When I got home from work yesterday, I was faced with a dilemma; I really wanted to ride but I knew my legs were smoked. I’d hammered them over the last week, and as nice as it was outside, I needed to rest them. My wife was working – from home, but working away. Well, being indoors simply wasn’t going to do. Then I looked over at my wife’s Assenmacher… it needed some cleaning. In fact, I was pretty sure it needed some drivetrain cleaning and lubing as well. She doesn’t ride the bike much, but it’d been a while. Then I thought about my Venge. That hadn’t gotten a good once-over since last fall. Same idea, though; I don’t ride it much. I had my “something to do”.
I pulled my stand out and set it in the driveway in the sunlight. I grabbed my bag of tools and spare parts and went to work… on my wife’s bike, first. See, I find I can lose steam when cleaning the bikes, so if I start with hers first, she’s guaranteed to get my full attention. The Assenmacher’s drivetrain was a little gunky, so a good cleaning and it was sparkling again. I wiped everything down and got the blue-glitter nail polish out (it’s almost a perfect match) and touched up a few places where the paint was chipped. I took the wheels off, cleaned the cassette, put the bike back together and it was done. It looked fantastic.
Then it was time to turn my attention to the Venge. I thought it’d be a quick job, until I got into it. The poor thing was a mess. Wheels off, chain off, upside down in the grass, I cleaned everything. Derailleurs, chain rings, the works. Then the chain, with an old toothbrush. It was gunky. Nasty, really. I couldn’t believe I let my Venge get that gnarly. I took my time and went to it… I made it look new again.
So, some interesting things I learned over cleaning the bikes this past few days (I cleaned the Trek and the tandem up days ago after damp to wet rides)
- Shimano Crank on the Trek 5200; I loosened the snugging nut for the crank arm and the crank now spins super-freely after watching a clip about it on YouTube… I used to think it had to be a little more snug to keep it from creaking. I was mistaken (Shimano crankset).
- Washing my wife’s Assenmacher, I couldn’t help but recognize the excellence in the Campagnolo Record 10-sp. components. They really are amazing. I spent extra time brightening them up.
- My Specialized Venge was dirty. I can’t let it get like that, ever again.
- CeramicSpeed bearings; my Venge’s crank bearings are CeramicSpeed. Must have been when the shop put the new bearings in for the bottom bracket (the originals were fried), they put in the good bearings (no wonder that cost so much!). With a simple spin of the crank when I don’t have a chain on there, it’ll go around several dozen times before slowing to a stop. It’s quite amazing.
The tandem is always clean and well taken care of. I’m glad to have brought the rest of the road bikes along to the party.
Fit Recovery 