Does Degreaser Destroy Bikes And Their Bearings?

we'll degreaser damage the bearings in your bike it's a question a lot of cyclists ask so we've decided to do an experiment well we're gonna do two experiments but before we crack on make sure you click Subscribe if you haven't already and also click the little belt icon as this will give you a notification every time we upload a new video when cleaning bikes we often spray degreaser around all over the place like it's deodorant but does liberal application of these solvents risk damaging your bearings let's first explain what degreaser does it's a cleaning fluid designed to strip grease oil and dirt from your bike now greasy oil typically isn't very soluble in water ie it doesn't readily dissolve however it is far more soluble dissolves much more readily in organic solvents such as petrol and alcohol which are common components of degreases so degreases are highly effective at removing oil and dirt from your bike so what's the problem bearings contain ball bearings which are then surrounded by thick grease to help lubricate them and prevent damage they're also protected by seals not the aquatic mammal but little nylon covers that are designed to make them watertight the thinking is that this solvent Cindy grease has can penetrate the bearing seals and then strip out the grease inside and the result would be a bearing that performs like a mini washing machine full of cutlery we want to see if this actually happens so to do this we've devised some experiments but not just any experiments this time we have got some incredibly sophisticated experimentation I just can't wait to show you off sorry hang on one minute yeah hello I suppose wait what what do you mean that the super high-tech mega NASA bearing test facility has been double-booked all right bye looks like we're gonna have to improvise in light of the super mega high-tech NASA bearing tests lab being double-booked we've managed to get than the next best thing yeah that is a bottom bracket on a stick but it's the same one that's I used in his excellent video should you jet wash your bike we're really getting in there now I'm gonna spray loads of degreaser all over the bottom bracket on a stick and then I'm gonna wash it with water because this would replicate the cleaning process when you clean your bike now it should also point out that the bearings have been completely packed full of fresh grease and sealed up so afterwards I'm gonna remove the seals and see if any of the degreaser has been washed out or if there's been any penetration of the bearings you should also remember it's important to wear protection kids safety first [Music] baby see the yeast an entire can of degreaser exchange that the let's wash it off now and see what he's my Charlie's Angels pose [Music] I'm gonna take the bottom bracket on a stick apart now and see if there's been any penetration of the bearings I've taken the seal off and quite surprised by this but it doesn't appear that there's been any ingress of water or degreaser within the bearing itself there is some water on the outside of the of the bearing and also on the inside as well within the axle but that's to be expected because this particular chain set does have a hollow axle but within the actual bearing itself where the grease is there's no evidence of any water or moisture having got in there so I guess this suggests that you can spray degreaser on that the well in particular the bottom bracket area of your bike and rinse it off with water without too much worry that it's going to damage the bearings so I guess this means we need to do another experiment in this next experiment we want to look at how resilient the seals on bearings are so to do this I've got four brand new cartridge bearings and I'm going to create four pools of extreme bearing death Poole number one is degreaser to simulate if you rode your bike into a vat of degreaser pool number two is salt water to simulate if you rode your bike under the sea pool number three is coca-cola to simulate if you rode your bike and crashed it into a coca-cola tanker and pool number four is water to simulate water all four are highly likely scenarios I'm sure you'll agree so in go the bearings right I'm gonna let those babies brew for a little while and then I'm gonna come back and see if there's any damage right I've been leaving the bearings in the solutions of death for four hours festering away so now it's time to get them out prise open the seals and see if there's been any ingress in any way so safety first let's begin with the degreaser I can't see won't do it carry those so I've taken the seal off and all the grease appears to still be completely in there it's untouched it's nice and clear and there appears to be no ingress at all and it's it's moving really nicely there's just really smooth doesn't appear to be any damage to that at all quite surprising really but pretty cool so on to the salt water this one's pretty interesting actually because I'm taking the seal off it appears that there has been some slight ingress inside the bearing from the salt