Post commute bike care

itsrob

Good morning,
Last night I did my first commute in the dark for about 5 years. Enjoyed it, and was amazed that I seemed to get more help from motorists ie letting me out when turning right etc!
Anyways it was P1ssing it down, so what should I have done with the bike as soon as I got home?
My first priority was to get out of wet clothes and into the bath, meant my bike just got put in the garage!

If it had of been a long ride on a weekend I'd have given it a good clean after but thats not practical when ridding twice a day.
So I guess what do YOU commuters do with bikes after wet commutes?

(oh and also some mudguard suggestions for a bike with no clearance??)
cheers
Rob

slowbike

most I give mine on that sort of ride is a blast with a hose - get the crud off, the rest can wait.

no clearance at all? Crud Road Racer II would be my suggestion - can't get all of the rear on my tarmac so have to do with the stays backwards - strange as they fit my allez which is the same geometry ..

itsrob

Hi slowbike I went and checked after I posted it, there is no eyelets for it, I would say 6-10mm clearance, thats not science thats me seeing if my little pinky fitted! I porobably should have blasted the hosepipe on it, I looked at it this morning and thought yuk!!

slowbike

Crud RR II don't need eyelets - they have brackets that mount with rubber rings around your stays (just protect the stays with some electrical tape first)
6-10mm clearance should be ok - what bike is it? someone here may have already fitted guards (or not!)

vermin

After a cold, wet ride, I do exactly what you did: Get myself warm and dry and leave the bike be. It might be a good idea to put some wet lube on the chain in the morning. Other than that, I'm sure it will be perfectly fine.

Mudguards: either SKS Raceblade Longs (my preference because (i) they don't touch and therefore cannot damage the paintwork and (ii) one can purchase a second set of fittings to fit to and leave on a second bike, making it a 30 second job to transfer the guards from one bike to another), or Crud Roadracer 2s.

anonymousblackfg

Clean once every 18 months, pump the tyres once a week, chain lube once a month and new chain each year. Tyres/disc pads when required.

gbsahne001

After that sort of ride I wipe the chain down with a wet rag and then spray the moving parts; rear / front mech with GT-85. In the morning I would possibly relube, depending upon how the chain looks / feels.

jamesco

itsrob wrote:

So I guess what do YOU commuters do with bikes after wet commutes?

Lean it against the house and head inside for a shower - it's not carbon fibre, so it won't dissolve

memsley89

itsrob wrote:

Good morning,
So I guess what do YOU commuters do with bikes after wet commutes?

I squirt whatever water is left in my bottles on the drivechain and rear of the seattube/ calipers...
gets the worst of the crud off! 8)

slowbike

memsley89 wrote:

itsrob wrote:

Good morning,
So I guess what do YOU commuters do with bikes after wet commutes?

I squirt whatever water is left in my bottles on the drivechain and rear of the seattube/ calipers...
gets the worst of the crud off! 8)

You carry water on your commute?!

Ok ... I do too, but usually only a mouthful or two ... not enough to do a meaningful squirt!

vermin

Slowbike wrote:

memsley89 wrote:

itsrob wrote:

Good morning,
So I guess what do YOU commuters do with bikes after wet commutes?

I squirt whatever water is left in my bottles on the drivechain and rear of the seattube/ calipers...
gets the worst of the crud off! 8)

You carry water on your commute?!

Ok ... I do too, but usually only a mouthful or two ... not enough to do a meaningful squirt!

Strokes for folks. I carry 2 bottles on the commute in the summer.

veronese68

I put it in the garage and walk away until the morning. Probably depends on how far you are going. As I only do 6 miles each way I can get away with neglecting it through the week then being nice to it at the weekend.

seajays

Veronese68 wrote:

I put it in the garage and walk away until the morning. Probably depends on how far you are going. As I only do 6 miles each way I can get away with neglecting it through the week then being nice to it at the weekend.

Snap.

MichaelW

Get a bike with generous clearance + eyelets for full-length mudguards and wider winter tyres, that you don't mind getting dirty, ie a winter trainer.

dodgy

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Clean once every 18 months, pump the tyres once a week, chain lube once a month and new chain each year. Tyres/disc pads when required.

Depends on how your commute is I suppose. I wouldn't take that approach on my 22 mile each way commute, I hedge my bets by doing preventative maintenance.

