bike care after a run in the wet

boh67

whats your normal routine with your bike after a wet run. is there anything i need to do or will a general dry off be ok :?

baldwin471

Just leave it, same as when it's dry. Just make sure you give it a good lube before the next runout

boh67

Cheers mate

smidsy

I like to dry it down at least if I am short of time and clean/lube it later.

However if I have time I prefer to clean it off then lube etc ready for the next outing.

simon_masterson

I wouldn't worry too much!

Unless it's winter and the roads are covered in salt, or you get it REALLY covered in grime, just let it dry and keep your transmission clean by regularly scrubbing and degreasing, and clean it when you have time. If you are keeping moving parts and cables clean and lubricated, you will have a happy bike.

However, if you can contemplate cleaning your bike after a ride, you're doing it wrong!

GSJ

You guys lube after every wet outting or dry including?

DavidJB

Dry down all the moving parts, go to town on them and able entry points with GT-85 (make sure you cover your brake track) then lube your chain the next day...

I say this after many seized rear brake callipers.

bra

boh67

Simon Masterson wrote:

I wouldn't worry too much!

Unless it's winter and the roads are covered in salt, or you get it REALLY covered in grime, just let it dry and keep your transmission clean by regularly scrubbing and degreasing, and clean it when you have time. If you are keeping moving parts and cables clean and lubricated, you will have a happy bike.

However, if you can contemplate cleaning your bike after a ride, you're doing it wrong!

lol true mate, as i newbie, i was just wondering if anything essential needed doing

slowbike

If its been raining then just a hose down and wipe around the main stays - amazing the amount of crud that comes off.
A good squirt around the chain and cassette - again, just to get the grit out.
It's not a full clean down, but it helps keep the bike look clean!

rolf_f

I just spray GT 85 at the mechs, calipers etc and re-oil the chain.

I also wipe down the seat stays and forks which will be covered in grey cack plus anywhere else I can see a spot of dirt. I like to ride a clean bike!

smidsy

Simon Masterson wrote:

However, if you can contemplate cleaning your bike after a ride, you're doing it wrong!

I come from the 'if you look after your kit it will look after you' side of the camp.

If you do not even contemplate cleaning your bike after a ride YOU Sir are doing it wrong!!!!

nwmlarge

i tend to give the bike a good clean down once a week and a chain off job every 6months or so

sungod

generally i wipe down with a wet cloth, but give it a really good rinse if the roads were salted

many frames are designed so that water will drain into the bb shell - especially water that goes down the seat tube, which a lot may do if you don't have mudguards and the rain is heavy

some bikes have a drain hole under the bb shell, with others if you tip the bike backwards so that the chainstays are vertical it'll allow the bb to drain, otherwise turn it upside down and it can drain back out through the seat tube

bianchibob

As a relative newcomer to cycling, I am of the firm opinion that if you look after your bike it will look after you. I therefore clean my bike down after every ride, I wouldn't use a power washer on it just a minimum of car shampoo and hot water. I then dry it off and after everycouple of rides I degrease the chain and cassette and then give the front and rear derailleurs a detailed clean and then relubricate the whole transmission with the minimum of lubricant.
I find that if you over lubricate you just pick up more road grit and film and as this accumulates the gear shift deteriates.
Also I wouldn't use a power washer as you are just forcing water into all the bearings etc.

Once again if you look after your equipment then it will look after you...might be a bit old fashioned but well worth remembering.

Peddle Up!

I always seem to collect loads of crud around the BB so it's usualy a light hosing off then a proper clean and lube as time permits.

simon_masterson

smidsy wrote:

I come from the 'if you look after your kit it will look after you' side of the camp.

As do I. My favourite bike is older than me, and some of the clientele of this forum (30ish). It still has a couple of original (and/or very old) components. The old codger isn't going to retire yet!

When I refer to 'after a ride', I mean 'IMMEDIATELY after a ride'. At which point I'm good only for mixing my recovery drink, drinking it, trying not to binge eat, and sitting down/being a useless layabout to the infuriation of my lovely wife/both.

But I'm perfectly willing to be wrong; I'm just not aware that my bike or any part of it is going to deteriorate catastrophically and beyond redemption in the time that it takes for me to return to humanity!

Apart from anything else, it's not like I keep cleaning paraphernalia at work. I would ask if anybody does, but I'm guessing that I'd get some affirmative answers. I don't fancy carrying a bucket and sponge on my bike as I'm not a window cleaner.

So I'm personally happy with making sure that the vital parts are clean and lubricated and then I clean it as and when. Green Oil products aren't nearly as brutal as GT-85/Muc Off/etc, but they seem to work.

I also feel the need to point out to those who don't specify that they actually degrease and scrub the chain before re-oiling it that the muck that comes off the road may be at least as bad for your transmission as the depletion of the oil (which would presumably take a lot of very wet rides to do completely, though I don't care to tempt fate); if you don't get that off your chain won't be much better off.

