What to use to clean gears and cassettes?

Question

hallo fellow cyclist,

my chain, gears and cassette are filthy,

i wanna clean em good.

i dont have any specialty chemicals or tools to use...

there are no bike shops near my house and i'm broke after buying a pair of tioga city slicker tyres....

so what can i use to clean that is ussually found in your average house...

can washing up liquid do the cleaning and cooking oil do the lubricating?

Answer 1

Hm.

I think every home on the planet has WD40. Spray down the dirty stuff with it and clean off using an old t shirt with a thin screwdriver to get into the tight spots. You can also use Dawn dishwashing detergent with water or some other degreasing soap.

To lubricate after cleaning, rub a piece of parrafin or a white candle on the chain. It may not look like anything stays on the chain but it does.  

You'll need to repeat the wax lube at least once a week.

Then, when you go into town you'll either need to visit a bike shop and get proper chain lube or get some silicone spray. Silicone spray isn't the best choice but will do OK.

Answer 2

to begin, no cooking oil.  bike lubes are designed to lube and be fairly dry so they dont atract dirt.  your cooking oil would atract dirt, wear your chain and cogs and gum up and hurt shifting.

usually i just use car wash soap to clean the bike.  i find degreasers can really mess up a hub or bottom bracket if they happen to leach up into the bearings when you're spraying them.  what i usually do is use an old rag and work it through the cogs to clean them.  then a couple times a year i actually remove the cogset, break it down and clean all the cogs and spacers in a pan or bucket.  i dont like getting degreaser all over parts that have bearings as they can cause failures.  no seal is perfect and even sealed cartidges can allow some penetration.  all it takes is one drop of degreaser and you are buying new bearings.