Newbie: Bare minimum cleaning question

buddhahat

Apologies if this has been asked many times before. A quick search wasn't locating the specific info I was after.

I bought a new bike and am keen to look after it better than the last one, which is covered in rust.

Therefore I invested in some proper cleaning products: Drivetrain cleaner, degreaser, water displacer, lube etc. etc. and am making sure the bike has a thorough clean after muddy rides.

But if I'm just taking the bike out for a quick half hour ride before work on slightly wet roads, and the bike doesn't really look that dirty, what's the bare minimum (if any) cleaning I should be doing when I get home? I just want to minimise the potential for rust.

All 'quick clean' videos on Youtube involve washing the whole bike down which of course means it has to be completely dried - seems a bit excessive after every ride, or maybe not?

Perhaps just WD in drivetrain, wipe chain down and then lube?

Any advice much appreciated, thank you!

photonic69

If it is Aluminium - It won't rust. If it is Carbon - it won't rust. If it is steel it won't rust until the paint is damaged. Best prevention is to never put the bike away wet regardless of if it is a complete hose down or a quick wipe over.

My current weekly schedule is - Monday-Friday commuting on winter bike a quick wipe down to dry if wet when I get home and forget about it. Sunday - after Club Ride on same bike it gets a full wash down with soapy water (Fairy Liquid) and a hose. Dried with microfiber towel and a spray of Meguires Quick Detailer spray. Chain is cleaned with babywipes, an old towel and re-lubed with Wet Lube, run through the gears a few times and wipe off excess.

If you want you could gently wipe with a damp cloth or sponge after each ride but be wary of scratching the paint with gritty muck (usually on bottom of downtube) on the sponge etc so make sure you rinse it out well and often. Then dry with a towel.

mrb123

For a quick "dry" clean:
Squirt some GT85 onto a rag and run the chain through it.
Then relube, run through all the gears. Leave for a few minutes and then wipe excess from chain.
Quick wipe of any obvious water or dirt from the rest of the bike with a separate rag.

monkimark

My winter commuting bike would consider itself blessed to see a bucket and sponge.

After a gronky commute home i might run a GT85 soaked rag over the chain to remove the worst of the salty crud as i find chains can get rusty pretty quick.

slowbike

My winter commuting bike sees a bucket and sponge each and every day ... both are stored in the garage ...

buddhahat

mrb123 said:

For a quick "dry" clean:
Squirt some GT85 onto a rag and run the chain through it.
Then relube, run through all the gears. Leave for a few minutes and then wipe excess from chain.
Quick wipe of any obvious water or dirt from the rest of the bike with a separate rag.

This is perfect, thank you!

And thanks all for contributions - all useful.

buddhahat

mrb123 said:

Squirt some GT85 onto a rag and run the chain through it.

Are you squiring GT85 onto cassette too or just chain?

Cheers,
B

kingstongraham

I might spray some GT85 on if it's wet. Then wipe the braking surface maybe once a week because I'm all about the safety. When I get inspired/I can't barely see any bike through the dirt, I'll give it a vague clean all over. Then I just suck up the additional costs in consumables.

kingstongraham

To add - I'll give the chain a bit of a wipe if it's making a terrible noise.

mrb123

buddhahat said:

mrb123 said:

Squirt some GT85 onto a rag and run the chain through it.

Are you squiring GT85 onto cassette too or just chain?

Cheers,
B

I don't squirt is directly onto the bike at all. Just onto a rag which I then hold round the chain and turn the pedals backwards to run it through.

Once you've lubed the chain if you run through the gears as I mentioned then you'll get some lube on the cassette cogs to mitigate any risk of corrosion.

buddhahat

mrb123 said:

buddhahat said:

mrb123 said:

Squirt some GT85 onto a rag and run the chain through it.

Are you squiring GT85 onto cassette too or just chain?

Cheers,
B

I don't squirt is directly onto the bike at all. Just onto a rag which I then hold round the chain and turn the pedals backwards to run it through.

Once you've lubed the chain if you run through the gears as I mentioned then you'll get some lube on the cassette cogs to mitigate any risk of corrosion.

That's great - thanks for clarifying.

Best,

B

simon_e

WD on drivetrain will degrease it and any bare metal will corrode faster. Better to do as mrb123 says and clean the chain, rings & rear mech with GT85 or similar on a rag. Rub between the cassette cogs with the rag if it looks like it needs it.

When it's mucky but time is short I wash the rims & pads and around the BB etc where it builds up most. When I have longer (usually Saturday morning) the wheels come off,I remove dry crud with a brush (it means there's less of it on the sponge & in the water), then a top-down wash, with most attention given to the drivetrain. A spot of WUL has worked fine over the years.

imposter2.0

simon_e said:

WD on drivetrain will degrease it and any bare metal will corrode faster.

