[jonKranked]

Correct; ultrasonic bath. It’s great, all the small things can just get chucked in but I do mostly use it for chains. Re: Cassettes, it probably wouldn’t fit a 50t, but like a 32 would fit I think. However since I use wax on my chain though, my cassette stays so much cleaner it doesn’t really need this. I simply use a large hard brush (like a huge nail brush) with a little degreaser on to clean any dry mud splatter off my cassette these days.
You can buy ones big enough for a cassette but the price ramps up with size.

gotcha. i've looked into ultrasonic baths before, and that's always been a question is fitting a larger cassette. my largest is only a 42t. they make ones that are large enough, but they get expensive quick, then add in the extra cleaner you'd need to fill it.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

 

[rideit]

I think @rideit has one too

I've thought about it but never gone beyond the nebulous thinking about it

I do. But since going to dumonde-tech lite I haven’t needed it as much as I used to.
I had to get the 15 liter version to fit the 51 or 52 cassette.
I am currently ‘wax-curious’, but not ready to make that jump.

 

[Changleen]

Wax is the shiz. So much cleaner, lasts so much longer. It is a faff to start with though, but I wouldn’t go back now. If you can’t be fucked with the whole melting and swishing jam though, there is an emulsion wax that you apply like ‘normal’ lube called ‘Squirt’. It’s nearly as good but still needs a properly cleaned chain to start (as all good/well set up chain lubes do).

 

[jonKranked]

View attachment 170215

can you fit a cassette?

 

[6thElement]

I am currently ‘wax-curious’, but not ready to make that jump.

I've got a pile of sample Squirt lube bottles that I've kept meaning to try, rather than the boiling wax in a saucepan route. But you need to perfectly clean the chain, cassette etc before using it.

Time to look at ultrasonic cleaners I guess.

 

[Changleen]

Voila:

 

[rideit]

I have tried wax-based (non melt) lubes before, and always kind of hated them due to wax buildup on the cassette. One reason that I am leery.

 

[Changleen]

You may be overdoing it if it’s building up on the cassette… you do get a little after a fresh application but I dry brush it off after the first ride or two and then you’re golden for ages.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

can you fit a cassette?

3-1/2 x 5 x 5-1/2" effective usable space

 

[rideit]

You may be overdoing it if it’s building up on the cassette… you do get a little after a fresh application but I dry brush it off after the first ride or two and then you’re golden for ages.

My experiences come more from having to clean that crap off of customer’s bikes at the shop, not my own. God-awful messes sometimes, occasionally completely clogging in between the cogs. It was a serious PITA.

 

[Changleen]

My experiences come more from having to clean that crap off of customer’s bikes at the shop, not my own. God-awful messes sometimes, occasionally completely clogging in between the cogs. It was a serious PITA.

Wow, what are they doing? There shouldn’t be anything like that much! Are they lubing the cassette directly?

 

[Westy]

can you fit a cassette?

A much cheaper cassette cleaning method is to just place it in a small rubbermaid type box with some kitty litter and shake/tumble for a few minutes. It does leave a little dust and grit but it removes all the nasty shit that sticks to a cassette. Any litter that sticks to the cassette is easily cleaned with a soak in some water.

 

[Pesqueeb]

Wow, what are they doing? There shouldn’t be anything like that much! Are they lubing the cassette directly?

 

[Changleen]

We also got a new dishwasher some months ago because the old one was energy inefficient, really old and loud as fuck. Got a nice energy efficient quiet Bosch. Anyway old one still worked though so I have it plumbed in my workshop. When I get a really old dirty bike in for service or rebuild I now throw all the components in there, use a commercial surface cleaner (regular dishwasher stuff has a tonne of salt in) chuck it on hot and hard and Voilà! 95% clean. Then of course jockey wheels and the like need a proper strip but it saves a bucket of time compared to a full manual clean.

 

[Changleen]

This is how pivot and headset bearings should be treated.

 

[Pesqueeb]

This is how pivot and headset bearings should be treated.

 

[slyfink]

Wow, what are they doing? There shouldn’t be anything like that much! Are they lubing the cassette directly?

I used to use White Lightning liquid wax. It would gum up my cassettes really badly, to the point where it would skip under power... That's when I started brushing my cassette after every ride. I've since switched to Rock N' Roll, which works very well for me here, and doesn't gum up the cassette. But I still brush it off after almost every ride.

 

[rideit]

My bad experiences were definitely from the White Lightning days. icky stuff.

 

[Changleen]

Here’s my cassette after 2 rides (from a previous go-round) using MoltenSpeedWax. You can see on the chain itself there is some wax on the inside edges of the plates near the rollers and the few flecks of white you can see on the cassette are the remaining bits of wax that have flaked off. It is absolutely minimal. Seems like a very different product.

I’ll try and remember to take a shot of the wax on the cassette as soon as a I put the freshly waxed chain back on this time. I would describe it as dandruff like flakes rather than buildup though.

 

[6thElement]

Prolink forever and the cassette and chain generally get brushed off before every ride, then chain is lubed every couple/few rides.

The desire to try a wax alternative is just that 99% of riding here is dry conditions so I'd like to see if it's "better".

Years ago racing a hundy, one of the aid stations had a bunch of randoms "helping" people by putting on squirt lube like it was ketchup on fries. That definitely was not the way to go.

 

[Changleen]

Prolink forever and the cassette and chain generally get brushed off before every ride, then chain is lubed every couple/few rides.

The desire to try a wax alternative is just that 99% of riding here is dry conditions so I'd like to see if it's "better".

Years ago racing a hundy, one of the aid stations had a bunch of randoms "helping" people by putting on squirt lube like it was ketchup on fries. That definitely was not the way to go.

Yeah, absolutely not. Squirt has a 4 hour set time for a start!

 

[Westy]

My bad experiences were definitely from the White Lightning days. icky stuff.

I think local soil type has a big impact on what lubes work well. The clay in Virginia made asphalt like goo out of most lubes. The glacial till our here keeps things pretty clean.

 

[rideit]

Yup, the stuff was definitely worst during our ‘moondust’ season (Late July to September)