Cleaning bike after each ride??

mattc2002

Right now riding is dirty and the bike gets pretty muddy. I'll prob go out again in the next couple of days and bike will get just as dirty/muddy. Is it important to the clean the bike after each ride or should i just do it once a week/fortnight?

Washing after each ride gets to be chore and surley leaving mud that dries is better than soaking bike with water which can lead to corrosion despite trying to lube every little nut, bolt, cable etc.

Thoughts please...

-liam-

Clean it properly and relube stuff that needs doing if it gets really muddy.

If you don't, expect problems.

Salt in the mud will eat into and corrode everything....wheel hubs/bearings, drivetrain, headset, forks, seat post, brakes the lot.

Clean it, hose it and bounce dry it and wipe it down with a cloth and spray some gt85 over the oily bits and relube. Takes me 15 minutes and that is at 10pm when I've been out in the dark....can't be that much of a chore ?

It then needs stuff stripping and cleaning every few weeks. I'm afraid it is the downside of doing something that gets your bike crappy. Sticking to the roads is another option ?

Mancunianfightingcat

clean after every dirty ride, disperse any water and re-lube chain, pedals, shifters, cables etc....

it can be a pain in the censored , but it makes everything last so much longer and keeps everything working sweetly.

Stephen-Hawking

Yup after every ride for me too. Whenever I don't 'cos I'm out again tomorrow' soemthing comes up, I end up not going out and the bike's sat rotting in crud for a week before you know it.

It's a good chance too cool down after a ride anyway - before the obligatory bath!

mattc2002

Ok points taken, cheers.

uk_mr_brownstone

At least hose the crud off the all the drive drivechain and spray on some GT / WD40 to get the water out. Then re-lube

Mud on wheels / tyres / frame less of an issue in my view.

I nearly always take out the rake pads if its been a real mudfest- quick rub down and clean the rotors with alcohol. Then your drive and brakes are sorted even if the rest of the bikes still muddy

---CameraLucida---

If your wondering what about if your like me and live in a flat?

I just wash my bike in the bath. Gets the girlfriend a little annoyed but does the job. Only problem is last time I managed to dry lube the floor, turns out that's a little dangerous after coming out of the shower.

stumpyjon

The key thing is to get the corrosive cr*p off and get it dry after riding. If you don't stuff will rust and corrode. A wet chain will rust overnight. As the others have said, wash, dry, disperse, lube. Just done mine after riding this morning, bl**dy chilly, had to run hot water through the hose pipe to dislodge the ice.

It's also a good time to check the bike over and make those adjustments you should have made when out riding (in my case I need to center the front caliper, reposition my brakes and shifters and crucially take out one of the bearing bushes which I spotted in the wrong way around. If I hadn't clean it there was no way I would have noticed that).

Turveyd38

Tis all BALLS, girlie it must be clean censored , a Alu frame with mud on it, not moving will not wear out, salt and dirt will not migrate into the bearings but it might get forced in if you wash / hose the bike.

Clean and Lube the chain / drive area, clean and lube the fork and rear shock stanchions before every ride and thats all it needs, it's not like it won't be covered in new dirt 5mins into the next ride.

It's all I've been doing to my bike for 2 1/2 years, still on the same frame pivot bearings

stumpyjon

Alright ^^ you do it your way, we'll do it ours.

-liam-

Turveyd38 wrote:

Clean and Lube the chain / drive area, clean and lube the fork and rear shock stanchions before every ride and thats all it needs,

So when you are cleaning and lubing the "chain/drive area" and the fork and rear shock stantions are you not cleaning the best part of the bike anyway ? Considering the bits you apparently don't clean are the wheels and the frame? Are we not talking an extra minute just to do the rest of the bike? lol :?

To me, its not just about maintenance, but more so a sense of pride that I've got a nice clean bike ready to go next time I need it rather than the next time I need it, having to pull out a stinking lump of metal with dry crud falling off it.

mattfefc

Sorry I'm a beginner.

Is WD40 ok or should I get something else.

When you say lube, what stuff do you get for this and can this be got from halfords or proper bike shops.

-liam-

Go to Halfords and get a can of GT85 and a bottle of wet lube. Finish line or something like that. You clean the bike and then spray gt85 over most stuff (not brakes!) to get rid of water then wipe away the excess and then oil the chain with the lube.

Wouldn't let wd40 near my bike

Northwind

WD40's just as good as a water disperser as GT85, it just leaves slightly oilier deposits and lacks the PTFE. Works perfectly when used as intended. But GT85 does smell nicer

A bit of prep can help here- Bike Spray or Scottoiler FS385 or similiar sprayed on the frame, wheels etc will mean the mud doesn't stick as badly, so it'll hose off much more easily. Nothing wrong at all with leaving the frame etc muddy, but by the time you've fully cleaned the brakes, gears, forks, etc you might as well finish the job IMO.