water solution and the grease is actually slightly discolored it's no longer nice and clear it's got a slight tint to it so and it does appear to be some small amounts of moisture on the inside say pretty interesting that the concentrated salt water solution is it's got inside onto the coca-cola the coca-cola one is pretty intriguing say the oil on the inside or the grease on the inside of the bearing is no longer the clear color it was when it first came it's sort of turned coca-cola brown suggesting something has got inside and it does appear that there's a small amount of moisture on the inside as well and should also be pointed out that the exterior of the bearing is slightly browner than the than the other solutions as well so Coco there's definitely doing something to this bearing right on to the water the interesting thing on the water solution is that you can see that there's a sort of sustained leaching out the side of the bearing now you couldn't see this on the other ones because they're colored and in the salt one it's sort of buried in the salt in the bottom but it does appear that there's been some sort of ingress or grease leeching out of the bearing so let's take a look upon taking the seal off it appears that most of the grease or nearly all the grease is still intact within the bearing which is good but it does appear there's a slight bit of moisture in there and the grease in there has been slightly discolored it's got a slight yellowy tint to it now whereas before it was clear so it does suggest that some water has got in there and it has had an effect the results are really interesting but I guess the big question is why did we see some ingress with the water solution but we didn't see ingress with the degreaser solution well it's a tough one but my best guess if I speculate with my science hat on is that it could be down to the specific gravity of these different solutions so different liquids different solutions have different properties and one of those is specific gravity now this degreaser has a lower specific gravity than water degreasers often contain solvents which are less dense than water hence why they can sometimes sit on the top of water as a separate layer when you mix the two together now because water has a higher specific gravity that means it can be better at penetrating the bearing seals the degreaser now what about coca-cola and saltwater well both coca-cola and saltwater have higher specific gravities than water only slightly but higher nonetheless and saltwater well that also contains salt which can cause further damage and corrosion once it gets inside your bearings or other components as for coca-cola well it contains a variety of things but it also contains phosphoric acid and carbonic acid which are only weak acids but over time they can cause corrosion although degreaser is less effective at penetrating the bearing seals than water it does perhaps suggest that you shouldn't be submerging your bearings or bike in any liquid for a prolonged period of time however lightly spraying your sensitive areas your bike with degreaser and then rinsing it off with water doesn't appear to cause any significant damage at all and this is something that's backed up not only with what pro mechanics do when they clean bikes but also sighs jet wash video in which he absolutely smashed the bearings with a jet wash and there was no ingress so I guess this means that you shouldn't be worried about when you clean your bike but just be careful with your degreaser in your water and everything should be okay now these experiments aren't the most conclusive and we're not professing them to be but I am really impressed at the resilience of the bearing seals and also the destructive powers of coca-cola but like any experiment it has raised further questions such as what would be the effect on other bearings on your bike such as the ones in the jockey wheels or what would happen if you left the bearings exposed to degreaser fur and even longer period of time well if there's any videos you'd like us to make and things you'd like us to test out then comment with them in the comment section below and we might make a video in the future right if you'd like to do any experiments of your own at home then I highly suggest you head over to the gcn shop and pick yourself up at GCN apron to keep things clean and tidy what's more if you put it on backwards it doubles as a cape and if you'd like to watch another video now why not check out size excellent video very jet washers bearings down here [Music]

Channel: GCN Tech

Views: 143,054

Rating: 4.7524614 out of 5

Keywords: GCN Tech, GCNTech, GCN New Channel, Bike Tech, Cycling Tech, degreaser, bearings, damage bearings, strip bearings, degrease, remove grease, bearing seal, science, test, experiment, salt water, water, corrosion, ingress, coca cola, jet wash, washing bike, Retro Tech, Retro Bike, GCN Cycling, GCN Technology, GCN's New Channel, oliver bridgewood, ஔ, 3331, ѭ, Ҫ, Ѵ, Ҁ, Ѿ, Ә, Ѩ, f3

Id: EQi97cIYkPc

Length: 12min 21sec (741 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 26 2018