RD pulley wheels - cleaning?

[AngryScientist]

damn these things get gunked/caked up riding off road.

any lazy-man tips to clean them up? seems like an otherwise tedious process that i dont have any good tricks for other than the hard way?

whatcha got?

[John H.]

Keep chain on-
Back pedal bike in stand with a small screwdriver to scrape it off.

[robt57]

Originally Posted by John H.

Keep chain on-
Back pedal bike in stand with a XXXXXXXX to scrape it off.

Where XXXXX is the edge of pieces of one layer cardboard, then same after some lube to soften, then the same with some thin rag on the edge of cardboard until muck is all gone...

[rccardr]

Clean every time chain is lubed and wiped. Voila!

[YesNdeed]

Originally Posted by John H.

Keep chain on-
Back pedal bike in stand with a small screwdriver to scrape it off.

Flat head screwdriver, or the end of this. Then, I spray a little Purple Power degreaser on them, scrub with said small grout brush, rinse with hose water or a spray bottle, repeat if necessary. Works great.

[R3awak3n]

and you know which ones get the dirtiest? campy... the design gets so gunky SO quick. Sram they stay cleaner a bit longer/never get as dirty.

about to book my sram tattoo now.


but really, they are a pain in the ass to clean and always get gunk all over my floor.

[kppolich]

Since the OP already pulled the chain, whats the big deal about taking 5 minutes to remove the pulley wheels (keep track of upper and lower as well as direction) and clean properly? Pop the bearing covers off as well and see what damage you've done from neglecting them. It's a 5-10 minute job to clean out and dry/regrease and you are back on the road.

[Blue Jays]

I use dental scraping tools that I obtain through a friend who is a dentist.
They have a couple of different shapes good for reaching into tough spots.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by Blue Jays

I use dental scraping tools that I obtain through a friend who is a dentist.
They have a couple of different shapes good for reaching into tough spots.

I use spokes, set of three modified different shapes.

[false_Aest]

finger nail and back pedal.

or I'm happy to mill you a custom scraper for the low-low price of $200. Each pulley will require a unique scraper. +$150 for campy. +$500 for ceramic speed - $50 for SRAM.

[vqdriver]

It's not really that hard.
One pulley at a time. Single bolt. Just disassemble and scrape and brush clean.
I wear gloves tho cuz that grease stays around

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

other than the hard way?

whatcha got?

[choke]

Small diameter jute twine.

[Jaq]

This kid.

[amerikaner]

An old vibrating toothbrush and simple green works for me, the pulsing bristles help break up the crud.

[m_sasso]

Wax your chain instead of liquid lube to begin with and you will see a large reduction of that build up over ride time.