Cleaning your bike... Tips & Tricks

LeperousDust

LeperousDust

LeperousDust

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What do you use to clean your bike after a long day?

I just want to make sure i'm looking after it and doing things right :) Currently after a particularly heavy/gritty/muddy ride i'll visit a garage on the way home spray everything down, and then when home I take my chain off scrub with a chain cleaner (but i assume this could just be a general degreaser?) in the sink, but i'm also thinking of using an old bottle and just shaking it may do. I then spray the degreaser on the cassette, chainring and derailleur let it all dry and lightly oil and put it back on, to finish i degrease the discs just to make sure i didn't accidentally lube them up.

Is that too much/too little, what else could i be doing or leaving out? What stuff should i buy to do this, so far been using up stuff i've been bought but its branded (muc-off) and targeted (ie just chain cleaner!) so i assume i can just go out and buy any old 5l+ degreaser? What lubes should i be looking at?

I don't really want to be anal, but after spending some money doing my bike up i realised how much better it was riding, and i want to try and keep it like this for as long as possible, cassette/chain especially!

If anyone can share tips and experience i'd thank them :)
 
Once a month I take my chain off, soak it in white spirit for an hour then towel dry with a anti-static cloth. I also use a generic citrus degreaser on the cassette/dérailleur. Finally I spray on an anti rust coating after washing down and drying the frame.

As for lube, it depends on the weather. During the summer I tend to use wet, petroleum based lubricant. And as I'm on the road, I don't need to worry about dirt so much, during the winter (unless its properly cold) I'll use waxy/dry lubricant.

If you're doing a lot of off-roading (which I don't do), I'd stick to dry - you need to use more but wet retains dirt, which gets stuck in the chain/dérailleur, obviously affecting your chain systems performance/longevity.

However, if its properly cold weather, use Wet lubricant, just make sure you clean your chain system properly. Reason being dry lubricant won't lube the system properly when it's cold, as it won't spread on the chain properly.

Don't bother with the expensive teflon/silicone/whatever lubricants. They don't do anything more then decent standard lubricant, but cost loads more.

There's nothing anal about it. A weekly clean takes ten minutes if done regularly (eg so you're not cleaning of a months mud at a time), and it prolongs the life of your bike whilst giving you better performance.

Just re-read your post: Be careful about using a pressured spray system at a garage. You can literally force water into the bearings, or into the chain links, which isn't good.

Useful links for maintenance:

http://www.cobr.co.uk/e-cobr_information/workshop/introduction.shtml
http://www.nuttycyclist.co.uk/cycling/index.htm
 
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is it bad that i've never cleaned my bike ever best my bike gets in treatment is a quick spray of wd40 on chain and gears every so often. i was really bad this yeah after my bike wheel lost few spokes wheel started changing shape and couldnt afford to buy new wheels so left it in back garden all winter. whats the best way of getting rid of rust and when does it become a lost cause and time to buy a new bike?
 
Cheer platypus, at present i use a wet grease (muc off chain lube) but i've got some teflon ptfe stuff lying around (again i haven't bought this ;)) it mentioning being an all round performer so next time i clean replace chain lube with that? Dry make sense as it gets dusty muddy out here and my chain lube becomes a grinding paste, hence why i clean it alllll the time now...

When i say wash my bike at the garage, its a regular hose and i have to put my finger over the end, i wouldn't particulary put it under the pressure systems, thats alright isn't it?

Do you ever touch your bottom bracket/hubs/suspension these seem quite a bit of hassle etc?

//Edit:Ok so white spirit spirit seems like a good buy, and a dry lube too, cheers :)
 
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LeperousDust said:
Cheer platypus, at present i use a wet grease (muc off chain lube) but i've got some teflon ptfe stuff lying around (again i haven't bought this ;)) it mentioning being an all round performer so next time i clean replace chain lube with that? Dry make sense as it gets dusty muddy out here and my chain lube becomes a grinding paste, hence why i clean it alllll the time now...

When i say wash my bike at the garage, its a regular hose and i have to put my finger over the end, i wouldn't particulary put it under the pressure systems, thats alright isn't it?

Do you ever touch your bottom bracket/hubs/suspension these seem quite a bit of hassle etc?

//Edit:Ok so white spirit spirit seems like a good buy, and a dry lube too, cheers :)
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Yep once a month I strip my frame down and clean it. Everything. Although I don't have suspension on my road bike, I don't know how tricky that would be to clean.

A normal, tap-pressured hose is fine. Just steer clear of those power washers.
 
Sorry for jumping on the thread.

But on my road bike I try and do about 30 miles a day every day, how often should my bike need to be cleaned then? Done about 800 miles on it since I got it, havent took the chain off or anything, all I have done is clean the mud off the frame. :o
 
I'm glad you raised this Alex as I was going to ask the same.

I was wondering if i could use muckoff which I used on my motorbike. The problem for road bikes is the muck from tires, brakes and all other car by products. There must be a spray on product.
 
willhub said:
Sorry for jumping on the thread.

But on my road bike I try and do about 30 miles a day every day, how often should my bike need to be cleaned then? Done about 800 miles on it since I got it, havent took the chain off or anything, all I have done is clean the mud off the frame. :o
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There's no set amount that you should spend maintaining and cleaning your bike, but it should be regular, and the more mileage you do, the more maintenance you should do.
 
greengiant said:
I find my drivetrain stays a lot cleaner since I fitted a bicycle Scottoiler:

http://http://www.scottoiler.com/active.asp
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Seems a bit of an extravagance really, surely you still have to take your chain off occasionally to remove the gritty paste that inevitably builds up? If you were doing a lot of 24 hour rides i could see why that would make sense, otherwise i'm not sold...
 
Don't use a hose if you can get away with it. If you have had a muddy ride, let the mud dry then brush it off. It will save water getting into pivots and bearings.

I use Finishline Degreaser and chain lube.
 
I'm going to wash my bike tomorrow with a hard toothbrush and a sponge, getting scared it'll brake now, when I'm shifting down I hear and odd squeaking noise from the rear gears, you know like on a wet floor or rubber or something so need clean that I think, will be gutted if I cant go on the 70 mile ride on saturday :(.
 
offroad rider.

I use Fenwicks fs 1 bucket of hot water and finish line degrease and chain lube.

I have to clean the chain when it has rained within the last 2days, ground is like a bog around here and the cassette/jockeys wheels get's like a thick paste of grit in them.
 
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