do you clean after every ride?

bones3027

just had a cracking blast round wareham forest up sherford way, (the joys of having leave) no the worst bit strip and clean the ride! so who else has OCD and cleans after every ride?

MacAndCheese

Not me! I give the chain a once over though, just so I don't come back to a rusty mess next time.

weeksy59

Yup, goes without saying.

i'm very OCD when it comes to cleaning my MTB and motorbikes.

singlespeedexplosif

I clean the cog and chainring whenever I change the chain. Otherwise, no.

bones3027

i completely strip minus BB that gets done once every 4/5 weeks. i just cant stand seeing my pride and joy muddy. how sad, although keeps me outta the way of the wife for a few hours.

gaz047

always try and give it a clean after each ride, if dry a quick clean and lube of the drivetrain, otherwise muc off, hose/brush, dry with old rag lube drivetrain. unless i have no time left then its just a quick clean of the drivetrain again and give it a proper one after the next ride.
gaz

Daz555

Clean every ride but not overly fussy about how clean it is as long as chain looks good and fork/shock seals are crap free. Rarely spend more than 10mins on it.

On the flipside, my commuter hack gets cleaned about once a year, although this year I did forget to bother. The black gloopy "grinding paste" all over the chain, cassette, and mech is now so smooth is acts as a lube..... 8)

Penylope

Clean :?:

only time i've cleaned my chameleon was last weekend when i stripped it down for parts

i just make sure the chain is lubed when it goes in the shed, then knock the worst of the fried mud of when i take it out next time.

yoohoo999

i love cleaning my bikes

i think that where you clean it makes a big difference though. When I used to live in an apartment block, it was a necessity and very inconvenient so I hated doing it.

Now I have about an acre of mature, manicured woodland/gardens around my house (not all mine I hasten to add!). So I love going into the house after a ride now, grabbing a landlord or rochforte 10 from the fridge, sticking my headphones on and spending a good hour or so cleaning and fettling my bikes No one around. Very relaxing.

Then when winter kicks in I drag the bikes inside and onto a terrace where I can do the same thing but under shelter and with a bit of heat!

Surf-Matt

Yes

Surf-Matt

Yes

Richard85

I live in a flat so I have to clean it. But I love the look of a sparkly bike...

mudsucker

depends if it gets dirty!

biff55

....Yes , find it relaxing and great way to familiarise yourself with the bikes components
if inexperienced with repairs.
plus i with a white bike , it looks better clean

ride_whenever

I hose them off if they're really bad. Don't have time during term as i've got too much coaching, but tend to go into term and once the coaching tapers i do a full strip, service and clean. Tend to keep them pretty clean outside of term generally.

Northwind

Depends on the conditions... Through the summer I hardly bothered, just cleaned and lubed the chain every few rides, but now it'll get a quick wash after almost every ride, with the chain off and into the paraffin jar for a soak then a relube. It never gets polished or anything like that though! Though I'll give it a wipe down with a cloth and some bike spray sometimes just to make it purty.

saltyman

mine gets cleaned every other month, usually the bike rack + rain + 70mph roads cleans it on the way home :oops:

dave_hill

bones3027 wrote:

so who else has OCD and cleans after every ride?

Me. Full strip and clean, bike works perfectly first time on every ride that way. I hate people who turn up for a ride then spend half an hour fiddling with it as soon as they get it out of the boot of their car. Which is why I don't ride with anyone else.

The Northern Monkey

dave_hill wrote:

bones3027 wrote:

so who else has OCD and cleans after every ride?

Me. Full strip and clean, bike works perfectly first time on every ride that way. I hate people who turn up for a ride then spend half an hour fiddling with it as soon as they get it out of the boot of their car. Which is why I don't ride with anyone else.

lol, you wouldn't mind riding with me then!

Bike is kept in tip top condition! I serviced my forks at night, in the cold after a ride because I felt I needed to

x-isle

It really depends on where you have been riding.

A lot of people say that cleaning the bike only wears it all out quicker.

Riding in North Wales, the mud can be very fine and slatey, so no big deal, however, ride somewhere like Cannock Chase and your bike will be full of grid, nasty sandy grid that will ruin everything!

Most of my riding is at Cannock Chase, so for me, yes, clean after every ride it's been a bit muddy.

fcumok

In the summer, only if conditions are bad. I remember doing a ride down the coast and getting covered in black dust. Couldn't see the bike underneath it all

In the winter it seems to be after every ride as it's always raining

x-isle

fcumok wrote:

All year round seems to be after every ride as it's always raining

Yep!

cee

after every ride it gets a good hosing, and the drivetrain cleaned up and re-lubed.

at least once a month it gets a full detailed clean and inspection.

dave_hill

x-isle wrote:

A lot of people say that cleaning the bike only wears it all out quicker.

Who the hell said that? What a pecker!!

jools182

I just polish my helmet

x-isle

dave_hill wrote:

x-isle wrote:

A lot of people say that cleaning the bike only wears it all out quicker.

Who the hell said that? What a pecker!!

It's more about pushing water through all the bearings and washing out grease etc....

I can see where they are coming from. But then if you are going to do that then grease everything up!

dave_hill

x-isle wrote:

It's more about pushing water through all the bearings and washing out grease etc....

I can see where they are coming from. But then if you are going to do that then grease everything up!

Well if you jet wash it then you deserve everything that's coming to you - but a garden hose and/or bucket and sponge won't do any harm at all.

Surf-Matt

It is possible to AIM a jetwash and not blast the bearings to bits. It's also possible to vary the pressure on most.

Extremely claggy Devon mud + careful use of jetwash + immediate lubing = much time saved, a shiny bike and a happy me.

Or maybe the 5000++ miles my bike has done without any bearing trouble is a fluke?

_Ferret_

I just tend to have a shower afterwards - I thought anything less would be a lack of personal hygene.
The bike only gets cleaned when I can't read the logo anymore...

Northwind

dave_hill wrote:

Me. Full strip and clean, bike works perfectly first time on every ride that way. I hate people who turn up for a ride then spend half an hour fiddling with it as soon as they get it out of the boot of their car. Which is why I don't ride with anyone else.

Ah, good point... Mine might be dirty but it's always in good condition, I don't mine people faffing if they at least wait til we're into the ride- gives me a breather and a chance to eat haribos and take photos of people faffing- but it drives me NUTS when the bike comes off the roofrack then out comes the toolkit, the pump... WHY?

I got so fed up with my regular riding buddy's bike falling apart that I more or less stole it out of his boot one day and gave it back a week later with everything fixed. Definately a good investment of my time...

x-isle wrote:

A lot of people say that cleaning the bike only wears it all out quicker.

Put the sandblaster down and use water

Power washers upset some people, but as's been said they can be aimed, you don't HAVE to blow all the grease out of the hubs. But, thing is, it's not actually much more effective than a hose with decent mains pressure, so I'm not sure I can see the point, I wouldn't drag mine out just to wash a pushbike. Exception being trail centre bike cleaning places of course.

But, I'd still sooner use a powerwasher than ride around with a chain full of grinding paste, them things are expensive...