I'd quite like a bike butler

bendertherobot

Have to say, today's rain (hail, thunder and general flood) was so clean that all I had to do was add GT85 when I got home. Bike was spotless.

rower63

I remove and clean chain and cassette most weekends (i.e. every 190 miles).
After a wet ride, I leave it until it's dry (later in the day or next morning) and then quickly "finger-wipe" all the grit that I can see from the frame and forks, taking care not to brush grit onto chain or sprockets. I also eyeball the tyres with a penknife handy to pick out flints, glass etc as preventative puncture maintenance before every ride home. I regularly get comments along the lines of "how d'you keep it that clean?".

tgotb

Mon to Thur, if it's dry, wheel it into the kitchen and leave it there until tomorrow. Mon-Thur if it's wet and Fri, stick it in the garage.

Charge lights - daily
Pump up the tyres when I remember, maybe once a week
Check for flints etc - ditto
Check chain stretch - every few weeks
Lubricate chain - when required
Clean chain - never
10s spray down with hose - occasionally, after wet rides, if I can be bothered
Other maintenance - as required

One of my major criteria when putting this bike together was that it had to function reliably without being wrapped in cotton wool or polished every evening with baby wipes. I spend far too much time looking after the race bikes as it is. By the time I factor in the cost of my time, I think it's more economical to let the drivetrain wear out a bit more quickly, than it is to try to keep it clean. Based on previous experience I'll probably get through 2-3 chains a year, cassettes will last a bit over a year, and chainrings a few years; that's probably around £100 a year for drivetrain components, and about the same again for tyres and brake pads. Put another way, around £4 per week, most of which I'd still have to spend even if stopped to polish the individual chainlinks every mile.

On the flip side, once it gets muddy the CX bikes probably get a good 30 minutes tlc per bike, after every ride...

vermin

TGOTB wrote:

Mon to Thur, if it's dry, wheel it into the kitchen and leave it there until tomorrow. Mon-Thur if it's wet and Fri, stick it in the garage.

Noted. For the garage nights, are bolt cutters required or do you leave it unlocked?

tgotb

vermin wrote:

TGOTB wrote:

Mon to Thur, if it's dry, wheel it into the kitchen and leave it there until tomorrow. Mon-Thur if it's wet and Fri, stick it in the garage.

Noted. For the garage nights, are bolt cutters required or do you leave it unlocked?

Without giving too much away, you'll need rather more than a pair of bolt cutters, especially if you also want to avoid the attentions of the local constabulary. You might also be quite disappointed by the resale potential of the bike, even in component form...

roger_merriman

As others mostly zero, bar being made secure.

I pump up the tyres every few weeks at 40psi they don't drop much in that time.

i oil the chain as and when, I use dry rather than wet, in a effort to stop the chain ending up a mess.

to be honest the bike is fine with the neglect.

itsrob

Thanks for the answers I dont feel so bad for popping it into the garage!

Re mudguards, I had a £20 voucher for halfords, popped in there and managed to get a knowledgeable member of staff. They only had the crud ones in but let me offer it up, the difficulty wasnt the clearance but the downtube shaped around the wheel. We reckoned the SKS ones that werent full wheel would manage it, collected them from another branch and will fit tonight. Next commute tomorrow evening and will hose the bike down post ride

mpdouglas

I have hosed my bike down immediately post ride on a few occasions and I'm not convinced it helps. It makes me feel better that the bike looks cleaner, but I actually think it makes the mechanicals worse. I've usually come out the next day to visible rust forming on the chain and sprocket every time I've hosed it down and I don't get this when I just park it up in the garage overnight. This may be because it gets cleaned and lubed pretty thoroughly every weekend. I suspect that the hosing down washes more lube away and leaves a lot more surface water on everything.

When I clean it at the weekend I use a petrol leaf blower to dry everything off. I should really do this after a mid-week hosing but life is too short. As those that have seen the Boardman Hybrid will confirm, it doesn't look too shabby after 3 years of all weather commuting.

When I was more into motorbikes, I became aware that quite a lot of guys "winterize" their bikes. They essentially spray them in a Waxoyl type coating and just leave them to get filthy over the winter. They then steam clean the filthy Waxoyl off in the spring. The main dealerships even offer this as a service. I'm wondering whether this sort of approach works well with bicycles i.e. get the chain properly lubed with wet lube and ignore the fact that it gets all black and gunky and looks like sh1t. (I personally find this hard as I like my car/bikes etc to look their best at all times).

