Washing bikes with a hosepipe
Comments
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Its a bug bear of mine when I get a flat out on the road and my support vehicle isn't available.
I put a glove under it instead.Advocate of disc brakes.0 -
you have 3 hands?
edit - or one sodding great big hand!
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Touché, I use the gloves under the bars and the hide of a small rodent under the saddle.Advocate of disc brakes.0
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You may not need to but there's no good reason not to. Unless you're a ham fisted moron, you should be able to do this without scratching brake levers and the saddle in exactly the same way you can lean it against a wall without damage.Slowbike wrote:
and scratched his shifters and saddle to buggery ...rumbataz wrote:He had them turned upside down fro stability,
please don't ..
you don't need to turn a bike upside down and place it on the ground ...
I'm sorry but this is snobbery. I've been doing this since we built and maintained our own bikes as kids. It is simply the easiest way to fiddle about with a bike when out in the wild. That's a simple fact borne out by years of real world experience. It may not be necessary to do it but there's no good reason not to. I assume the anti this practice position as written in the 'rules' is because the pros don't do it.
Damn, where did I leave my support car?
And don't get me started on the rules, this isn't golf is all I'll say.0 -
morstar wrote:
You may not need to but there's no good reason not to. Unless you're a ham fisted moron, you should be able to do this without scratching brake levers and the saddle in exactly the same way you can lean it against a wall without damage.Slowbike wrote:
and scratched his shifters and saddle to buggery ...rumbataz wrote:He had them turned upside down fro stability,
please don't ..
you don't need to turn a bike upside down and place it on the ground ...
I'm sorry but this is snobbery. I've been doing this since we built and maintained our own bikes as kids. It is simply the easiest way to fiddle about with a bike when out in the wild. That's a simple fact borne out by years of real world experience. It may not be necessary to do it but there's no good reason not to. I assume the anti this practice position as written in the 'rules' is because the pros don't do it.
Damn, where did I leave my support car?
And don't get me started on the rules, this isn't golf is all I'll say.
You still end up scratching your shifters and saddle ... because you've got all the weight of the bike on the 3 load points, plus you're then faffing about removing/fitting a wheel which introduces movements - it's not the same as leaning your bike up against a wall where it then stays (hopefully) until youve finished your coffee and cake.
Yes - I'll accept it's a convenient way to filddle about "in the wild" and you can always resort to that - but doing it routinely for washing the bike ... nope ..
I speak from too many years experience of sandpaper .... plus having turned my bike upside down once and ended up with scratched shifters ....0 -
Yes of course after every ride (or once a week), hose down to get the worst of the muck off, then spray down with muc-off. At that point check if the cassette or chain needs cleaning, then hose down again. Usually 5-10 minutes depending on if I need to get the chain scrubber out or not. Couldn't imagine taking an hour to clean a bike, what would you do with all that time!
One guy on our club reckoned it's better not to clean your bike at all during the winter, and his bike was basically black, I'm told it was supposed to be red!0 -
rumbataz wrote:A few days ago I walked past a neighbour's house and he had been washing his cars and then just continued with the soapy water and hosepipe to wash his three bikes. He had them turned upside down fro stability, and just used car washing brushes and sponges, and car shampoo. He then rinsed everything with a hosepipe (not a pressure washer) and left the bikes to dry.
It took him about 2 minutes to wash three bikes. It takes me around an hour to do one!
Is using a soapy sponge and a hosepipe a safe way to wash a bike?
The reason I ask is that I'm into car detailing so have lots of car detailing products, including many brushes, sponges, shampoos, etc., and wouldn't mind spending two minutes to clean a bike rather than an hour.
First, taking an hour to clean a bicycle may be slightly OTT.
Cars are not bicycles and vice versa. Neither is the other. Cars tend to keep their oily bits away from nature and the weather. Bicycles less so.
However, a bicycle is an easy doddle to clean. I use a bucket and soapy water. Usually I use a sponge (from the car-washing bucket) and sometimes (MTB) I use a stiff scrubbing brush.
For the oily bits, I de-grease, wipe a few times, get a toothbrush into the schnangledorfer bits, throw a bucket of 'rinsing water' over it all and when dry - only when dry - I lightly re-lube where necessary.
I do the oily bits whenever I clean the bike and sometimes as a stand-alone activity. There is no dark art to it. There are no special products needed.
I've been washing cars for decades with washing-up liquid and warm water, then hosing off with a garden hose. I have never seen any paintwork suffer any damage as a result. This includes a rather lovely 1961 roadster on which I lavish lots of care.... but it still gets a bucket of soapy water at bathtime.
The trick (with bicycles and cars) is to take care of the moving parts and the servicing. Everything else is just soapy water. The man you saw cleaning a bicycle in 2 minutes was onto a good thing.0 -
I never turn the bike upside down - unless its on teh carpet or grass...
And the bloke who never cleans his winter bike - its only when you clean the bike that you see what's coming loose or cracked etc....0 -
Rev0Knuckle wrote:Never used anything other than a hose, much-off and a bucket/sponge followed by a going over with a wash leather. Though I have since bought one of these: http://www.motohaus.com/acatalog/Bruhl- ... ryers.html
Cannot recommend it highly enough if -like me- you hate the drying part and want to go straight to the polishing stage!
I do like the look of that0 -
Maybe if you've got one lying around in your shed, some people use a leaf blower to dry their cars (i.e. contactless drying).
@Rec0Knuckle: Focus RS fan/owner?0 -
rumbataz wrote:Maybe if you've got one lying around in your shed, some people use a leaf blower to dry their cars (i.e. contactless drying).
@Rec0Knuckle: Focus RS fan/owner?
Sorry for late reply. Been away recently.
Anyway, well spotted sir, you are correct. I used to own a Mk2 in Ultimate Green, loved that car!0 -
I did it, finally!
Last Sunday I washed both bikes with a hosepipe and they haven't melted!
I'm very much into car detailing so used some of my car cleaning products on my cycles too - mainly a decent car shampoo and a hybrid detailer/sealant.
I hoisted the cycles onto a cantilever stand and squirted some drivetrain cleaner onto the oily bits. I used a Park Tools chain cleaner to get rid of most of the much on the chain. Then used a cassette brush and various car cleaning brushes to get into the nooks and crannies.
I then used a car sponge with some Meg's Gold Class shampoo to soap the bike up and then hosed it down with the hosepipe.
The bikes were dried with a microfibre cloth and then the bodywork was protected with Chemical Guys Hybrd V7 detailer/sealent.
The disc rotors were cleaned with IPA. Both bikes go a LOT faster now.
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THeres plenty of vids on Youtube showing you how to clean bikes if you don't know how. I'm sure GCN has one.0
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You must be the first person ever to use a hose during a bike wash. Give that man a prestigious awardAnd the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made.0
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rumbataz wrote:The disc rotors were cleaned with IPA.
Fullers IPA? What a waste...0 -
