On Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 3:02:35 PM UTC-8, John B. slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 14 Nov 2018 23:43:17 +0100, Emanuel Berg
wrote:

The commune is setting up a bike maintenance
station. There are no tools so far, or perhaps
because it is open 24/7 so if there were they
would disappear. But there is a strong light (to
examine the bike and do repairs), air, and
water with a strong beam to clean the bike.

There is where I'm a bit hesitant, don't you
flush away grease in layers and get water into
the the chain, and wash away lube?

About the layers in modern bikes, are they
"machine layers" (?), i.e. sealed in a small
cylinders or discs, or are they open as in old
bikes with or without retainers?

Should you clean your bike with that much force
and water?

Well, the seals on bicycle wheels and the old traditional square
tapered shaft bottom brackets are not 100% sealed so I'd be a bit
apprehensive to wash the bike with a strong water spray. Say a power
washer, and if I washed a chain with soap and water I believe the step
#2 would be to re-lubricate the chain.

For modern bikes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ei8Kt2bfEE I have the Feedback washstand. https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...e/ffspr2-1.jpg -- which I got super-cheap on sale. It's great for washing road bikes. Spray and spin.

I would hesitate spraying down an old open bearing bike. Hub seals on old bikes were just dust caps. Shimano came up with mechanical seals for their hubs probably in the '80s. I'd just wipe down anything made before the '80s.. Campy pedals always had labyrinth seals and current Shimano SPDs have incredibly good labyrinth seals. I've ridden a set for years in sloppy weather, opened them up and the grease is still clean. You can blast those with a hose.

The commune's bike cleaning center needs to have a bucket and lots of brushes and some good biodegradable detergent -- and a work stand and shop with lots of grease and oil for apres cleaning.

I rarely clean my commuter, but it is a necessary exercise because it will just stop working if it gets too dirty -- and it is usually when I discover something is broken.

-- Jay Beattie.