steam cleaner

crannman

watched my mrs cleaning cooker with one of them hand held steam cleaners would it be ok for cleaning bike ? and woul I get away with asking mrs to clean my bike

seanorawe

crannman wrote:

watched my mrs cleaning cooker with one of them hand held steam cleaners would it be ok for cleaning bike ? and woul I get away with asking mrs to clean my bike

I too was thinking about this. I wouldn't put it near the frame as the steam will likely be too hot and crack the paint. I did clean a disc rotor with steam and it did a great job.

fenix

No and no.

Anonymous

For the most part when I clean my bikes, the majority cleans up easily with a wipe of a cloth or baby wipe etc. Its usually the hard to reach places around the bottom bracket / chainset or derailleurs that get the most grime filled - exactly the same places I would avoid spraying high pressure steam anywhere near.

I am sure someone will mention seeing a mechanic on the pro tour doing so but they didn't spend their hard earned cash on them and so long as it still mechanically sound don't particularly care about how the paintwork looks. You on the other hand probably don't have that luxury. Pro bikes get cleaned every day and therefore don't pick up that much dirt sincecits last clean. So unless you strip down and rebuild your bike after every ride it is not comparable.

pblakeney

Do you enjoy replacing bearings?

debeli

I just wouldn't bother with a steam cleaner.

A bucket of warm, soapy water, a cloth and a toothbrush will do you pretty well.

Cleaning a bicycle is quick, simple and not physically taxing.

One significant benefit of cleaning with cloth and toothbrush is that you occasionally find current or potential future mechanical problems that might otherwise have gone unnoticed until they contributed to an unplanned dismount or your being stranded at or near the Middle of Nowhere.

So that's a No from me.

crannman

thanks all I do clean bike with warm water de greaser and tooth brush it was just a idea for de greasing

andy9964

It might work well on things like chainrings and derailleurs, where you can get a more stubborn build up of oil/grease/dirt

seanorawe

My disc rotor comment was ignored. Is this how far disc brakes are being snubbed?

On the subject

GCN did a video when sky were cleaning their bikes, and Dan lloyd asked why they clean the cassette with a spray of water, if it can damage the bearings. He said, on pro bikes, the wheels will break long before the bearings go.