After foolishly using gear oil to lube the chain for 3 months on my new bike, I’ve finally decided to wax it. Since I live close to the beach, sand gets everywhere and sticks to the grease / oil-lube.
Now before using the waxed chain, I have to obviously clean up the cassette and crank wheel. Since I was oiling the chain, there’s now oil+gunk everywhere the chain has run through – casette, crank, derailleur.
Right now, I’m trying to clean the cassette, which as you can see in the video, is a one-piece (i think). There were two free cogs which I’ve removed before recording.
How do I clean this thing? My guess is
1. water + dish washing liquid
1. Gasoline
Is this ^ sufficient? I also have isopropyl alcohol (got it for washing the gasoline off the chain). Do i need to use it for the cassette also?
If i immerse it in gasoline, is there something inside the cassette which can get damaged?
Also, before reattaching everything back, do I need to apply anything on the threads of the hub cap? Or do I just wipe it clean, tighten it and leave it?
Lastly, what’s the gel like substance inside the hub in the second part of the video? There seem to be a few dirt/sand particles in there too. Do I just let it be or wipe it clean??
Thanks for all your support. Wouldn’t be possible for me to do anything otherwise. First time opening up a bike and I’m limited to DIY only with common household/chemical products (hard to reliably get anything branded here).
I’ll get to the deraileur in another post after I’m done with the cassette. Dont want to overload myself.
Cleaning one-piece cassette and rear wheel hub
byu/yogesch inbikewrench
by yogesch
1 Comment
Drop the entire cassette into a suitable container with strong warm water & dish soap solution. While it soaks hold the wheel over the container with the freehub facing down. Use a soft brush with bristles long enough to reach the red bearing seal and gently splash some soapy water all over everything, and gently scrub everything for a couple of minutes, with the freehub facing down.
It’s important that the soapy water drips out of the hub immediately. It’s possible for water to penetrate the seal and the soap can destroy the grease inside.
When the hub surfaces are clean, rinse gently with warm clear water, shake as much water out as possible, dry as much as possible with rags and set it aside so the water can drip down and out. Then scrub the cassette vigorously until clean, and rinse with warm clear water, shake out vigorously, dry with rags, and set aside to dry.
There is no need for gasoline, and it’s smelly and dangerous, a waste since you cannot re-use it in a car, and bad for the environment to dispose of.
For reassembly apply a tiny amount of grease to each of the freehub flats when you slide the cassette back on to aid future extractions. Also a tiny bit of grease on the locknut threads for the same reason. Periodically use the edge of a dry rag to clean behind the cassette where it meets the hub – a tiny bit of grease will migrate out over time.
You can also soak the entire chain in the same soapy water solution with the cassette, and dry thoroughly. Be sure to wax immediately so it doesn’t rust.
I’m fanatical about cleanliness and careful lubrication, and this is the process I’ve done many times for many years.
You can wash the derailleurs similarly. I like to remove the jockey pulleys and disassemble to clean thoroughly, the reassemble with tiny drops of oil on the bushings, seals, and derailleur pivots.
Wipe migrated oil periodically.
If you keep everything fairly clean all the time, it’s easy to scrub the cassette with a soapy brush while on the bike. Just shift the chain to the smallest cog and backpedal while holding a soapy brush against the cassette gears, and rinse off. Just lube everything immediately but lightly.