Cleaning a cassette?

[hercule]

I've been searching the forum for this and don't want to go into the minefield of opinions that is cleaning and lubricating a chain. Rather, how do you easily clean a cassette? In the past I've unbolted them and cleaned them all lovingly tooth by tooth, spacer by spacer, but my latest has the sprockets riveted onto a carrier and so not removable. Plus I wonder if there's an easier way in dismantling those that can be dismantled.

I've heard of people using ultrasonic cleaners for bike bits, would that work? Might be worth the expense if it would simplify cleaning all the other components on the bike.

[Steve Kish]

Those nice wooden stirring sticks from Costa coffee shops wrapped in a bit of WD40 soaked cloth work well on mine.

[Brucey]

jetwash (carefully, esp if you don't have good seals)

better still, jetwash plumbed in to the hot tap....

If you can't stretch to that, one of those washing-up brushes with hot water and detergent.

cheers

[Mick F]

Firstly,
NEVER EVER EVER USE A PRESSURE WASHER.



Can you take the cassette off as a complete item?

If so, drop it into a bowl - old casserole dish or saucepan? - and spray WD40 on it. Leave it for a few hours and scrub it with an old washing-up brush. Spray again and dry with a rag.

If you can't/don't want to remove it, remove the wheel and spray the cassette with WD40 whilst spinning it backwards. Scrub as before and dry with a rag.

However, I quote Steve Gravenites (pro mechanic) ...........

Cleaning a bike is like cleaning a toilet.
If you do it regularly, it's fine and easy.
If you wait, it's a truly disgusting experience.

[tooley92]

Looks around before writing this..........pop it in the dishwasher!, work's a treat - just don't get caught

[Brucey]

Firstly,
NEVER EVER EVER USE A PRESSURE WASHER.

-spoken like a true non-MTBer.

If you have crummy kit and you don't know what you are doing, don't do it.

-but if you have good seals and you are careful it is fine, just don't use the highest pressure setting and don't point the jet at places where the water might get in. I've been doing it for years. Some of my bikes have been washed this way several hundred times. No worries.

BTW the dish...uh.. parts washer works fine too.

Obviously not everyone has access to this kit hence the washing-up brush suggestion.

cheers

[RichardPH]

I start by cleaning the chain with a clip on chain cleaner and degreaser. The cassette I clean with a paintbrush that has been rejected for its #1 task. Holds the degreaser nicely and if you have, like me, a bike carrier screwed to an outside wall at 'working height' it's easy to align the brush with the gaps between the sprockets and back pedal to turn the sprocket across the bristles. Works a treat, especially if you apply Mick's clean toilet regime

use the garden hose to run water across the sprocket and through the chain, tho not if you live in the SE of England

5 minutes for the lot, wait for it to dry and apply favourite lube, and no, I'm not going there..

[hercule]

Ah, but a pressure washer on the cassette without the rest of the bike attached... after a good soak in degreaser... that sounds like a solution!

[tooley92]

Ah, but a pressure washer on the cassette without the rest of the bike attached... after a good soak in degreaser... that sounds like a solution!

It could be a bit embarrassing when it ends up embedded in the door of the neighbours car though

[saudidave]

I too have been pressure washing bikes (and motorbikes too) for 20 years now without mishap. It's just a question of knowing how things are assembled and ensuring that the water jet isn't directed anywhere close to a point of potential entry in to a bearing.
I usually pressure wash the entire transmission to remove the majority of the crud, dry it off, apply degreasing fluid (gunk) and then repeat the pressure wash. It saves degreasing fluid, helps the environment as a result of that and you end up with a really clean transmission without hours of elbow grease.
I use as much pressure as mjy equipment can muster!

[reohn2]

To clean a cassette use a 1 inch paint brush with some white spirit on it,followed by a squirt of Muc off followed by a rinse with soapy water on a clean brush,let it drip dry or squirt wth GT85.
Takes about 5minutes max whilst still on the bike.

I'm with MickF,I've never needed a pressure washer for anything I own,I can have the bike cleaned,no matter how mucky,in the time takes to set one up.
They're like leave blowers,useless.

[Big T]

I own a low pressure jet-washer, specially designed for bikes. It's called a Dirtworker. It runs off a car cigar lighter or I run it of a rechargeable battery. It will remove dirt without forcing water into your bearings. I've been using it on my son's cross bikes for 4 years with no ill effect on the bearings.

I can clean a bike clogged up with mud in 4 minutes with it (this is a necessary requirement in a muddy race when they are changing bikes every lap).

[Erudin]

I use a citrus based heavy duty degreaser diluted in an old Muc-Off bottle (was a tenner when I bought it), its powerful stuff even when diluted. Mainly needs doing after winter and using a heavier lube (use Prolink or dry lube rest of time), I take the cassette and chainset off (would not want it anywhere near bearings) spray and clean with a Park GSC1 Gear Cleaning Brush. If cleaning the cassette when attached I use a light spray of Muc-Off, the Park brush then strips of old cloth to "floss" the cassette clean.

[Brucey]

.I'm with MickF,I've never needed a pressure washer for anything I own,I can have the bike cleaned,no matter how mucky,in the time takes to set one up.
They're like leave blowers,useless.

I used to commute via MTB and got dirty every day, so I 'd clean the bike fully every single day, including the chain and cogs etc. I got it down to a steady five to seven minutes using a pressure washer. Not possible in other ways.

Leaf blowers are pretty useless; pressure washers are not.

cheers

[reohn2]

Leaf blowers are pretty useless; pressure washers are not.

cheers

One's a petrol waster for no benefit,the other's a water/electric or petrol waster when a hosepipe does the same job,wet muck comes off easily with a hose,a full bike wash (whether the mud is dry or wet) takes me about 20minutes,that includes cleaning the drivetrain fully with White Spirit and the chain with a chain bath/scrubber.

If I were commuting everyday on mucky paths etc I'd have my drivetrain fully enclosed with a hubgear,the rest of the bike would wait until I had time ie; w/end 20min with a hose and bucket of hot water/wahing up liquid.

5 day a week(?) 6min a day= 30min
once a week 20min.
£100+(?) still in the bank,saved on not buying the water/electric waster