Secteur

Crikey, the best mine gets is a quick hose down and straight into the garage wet.

I give it a good strip-clean about every 2 weeks, and that's the only time I re-oil the chain.

By lube, I assume you guys mean oiling the chain? What else is there to lube on a ride-by-ride basis?

My bike runs silently & smoothly and there's no rust etc on it.

simon_masterson

Secteur wrote:

Crikey, the best mine gets is a quick hose down and straight into the garage wet.

I give it a good strip-clean about every 2 weeks, and that's the only time I re-oil the chain.

By lube, I assume you guys mean oiling the chain? What else is there to lube on a ride-by-ride basis?

My bike runs silently & smoothly and there's no rust etc on it.

Well, I'm aware that some people like to pretend to be their own pro-level race mechanic and dismantle their bike completely, regreasing everything, on a regular basis, so I didn't want to exclude them!

But as for me, other than the chain I tend to put a drop of oil on the pivot points on both of my derailleurs as they are 30+ years old, not really maintained fastidiously at best and left outside at worst until coming into my care, and inclined to act up. Both in need of a strip-down at least, if not replacement, but the oil tends to help, particularly with the front mech.

Mikey23

mine has just come back from a wet ride on a mucky old tarka trail... quick hose down and now sitting in the kitchen. missus is not thrilled!

simon_masterson

Familiar reaction sounds very familiar!!!

adm1

Surely there's not much point in lubing wet components?

Personally, if it's been mucky or salty, I just give it a quick wash off with the hose, then bring it inside in the warm until it's dry. Then I lube the key areas - but only once it's all dry.

(OK - I am a bit anal, and have been known to take the chain off clean it, and dry it out in the oven, then put it back on and lube it)

simon_masterson

adm1 wrote:

Surely there's not much point in lubing wet components?

Yes, there is that. I daresay it's not completely ineffectual, but I don't see why you wouldn't just wait until it's dry.

the_cyclist_of_catan

In terms of lubing wet components (cables, brae pivots etc), aren't both GT-85 and WD-40 effective water-displacers?

Pat Murray

Quick hose down, dry off with the air hose and relube - simples.

mkviken

if you cant clean it properly straight after a ride spray with scotoil fs365 and clean/lube the bike properly as soon as possible.

simon_masterson

mkviken wrote:

if you cant clean it properly straight after a ride spray with scotoil fs365

Crikey, that seems a bit drastic!

But honestly, I don't want to single anybody out but 'goodwill gestures' towards your bike are unnecessary. The philosophy of 'take care of your gear and it will take care of you' doesn't sanction well-intentioned but ultimately ineffectual care procedures; rather it directs that you maintain your gear fully. Your bike isn't going to behave better because you put more oil on it than it needs any more than if you give it a cuddle and sing to it at bedtime.

It takes fairly nasty chemicals (unless you use Green Oil!) to remove the oil from that chain; a bit of spray from the road and sky probably isn't going to do it in one ride unless your route goes through Lake Windermere. It's not general practice by any means to reapply oil all the time; some people will do quite a lot of wet rides before so doing, and there's no wrong in that (see this review for example http://road.cc/content/review/12256-gre ... chain-lube). If you're going to relubricate your drive train, do it to get rid of the road muck, and make sure you wipe off the excess.

adm1

Wax Lube. You know it makes sense.

Doesn't seem to mind the rain at all. Doesn't attract all the black sh*te (much), and when it does, the black sh*te ends up as flakes of black wax which drop off.

I used to religiously clean my drive train with a Park Tool Cyclone thingy, citrus degreaser, etc, etc.... A while ago, I got a new chain, stripped the factory lube off/out of it, waxed it up and it's been fantastic ever since. Runs silent, looks clean. Now every 200 miles or so, I just give it a quick wipe off with a dry rag and add a little more wax lube (White Lightning "Clean Ride" IIRC).

Tastes great. Less filling.

mkviken

got caught in a real dowmpor on the way home today for the last 15-20 miles or so

put bike away on work stand, quick dry down to get most water off, spray all over with scotoil fs365 and spray mech and detailers, pedals, brake pivots and chain with gt85

will clean it properly tomorrow.

simon_masterson

Again, you REALLY don't actually have to do that!

If you must clean it straight after the ride (rather than just letting it dry while you recover from the exertion), wipe it or hose it down and use your cleaning chemicals of choice to de-muck the moving parts and transmission.

I'm not trying to singly gang up on anyone on the internet, but I would hate for any beginner to think that they actually need to do anything like spraying Scotoil all over it. The important thing is that you get the road muck off the moving parts and transmission and the road salt off the frame, so a bucket of water or hose, combined with some degreaser and a stiff brush, should be plenty for most people. GT-85 or similar is probably no bad thing if you want to attack brake pivots and the like, but isn't 'essential' as such; plenty of cyclists do nothing of the sort and their bikes are fine.