Dirty And Tired Derailleur Gets New Life In 3 Minutes. How I Clean Rear Mech After Long, Dusty Trips

How are you guys! Ready for some fun in the workshop or garage?
As you can see, my rear Deore derailleur doesn't look good, after a couple of days in the office (endurance, climbing workouts). If we let the dust and grime get to the pulleys, bearings and pivots, the mech will lose the shifting performance. So let's get to work!

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[dansotelo]

I'm a professional mechanic and this has to be the best quick clean rear derailleur video I've seen yet that is done right with out or very little amount of cleaning solvent(s). Because nothing ruins s rear derailleur or rear hub bearings when using excessive use solvents or pressure washing.

[CyclingOffToSomewhereIDK]

I've been cycling since 1983 and you just taught me something. Maybe it was me not paying attention to other videos closely enough but here it is. I've always had issues cleaning (what I now know is the) guide jockey wheel. Shift the cassette onto the biggest cog and it comes out of hiding. It also exposes the spring and pivots. Freakin brilliant. Thanks

[jamesb]

How satisfying watching those jockey wheels get clean!

[keithsayles]

Don't know why this vid popped but am most grateful.Sat in a park having lunch out bike riding.The derailier was playing uo so degunked it with a nail file.Now running much more smoothly .Will give it a good going over when I get home.

[alexbraun]

There is something quite satisfying about seeing all that muck coming off so smoothly and efficently.

[DilipBanerjee]

Appreciated the detail and close ups. I am ashamed to say I have not treated my bikes well over the years. Never too late to start!

[Big_Boss]

New cyclist here, this video is just what I needed 🚴👍

[Star-tynx]

I placed an oil drip pan under the derailleur, sprayed the derailleur components with CRC Parts Cleaner & Degreaser Pro, used a rag to dry everything, an re-oiled all the components and the chain. Looks like new!

[samb]

Can’t lie that was satisfying when u took the gunk off the jockey wheels with a screw driver

[Gogogadgetwilly]

The amount of experts on this thread is so funny 😂

[michaeltihon]

1) To remove mud and gunk from the jockey wheels, use a plastic tool (there is a good one at the back of some brushes), not a metal screwdriver. This will avoid scratching the wheels, which would attracts even more dirt.
2) Instead of putting chain oil on the pivots, just give a global spray of Teflon based lube and wipe the excess. Far more faster, Teflon will also repel water and attract less dirt than chain oil.

Cheers

[Ali-Rida]

After a lot of research on YT to fix my bike's rear derailleur shifting issue I finally found the issue and solution! Couldn't find a YT video on this matter! I explain it below:

1) The most common type of housing has an inner thin wires tube and an outer plastic covering tube. Apparently after a while because of pressure the outer plastic tube jams and the inner tube wires are exposed that can get crushed by pressure on ferrels! This causes a serious metal-metal fraction between the cable and thin wires of housing, worse than any dirt or rust can do!

2) Loosen the shifter cable and release the cable at the derailleur (watch YT guides) and through all housings to free all housing parts.

3) You have to cleanly cut the exposed thin wires of housing to align it with plastic cover tube. Be careful not to block inner empty hole (where the cable passes) by crushing the wires. You need a sharp wire cutter (or a specialized tool from bike shop!) Then clean up both ends of housing and lube a bit.

4) Insert the cable in all housing parts and through the derailleur cable clamp. Since you lost some housing length, to have the same tension on the cable at a particular gear you need to pull the cable out of derailleur cable clamp a bit compared to what it was before. This needs to be fine tuned to have perfect correspondence between shifter and derailleur for all gear range (watch YT guides).

Hope it helps someone.

[everynamealreadygone]

I like that you went for practical cleaning and lubing, rather than trying to get everything as shiny as possible...

[markymarknj]

THANK YOU! As someone who took a spill on my MTB yesterday, I really appreciate this, as I need to go over my rear derailleur.

[ColonelBummleigh]

Remember to replace the towel back in the bathroom before anyone misses it :^D

[om]

I dont ride bikes but good for you you have a healthy pass time but I really happy you are taking care of your equipment so many people dont take of any thing and never bother to learn how even do basic stuff then throw it away because it broke

[gregwylie]

In 26 years of riding mountain bikes I’ve never seen jockey wheels that gunked up. It suggests you’re over oiling your chain.

[Michael-Martell]

Dude... I thought I kept my drivetrain clean but this is next level. wow! My frame rarely ever gets that dirty though unless it’s a fresh ride.

[Jake-qomz]

brilliant video, short and concise, perfect. I'm going to check the rest of your videos hopefully gather a playlist of cleaning the full bike haha

[alfagtv]

I have been doing this for 25 years, though not as well as you. Thanks for teaching this old dog new tricks. 👍