapy water unless the ride was really muddy in which case the bike gets a proper wash and gently rinse right after the ride. So what is the right amount that you should wash your bike? You'd think that these bikes shouldn't be this sensitive considering what they cost. A R20k fork can't get wet twice a week? Dunno about that. Seems ridiculous. The primary dust seals in most forks are actually felt with oil in them... so the more soap you get into the dust seal, the quicker the oil is removed and quicker you have issues. The rubber seals ("Dust wipers") at top keeps the big things out (stones etc) .(well on my fork) Edited November 4, 2020 by Karman de Lange DieselnDust 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR ◣◢ Posted November 4, 2020 Share The primary dust seals in most forks are actually felt with oil in them... so the more soap you get into the dust seal, the quicker the oil is removed and quicker you have issues. The rubber seals ("Dust wipers") at top keeps the big things out (stones etc) .(well on my fork) So your bike can't be used in the rain either then? In 25 years of riding I've never experienced that washing a bike will cause issues with a fork. You would need to soak the fork in a strong soap solution for hours for water to penetrate the seals. A simple clean with a brush and rinse really won't do that. TheoG and The Ouzo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ouzo Posted November 4, 2020 Share So your bike can't be used in the rain either then? In 25 years of riding I've never experienced that washing a bike will cause issues with a fork. You would need to soak the fork in a strong soap solution for hours for water to penetrate the seals. A simple clean with a brush and rinse really won't do that. I have to agree with this. I dont see component/bike manufacturers building parts that cant stand a good/frequent wash.Obviously they build them taking into account regular service and replacement, but they also design them to stand up to some abuse DR ◣◢ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted November 4, 2020 Share Its the soap that the main problem. As long as you lube the stanchion or the top of the seal regularly you will be ok. However most people wash the bike and then compress the fork against a dry stanchion. The more you do this the faster you wear the wiper seal the more water gets in and the more soap gets in.So a light brushing with a soft brush or wipe down with a damp cloth and then a bit of lube on the stanchion goes a long way to preserving the seals. I agree it shouldn't be a problem but we see may forks in workshops that have badly worn stanchions in the wiper seal area and also on the section of the stanchion that travels into the bush. There is also signs of corrosion indicating water got in and was there for a long time. MORNE and dasilvarsa 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karman de Lange Posted November 4, 2020 Share So your bike can't be used in the rain either then? In 25 years of riding I've never experienced that washing a bike will cause issues with a fork. You would need to soak the fork in a strong soap solution for hours for water to penetrate the seals. A simple clean with a brush and rinse really won't do that. Water won't do anything, I did say soap. I'm no expert on forks.. I just stating from my experience of owning same fork for a couple of years and servicing it every 50 hrs. The felt o rings ("dust seals") are always black from dust. I doubt the dust wipers are water proof, they made to keep large dust particles out, not water. But i'm wrong person to ask .. there far more experienced fork guys out there. DieselnDust 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MORNE Posted November 4, 2020 Share The Hambini is on record in one of his videos saying he never washes his bikes because that is what ‘F*** them up’ Just putting that out there lol DieselnDust 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR ◣◢ Posted November 4, 2020 Share This is getting way off topic now but... https://www.pinkbike.com/news/Tech-Spotlight-The-Functional-Wash.html This is the process I follow. The only difference is I use a soft brush as part of Step 3 to move the soap around to dislodge dirt on the frame. At no point is the bike or suspension soaked in soap and water. Either way. This has been no process for years and I've never had a fork stanction scuff or go bad. Not even on my 8 year old Lyriks. Everything was still fine after years of abuse with very infrequent service intervals. Each to his own. I like a clean and quiet bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted November 4, 2020 Share Water won't do anything, I did say soap. I'm no expert on forks.. I just stating from my experience of owning same fork for a couple of years and servicing it every 50 hrs. The felt o rings ("dust seals") are always black from dust. I doubt the dust wipers are water proof, they made to keep large dust particles out, not water. But i'm wrong person to ask .. there far more experienced fork guys out there. Indeed, soap is the main culprit since the oil can handle a little bit of water that's why there's often an emulsifying agent in hydraulic oils. But water suspended in the oil lowers its viscosity so this water has to be shed so there's also demulsifier added. This helps to maintain a balance but a fork must draw in water since it will draw in air. The lowers have to be able to breathe or the fork will not extend again after compression. This breather is built into the wiper seal. So there's one point of water ingress already.ride through a deep puddle of water and the forks action will draw in water.hence 50hr service is very important if you don't want to replace the uppers every year if you ride in the wet a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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