But don't worry, it's not always like this, summer's just around the corner. Honest.

Steve Kish

I just wash my bike in the bath. Gets the girlfriend a little annoyed but does the job

Answer is to wash it in the bath when she's not in it!!

Yup, give mine the bucket and soft brush treatment almost every time, except when it's kinda dry and doesn't need it but with this weather ....... :?

Kiblams

Northwind wrote:

Nothing wrong at all with leaving the frame etc muddy, but by the time you've fully cleaned the brakes, gears, forks, etc you might as well finish the job IMO.

I agree with clearing mud off my frame not taking very long at all, the main reason for doing this for me is when I put it away I have a habit of brushing the dry 'mud dust' on to my nice clean and freshly lubed components, which I am sure can't be good when you go out on it next...

turpinr

-Liam- wrote:

Go to Halfords and get a can of GT85 and a bottle of wet lube. Finish line or something like that. You clean the bike and then spray gt85 over most stuff (not brakes!) to get rid of water then wipe away the excess and then oil the chain with the lube.

Wouldn't let wd40 near my bike

couldn't agree more
i've never yet found a use for wd40 whereas gt is superb

KonaMike

I wash mine after every trip at this time of year....no need to be so fussy in the summer though (If we get one) .

I must be a bit odd though because I enjoy cleaning the bike :?

Steve Kish

KonaMike wrote:

I wash mine after every trip at this time of year....no need to be so fussy in the summer though (If we get one) .

I must be a bit odd though because I enjoy cleaning the bike :?

I share your oddness, Mike. Enjoy cleaning mine as well. 8)

adun1408

I'm another one that wash's and lube's after every ride. You can give the bike a good check over while you're doing it, then you know it will be ready for your next ride.

fatblokefromwarwick

Yep, soon as I'm home it's on the workstand then washed and lubed,

It's great starting out on a shiny bike every week

Northwind

turpinr wrote:

-Liam- wrote:

i've never yet found a use for wd40

It's absolutely brilliant for removing stickers from glass or plastic. And it kills the scottish midge dead.

Steve Kish

Now if I could get this lady to wash my bike like she washes her car after her two and a half minute drive :-

http://www.fquick.com/videos/Hot_blonde ... rrari/1592

cullen_bay

she didnt seem to be doing much washing :P

tom_majski

i haven't read all of the thread, but until yesturday my DH bike still hadn't been washed since france 2006. It works absolutly fine and i ride in some really nasty muddy conditions

i wash my XC bike more often as it cost me more

llamafarmer

---CameraLucida--- wrote:

If your wondering what about if your like me and live in a flat?

I just wash my bike in the bath. Gets the girlfriend a little annoyed but does the job. Only problem is last time I managed to dry lube the floor, turns out that's a little dangerous after coming out of the shower.

I live in a flat too and it makes cleaning my bike a nightmare. I've recently bought the budget alternative to a dirtworker - a 5 litre weed sprayer from Homebase - which has definitely helped an awful lot, but it still took me well over an hour on Sunday to get my bike clean and lubed again

grumsta

I'm pretty slack with cleaning my bike - at the very least I will give it a quick spray with gt85 and relube the chain to stop it rusting though.

LV

I spent some time at the weekend installing a tap at the front of my garage so I can hose the bike down every time I ride it. If I had to take the bike through into the back garden it would never happen.
Whether or not I make good on my intentions remains to be seen at the moment!

Kiblams

I actually cleaned mine twice this morning, first after I had been to Markeaton Park in Derby where I got stuck several times ascending in deep mud, and the second when I had gotten back from my more tarmac orientated loop.

The only reason for the first clean was that I was passing my house for the second half of the ride and when I took a moment to check the bike and found that I couldn't see the rear V-brakes! They had been replaced my tennis ball sized lumps of mud, so I scraped the mud off the brakes and rinsed it down before setting off again.

The second clean was more thorough with my usual routine of brushing with fairy liquid and hot water mix then rinsing before cleaning the chain and lubing it all up again ready for the ride to work.

Steve Kish

she didnt seem to be doing much washing

Well, she had to rinse that sponge out first, didn't she? :P 8)

Northwind

Kiblams wrote:

The only reason for the first clean was that I was passing my house for the second half of the ride and when I took a moment to check the bike and found that I couldn't see the rear V-brakes! They had been replaced my tennis ball sized lumps of mud, so I scraped the mud off the brakes and rinsed it down before setting off again.
.

Heh, my kraken had some mud issues, so I took to carrying an empty 500ml bottle with a "sports cap" on, just an empty water bottle... Filled it from a river or reservoir and used it to squirt the mud out of the mechs and brakes every so often. Sounds absolutely ridiculous but it really frees things up, not to mention reducing wear and tear. It hurts my soul to hear all those expensive drivetrain bits and pads scraaaaaaape.