I finally made it back to Graser Rag last night. And I had a blast! It had been so long since I had gone, and hopefully these pictures can show you how much my bike wanted me to clean it. She was a real mess.
No....my chain is not gold. That is straight up a bunch of rust and yuck on there.
Minnesota Winters can really mess a bike up. With all the snow and ice, it can get rough. But add the salt from the road on top of that and you get a real yucky situation. I've been riding this bike since about December 1st (we'll say) and until last night, I hadnt cleaned it.
After inspecting it the other day, I realized that I should take a little better care of it, even if it is just my "winter beater." She treats me well-gets me from one place to the next. So I should treat her wioth the same respect and clean her off every so often.
Just look at the raod sludge on my cog.
So i took both wheels off and cleaned them up. Then i added a little lube to each nipple, all that grit and such doesnt get into the spoke holes/rim and such. I also used a wire brush to clean the heck out of the chain, which turned everything a bright beaudious shade of orange. That took some time. I also (as you can see below) cleaned my chain ring and BB up a bit. but I didnt have the time, or energy to take much apart and clean the insides of stuff. That's an after winter job for me.
Once everything was cleaned off, I threw it all back together and lubed up the chain. It's always a good idea to spin your backwheel a handful of times after you lube a chain to make sure it all gets worked in.
This morning when I hit the road on my freshly cleaned up bike, I could feel the difference. Everything felt so smooth! It was great. I hope that feeling can hold out until mid march when I (hopefully) can change back to my other bikes and overhaul this beast for another 8 months until next winter when I pull her out again.
How about you guys? have you been properly cleaning up you bike?
Bike maintenance in the winter? Never! Partially because of time, and partially because it seems like a pointless task when it's just as dirty after five minutes of riding. but mostly because I don't have any heated indoor space to work on a bike. I could try the basement, but it's just a hassle to try and get bikes down the stairway without getting the walls and everything else covered in mud and rust.... and then all that slush would just melt all over my basement floor, which isn't that great either....
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