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Hey peeps,
I regularly clean up the clutch roller bearing on my Shimano mechs. I decided over the weekend to go a bit further and do a full clean up and re lube all the pivots and springs. However, I found the spring and pivot that sits behind the clutch was just a rusty mess.
It got me thinking, how the heck do I stop this happening? I don't want to have to strip the mech back on a frequent basis unless I have to. I'm thinking about getting a replacement spring and pivot bolt plus accessories from my LBS to "save" the mech (no way I can clean the spring up well enough).
Any hints from anyone on how to prevent the spring ending up a puddle of rust over time?
Cheers.
I’ve just done similar maintenance and also found a rusty spring (though it still works fine so I cleaned it, greased it and put it back). The best I’ve found from searching around the internet is that water gets in via the hole in the outer plate where the spring latches on, and a potential solution is to use some silicone sealant to block that hole.
Is it just me or is the Shimano 12s worse than the 11s for this too? I don't think the seal is as good or the hole is bigger as living in a humid climate i'm having to strip 12s derailleurs far more often than I did with the 12s.
... and i've just realised that I could potentially use an 11-speed derailleur with a 12s shifter as long as the cage is correct length. Might give that a go.