I've just bought the "frying pan" hot melt tin of Putoline chain lube to see if I can achieve a winterizing effect that is better than the usual chain lubes.

craker

mpdouglas wrote:

I've just bought the "frying pan" hot melt tin of Putoline chain lube to see if I can achieve a winterizing effect that is better than the usual chain lubes.

Wow, that's £25 + a tin, if you can extend the life of a chain by 25% then this will pay for itself after 8 chains.

dav1

Mine is minimal. That's most of the reason I bought a fixie.

If its super wet ill re-lube the chain before the next run to keep things smooth. Most weekends the bike gets a clean and relube, which (thanks to lack of gears) takes around 15 mins. On occasion I will also retention the chain which is a 5 minute job at most.

In spring as a reward for putting up with the crap of winter the bike gets disassembled, all parts cleaned and a full rebuild.

veronese68

mpdouglas wrote:

When I was more into motorbikes, I became aware that quite a lot of guys "winterize" their bikes. They essentially spray them in a Waxoyl type coating and just leave them to get filthy over the winter. They then steam clean the filthy Waxoyl off in the spring.

I used to use ACF50 on my Ducati and it kept everything lovely through a few winters. If it can keep one of them pristine I'm sure it will work on a bicycle. You wouldn't want it on any braking surfaces though. You'd have to reapply after cleaning the drivertrain too.

Kieran_Burns

I wipe down my bike with distilled Unicorn tears, using a fresh cloth on every wipe. Then I strip down every moving part with lovingly cleaned and crafted bespoke made tools; individually labelling each and placing them carefully in an index-labelled (based upon the dewey decimal system) pre-cleaned plastic, bio-degradeble tubs.

The chain is taken apart and each link sonically cleaned in GM free bio-neutral organic vegan friendly light plant oil that I purchase directly from ethnically diverse native folk living in the wilds of Norfolk.

Once this is complete, I reassemble the bike using the freshly cleaned bespoke made tools, carefully applying GM free bio-neutral organic vegan friendly lubricant based upon sustainable soft wood forests managed by ethnically diverse natives from Cornwall.

I then use a gentle cloth (a clean one on each wipe) to ensure there are no finger prints on the bike and apply a soft layering of unscented talcum powder on the saddle and handlebars.

Then I leave the bike overnight in a room warmed by the gentle fires of an organically grown sustainable softwood ensuring I plant a new tree every night I light the fire made from a recycled fuel tank (to remind myself that even motor vehicles can have a nature friendly use)

I then clean all the cloths using a GM free bio-neutral organic vegan friendly detergent, storing the water used for a bath or shower later.

elbowloh

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I then use a gentle cloth (a clean one on each wipe) to ensure there are no finger prints on the bike and apply a soft layering of unscented talcum powder on the saddle and handlebars.

Maybe wear gloves?

surrey_commuter

Kieran_Burns wrote:

The chain is taken apart and each link sonically cleaned in GM free bio-neutral organic vegan friendly light plant oil that I purchase directly from ethnically diverse native folk living in the wilds of Norfolk.

Once this is complete, I reassemble the bike using the freshly cleaned bespoke made tools, carefully applying GM free bio-neutral organic vegan friendly lubricant based upon sustainable soft wood forests managed by ethnically diverse natives from Cornwall.

r.

Utter nonsense have you ever been to Norfolk or Cornwall???? :roll:

Kieran_Burns

Surrey Commuter wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

The chain is taken apart and each link sonically cleaned in GM free bio-neutral organic vegan friendly light plant oil that I purchase directly from ethnically diverse native folk living in the wilds of Norfolk.

Once this is complete, I reassemble the bike using the freshly cleaned bespoke made tools, carefully applying GM free bio-neutral organic vegan friendly lubricant based upon sustainable soft wood forests managed by ethnically diverse natives from Cornwall.

r.

Utter nonsense have you ever been to Norfolk or Cornwall???? :roll:

I tried once. The roads ran out.

Kieran_Burns

elbowloh wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I then use a gentle cloth (a clean one on each wipe) to ensure there are no finger prints on the bike and apply a soft layering of unscented talcum powder on the saddle and handlebars.

Maybe wear gloves?

Always best to make sure. The cloths are of course made from unbleached GM free bio-neutral organic vegan friendly cotton