Best way to get rid of surface rust?

It's been a hard few months on my daily commute. I had to take 8 days off after a crash. I come back to my chain and cassette, dry and rusty. This weekend I'm going to clean it up. Anybody have tips or techniques to get rid of surface rust? I'm probably going to take then both off for a cleaning.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David P. on February 1, 2018 at 7:25am

Jeebus, lube that poor thing!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by mike w. on February 1, 2018 at 10:01am

Give the cogs a heavy shot of WD40 and a scrubbing with a stiff nylon brush and a wipe-down with a clean rag. Then a good shot of TriFlo. If that's a freewheel, pull it and shoot some TriFlo into the body, give it a few spins, let it drain, and then oil it up with Phil's Tenacious Oil or any good quality medium-bodied oil (NEVER 3-in-One!) spin it again, then grease the hub threads and reinstall .

Replace the chain- they're cheap enough- and keep the new one well-oiled with any good chain lube from your LBS. There are good lubes available specifically for wet-weather conditions.

It's a good idea to replace the chain regularly- maybe every 1500-2500 miles. Keep it lubed! Your drive train will last longer if you don't get in the habit of keeping a worn-out, stretched chain well past its service life. As i said, chains are cheap, much cheaper than chainwheels and cogs.