The shop I work at is in full swing with early spring tune ups and repairs. From time to time, we will get to work on some stuff that is just amazing. Then there are the horror stories. You know.........cases of extreme neglect, components that are not right, crash damage, that sort of thing.
Todays picture, which is a bit fuzzy, sorry! Well, it's a Trek 5200 bottom bracket shell. The grease was so contaminated with water and dirt that it had turned into an awful, gooey spooge. This picture shows you what I saw after the removal of the cartridge, Octalink bottom bracket, which itself was rusty and completely shot. The crankset banged around and was so loose that I advised this customer to replace the bottom bracket, which is why I was in there in the first place.
The upshot came; however, when I leveled out the bike on the stand. There was about a pint of water that gushed out of the bottom bracket shell! It just vomited out right at my feet! Amazing stuff, I tell you. The bike is ridden in all sorts of conditions and was pretty dirty and unkempt when it came in to us. Apparently, this fellow either rides in a lot of rain or uses a high pressure washer to clean his bike. At any rate, this bike had more water in it than any bike I've worked on before. (My vote is for the high pressure washer)
So, take care of your bike by never using high pressure water spray, and take the time to clean it by hand. It's the best, least costly, and important maintanence that you can perform on your bikes. Remember: A clean bike is a happy bike! It's an easy way to avoid today's horror story!
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