I do not enjoy cleaning cassettes. But it feels nice to have a clean cassette even if it doesn’t last long.. Y’all leaving your cassettes on or off the hub when you clean them? Any better methods than going nuts on it with an old toothbrush and simple green?
by bikinibottomrealest8
12 Comments
Swap to waxing – No more need to vigorously clean all the gunks. I leave mine on the wheel and clean with soap and warm water once every two weeks and its spotless.
Ultrasonic cleaner will take all the pain out of this
Putting the lockring back onto a cassette is one of the more satisfying parts of maintenance though.
My least favorite part of maintenance is pulling the bottom bracket out of something ancient. Assuming it’s not a rust filled nightmare and you can actually get it out without tearing anything up, you also have to manage to get it back in without crossthreading or stripping all of those rusted threads.
Dry/wax lube and it’s almost never needed.
Original formula Simple Green will damage your steel cogs and chain, and most anything made of carbon steel.
I do not feel the need to clean my cassettes. But I have cheap ones and they’re easy to replace. I don’t notice any ill effects, but maybe lifetime is shorter. I’ve gone through about about 3 8sp cassettes in 9500 miles on my ebike. I’ve had to replace the 11t cog separately a couple more times too, since that’s the gear I’m most often in and the cog that’s most likely to wear fast. But that cog literally costs [$0.99 w/free shipping on Ali.](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832711033295.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.17.69ee0g880g88QR&algo_pvid=cc06769b-65ae-462d-88ff-ae71aaa46f08&algo_exp_id=cc06769b-65ae-462d-88ff-ae71aaa46f08-8&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21USD%211.94%211.85%21%21%2114.12%2113.43%21%402101cff817200262171974783e8b1b%2165792317784%21sea%21US%21188407755%21&curPageLogUid=KjbxoQ5hdNK3&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A)
Maybe y’all with your 1x 12sp kit gotta baby it more.
I don’t clean my bikes. Wipe down the chain with a rag and that’s it. I ride in all weather conditions.
I used to do this every couple bike cleanings; disassembling and cleaning every cog with a brush and degreaser. I used to find it pretty satisfying, though admittedly time consuming.
Now I just wax my chains, and almost never bother even removing the rear wheel. Any wax buildup on the cogs probably just helps anyway. Bike cleaning days are so much easier now.
Get e big nylon shoebrushm and then brush the cassette with drive train degreaser or dishsoap.
least favorite part is paying the bike shop mechanics !! lol
Nah, that’s nothing. Internal routing is a pain in the ass!
you can just skip this part. I’ve 200k miles ridden over the past 15 years and have suffered zero consequences for literally never doing this.
9-speed gang, Unite!
And aint nobody got time for all that disassembly and cleaning. You can run a rag between the cogs while the freewheel is on the wheel, clean the chain, say “good enough.”