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Yesterday I completed, what I thought, was a pretty good tune-up on my bike. It has not even been a month since I took it in for service, but the chain, cassette and deraillers were really getting gunked up with road residue and caked on chain lube.
After a good 3 hours of general frame, wheel and components cleaning, I removed the rear wheel cassette and chain and degreased them.
The more I ride, the more I see bikes that really should look and run a lot better than they do. In my earlier days I detailed cars and attention to detail for cleanliness has really stuck with me to this day on cars and now to bikes. I see some newer bikes out there that just look "ratty" and not taken care of. Maybe I'm missing something and the "ratty" look might just be a badge of honor...? I had one guy, not too long ago mention "Did you get yourself a new set of wheels?" I don't think it was a question as much as a poke at how clean it was. I'm not much in to changing out bikes once they get so dirty and un-maintenanced that they don't work the way they were intended. If you care for your investment and maintain it the way it was intended, it will reward you with many miles and years of service. That is my goal and why you just might see this type of post on a regular basis.
As a side note to this post, I also wanted to mention that I adapted the bike to night rides, if neccessary. It is almost dark/dark by 8pm now and I don't want to get caught out in the dark again with no lights like I was last thursday evening. I use "Super Flash" by Planet Bike for my rear light: http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3034.html
and the "Hi-Flux LED" by Cygolite for my headlight in situations where I know I'll be out later than usual: http://cygolite.com/products/new/HiFlux2/HiFlux2LED.html
