I dismantled the cog to clean my Drivechain and the 2 X white o-rings have stretched which is preventing reassembly.
When I came to reassemble the o-rings foul the sprocket.
Not sure whether they stretched due to use, being put in warm water for rinsing, or the chemicals used. The latter was Silica Drivechain cleaner and Silica say it’s safe on plastic/rubber. Zwift are sending me new ones but I’m a bit miffed that I can’t use my turbo for a few days.
Interesting choice of material for that particular application, I would be inclined to replace with Viton or the orange silicone types that are known to be grease and oil resistant. Not really a food grade application. Very cheap once you work out the required size.
I used a synthetic Superlube food safe grade grease the other week on a kitchen tap black seal, thought it would be perfectly fine, it caused the seal to swell to the point I couldn’t use it.
Any idea what the material of the existing one is? (So I can avoid it if i buy some new ones of a different type). It will be interesting to see what zwift send me and whether they are different.
I’m now suspecting the oil/drip wax or whatever from the chain has leached into the o-ring groove and caused the o-ring to swell/elongate.
Zwift need to sort this out, as drivechain maintenance (whether on a bike, or a Ride) will always involve lubrication and the need to dismantle.
Zwift are sending me a whole new Cog including freewheel… which is great customer service, but a lot of wasted resources if this happens every time someone cleans their drivechain.
