early morning rides and cleaning bike afterwards

clunkychunky

hiya

so i find that im feeling totally shattered when i get home from work, and i dont feel like i have the energy to get out on the bike or even on the turbo. so ive been thinking of getting out before work.

anyway, it will be a bit of rush to get the ride in and get showered and changed etc and get to work on time. so im thinking that i probably wont have time to clean the bike / wash it down when i get back. so my question is, is it ok to just give it a basic wipe down after a ride, and then clean it more thoroughly later?

sorry if this is a dumb question, its just i have heard that salt corrodes bikes very quickly.

on the topic of cleaning bikes, how often should you? i mean i clean it after every ride in winter...is that ott??

cheers for any advice / tips

mrdsgs

yes

mrdsgs

yes

mrdsgs

yes

mrdsgs

yes

mrdsgs

yes

clunkychunky

so thats a no then?

seanoconn

Get the salt off as soon as posible but when i clean depends on the weather and road condition. Once or twice a week if the roads are wet and muddy, less if conditions are dry. I'd do it more often if i had regular access to a hose. Normally i'll just use baby wipes.

Frank the tank

Clean it as thouroughly as you can,as often as you can. If it's been an exceptionally wet ride and time is short, I spray the chain, and Mechs with TF2 until I can do a proper job.

MrBibble

I use that pink bike cleaner stuff in its pump up bottle it comes in, leave to soak for a few mins then i use one of those pump up pressurized hozelock thingys the gardners use for spraying flowers to wash the bike down. Hardly any real pressure in it so no probs with bearings and grease etc. Leave to drip dry then wipe the easiest areas with a microfibre cloth.

I treated the bike with autoglym super resign (car) polish when new 6 months ago and that makes most of the water drip off. Takes no time at all to clean, and the moments waiting for the soak and drip dry mean i can fit things in around it so do it after every ride.

Chain lubd about once a month

twotyred

Stick a hose on it to wash any salt off and give the chain a lube.

flanners1

Fit Crud MKIIs. Hose off debris then wash with a foaming bucket of Turtle Wax for a gleaming frame and components! Lovely.

jibberjim

I clean my bike once a month at most... Rub down and lube the chain more often but the bike doesn't get cleaned otherwise.

I've never understood the obsession with cleaning bikes so much - use the time to ride them more! Most of the componentry can't rust.

fish156

One of the benefits of a winter bike.

Full mudguards stop it getting so filthy in the first place. It's made up of lower spec kit (or cast off kit from the race bike) so you're not so concerned at keeping it looking mint. At most, a bit of TLC for the chain and sling it in the shed after a ride :-)

rogerthecat

I ride 15 - 20 miles in the morning and 25 - 30 in the evening Mon - Thur, during this weather, and my bike gets a bucket of hot soapy water with a brush down every evening if the weather is like it is at the moment, looking at the rims of the wheels, break blocks and a general rub down; the chain gets dried off and oiled I use this time also to check for tyre wear / damage. I need my bike and leaving dirty and neglected is not an option for me.

Also remember water collects in your frame so I lift my front wheel post ride / clean to let it drain.

This may be excessive, however it only take 5 mins so what’s the big deal.

rhext

Salt corrodes the drivetrain very quickly, the rest of the bike less so. I think the answer to your question depends on your attitude to keeping your bike pristine. I have a year-round commuter: if there's salt on the road and it's maybe drizzling a little bit when I ride in, there will be rust spots on a previously clean chain by hometime. Wiping it down doesn't really help much because the salt's still there and will drag moisture out of the air so it can keep on rusting.

I wash my bike once a week. If the conditions are really poor, then the chain might well be distinctly orange by then. I generally find that a good thorough clean on Saturday will have it looking fine again, I don't find a noticeable deterioration in performance, and the last drivetrain did well over 10,000 miles. It doesn't look like it's just come out of the showroom though!

One piece of advice: if you're going to ride your bike in winter: anything you don't want to sieze up, make sure it's well greased and you move it every so often. So far, not appreciating this vital piece of info has cost me a couple of new pedals (couldn't get the old ones off when I replaced the chainset). I have barrel adjusters on both gears which no longer turn, and my seatpost is corroded into the frame. You also need to get into headset/hubs every so often and make sure all is well greased or they'll rot too.

sheffsimon

jibberjim wrote:

I clean my bike once a month at most... Rub down and lube the chain more often but the bike doesn't get cleaned otherwise.

I've never understood the obsession with cleaning bikes so much - use the time to ride them more! Most of the componentry can't rust.

+1

Dont bother with wiping chain down though, just spray more Finish Line Green Wet Lube on it when it looks a bit dry, salt cant get near it

Also use same spray on front and rear mech linkages, brake linkages.

Ride to work every day, train three times a week on top, never lets me down, no problems with gears or brakes. Proper home built winter bike with full mudguards.