How dirty does your bike get before you throw in the towel?

supertwisted

Went out tonight for a bit of a blast round Woburn trails.

Had a little rain earlier in the day, so it was pretty mucky. After about 45 mins the mix of sand, grit, mud and dead twigs had pretty much coated every part of the drive chain like poo on a fluffy blanket.

The bike sounded like a cement mixer full of broken glass and nails falling down a hill. Not one single moving part did so without making a tortured noise of protest and my brakes sounded like they were diamond tipped cutting edges. So I decided it best to quit to save the bike.

Did I bottle it too soon, or did I do the right thing and save my gears from being ground to metal filings?

DrWorm

You bottled it

Ride it to death then clean it. Stuff wears out, may as well have fun doing it.

diamondbacker

Depends how much your bike parts cost to replace! I got myself a second hand bike that I'm not too concerned about but still like riding (Diamondback s20) and it takes the worry out of that sort of thing if I'm honest.

I ride it quite hard (well what I consider hard) in muck and all sorts. It's nice to ride without worry.

geordiefreerider

Depends how bothered you can be - I tend to clean the drivetrain as a priority im not too fussed about the rest unless im bored.

joshtp

saving the bike was a good idea, but i dont think it really would have caused much more wear really, so long as you clean and look after it, it should last a while! stuff wears out no mater what you do to it, have fun!

dav1

depends on the conditions really.

Winter I clan after every ride, summer I wait will the drivetrain starts to look fairly grubby.

found out the hard way about not cleaning the bike over winter with my commuter/roadie, the mechs seized, the chain wore out at an alarming rate and all of the cables became grubby. Unfortunatly that was a lack of time thing more then anything else...

supertwisted

Yeah I clean the bike after every dirty ride (fnar fnar etc). I'm not particularly precious about it's condition, but I like to take care of it and keep it maintained.

The trails in Woburn are very sandy, so when it gets wet the whole area turns into a very high grade cutting compound.

I think next time I'll take my mp3 player with, at least then I won't hear the tortured protests from my drive chain.

dave_hill

The geology round my neck of the woods is also pretty sandy and abrasive. My bike(s) get cleaned after EVERY ride, no matter what.

As well as getting a job out of the way, it lets me pick up on any problems before they get out of hand and it means that I know my bike is ready to ride with minimum fannying about the next time round.

fatblokefromwarwick

My bike is cleaned without fail using muc-off & a dirtworker after every ride, dryed off with microfibre cloths then polished with Zaino all in one. It's a detailing fix of mine from when I used to have a 996

uk_mr_brownstone

I got a great priced ex-demo Kona Dawg 08 last year, ran it through the autum until one very muddy day where I had to stop and knock out the mud from the rear wheel / chainstay area literally every few feet!
Eventually couldnt even power through it because the front got jammed solid too- that was when I gave up and carried the bike!

Now use on-one hardtail with loadsa mud clearance in those conditions

supertwisted

Cleaned the bike up on Sunday afternoon, ended up having to strip the whole thing down to get all the sand out. Nothing worse than sand in your crack etc etc.

Still, I'll be straight back there for more of the same later this week.

projectsome

I clean mine when the mech etc make strange noises and doesn't shift properly. I used to clean it every weekend but it's too much hassle nowadays as I have less time.

.blitz

I firmly believe that religiously washing an MTB is a sure-fire way to f**k it up. Obv riding in sand is bad news but apart from the drivetrain (which is surgically clean) the rest of my bike is minging =]

cat_with_no_tail

I tend to keep my bike pretty clean. We live right by the sea and stuff does seem to corrode pretty quickly round here if it's not looked after.

lawman

this si the state my is in pretty much all year round tbh

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12633007

very few times ia actually proper clean it. ill just it in thye garage when i get home and pull it out for the next ride.