WD40, GT85 and others like it are all just light mineral oils in a carrier solvent. Once the solvent has evaporated, it leaves the light oil coating. So the suggestion that bare metal will 'corrode faster' if sprayed with GT, WD, etc is not correct. In fact, the opposite will be true.

step83

GT85 rag spray post ride, plus occasionally running a soft brush over the really cruddy bits of the frame when its dry if the frame is especially mucky.

thecycleclinic

You an clean mine when your done
Seriously I never clean my wet bike and it always works. The lube I use keeps the chain clean. Clean the bike obsessively is fine but it does not make everything last longer. After a wet ride you should wipe the chain down and re lube if needed. After a ride where salt is on the road its best to pour water over the derailleurs then dry them off. More than that and your cleaning for cleanings sake. That fine so long as you know that what it is.

To keep a bike running the chain mostly needs to be kept clean and I have ways found chain baths to be terrible at that. Beyond that just clean the jockey wheels of crud and wipe the rims down. If you use soft pads they should not pick up.much of the brake track but wiping yhd Tim's down does not fo any harm.

pilot_pete

I’ve found the best regime is to use a soft paint brush with car shampoo or washing up liquid in a small tub mixed with some water. Use the paintbrush to get at all the dirt and loosen it - May take two applications with a rinse between to be really thorough.

For the drivetrain I use a paintbrush with Jizer brushed on and worked into the links. I also do the cassette and rear derailleur in a similar manner. Rinse the whole bike thoroughly with a light spray from a hosepipe.

Now the bit that prevents the corrosion - I use a pet dryer (like an industrial hair dryer!) to blow all the water off and out of all the nooks and crannies to completely dry the bike. Blowing hot air under pressure really does dry everything, including the bar tape.

I can then either just store the bike as is, or relube the chain there and then. I have found this regime means a perfectly clean bike which does not corrode at all. Takes about 15mins all in. I might use a bit of spray detailer just to polish everything off before riding again.

PP

webboo

How much did you pay for the dryer. A quick google says some of these are £300 plus.

awavey

what are peoples views on GT85 on your cassette, which I normally use liberally to get it clean and it basically getting in to your rear hub because they arent sealed, which then degreases the bearings ? and then you end up with my road bike where the bearings ran out of grease,damaged the hub abit, so even though LBS managed to regrease it and replace them, ideally I need a new wheel now.

on the whole I dont spend alot of time cleaning my bikes, maybe a sponge to get the worst mud off, and a chain degrease if its looking abit manky and being making lots of noise

[Deleted User]

Don't you people have things like housework, dishes and bathing to do? Or full time jobs?

First.Aspect

That wasn't me, I swear.

pblakeney

All good advice.
I'd add if riding in cruddy conditions then strip down and clean the cassette & jockey wheels every 3 months. You'll be astonished at the build up!

sheffsimon

1st_Aspect said:

Don't you people have things like housework, dishes and bathing to do? Or full time jobs?

This.

I give the commuting bike a thorough clean in April. Put some lube on the chain when it starts squeaking.

Have zero problems with it.

The willpower required to clean it after a ride is beyond my capabilities.

cruff

Don't get gt85 anywhere near bearings. That includes bearing seals. Which, for me, includes the cassette, unless you want to take it off the freehub (in which case just use a regular degreaser on the cogs). Nothing will f*** your freehub quicker than gt85 seeping into it

It's fine to run it over the chain though.

thecycleclinic

My commuter gets a clean once a year too. Today. I cleaned up the chai with a rag as I lubed it yesterday. I also removed the jockey wheels and cleaned up the mech cage. Jockey wheels where snagged so they were replaced. The bike runs smoothly now. It's still filthy though.

simon_e

imposter2.0 said:

WD40, GT85 and others like it are all just light mineral oils in a carrier solvent. Once the solvent has evaporated, it leaves the light oil coating. So the suggestion that bare metal will 'corrode faster' if sprayed with GT, WD, etc is not correct. In fact, the opposite will be true.

You're saying that taking grease/chain lube off with WD-40 is better than leaving it on? The thin coating they leave on the surfaces won't last 5 minutes in wet conditions.

pblakeney said:

All good advice.
I'd add if riding in cruddy conditions then strip down and clean the cassette & jockey wheels every 3 months. You'll be astonished at the build up!

3 months?!?

The drivetrain on my winter bike would seize up completely if I left it that long! Much more than a week and the chain will wear out faster, though the squeaking will probably drive me mad before then. And the longer I leave it the thicker the build up so it then takes a lot longer to get things clean. I've found more frequent, brief cleaning stints (little & often) work better than leaving it for ages.

imposter2.0

simon_e said:

imposter2.0 said:

WD40, GT85 and others like it are all just light mineral oils in a carrier solvent. Once the solvent has evaporated, it leaves the light oil coating. So the suggestion that bare metal will 'corrode faster' if sprayed with GT, WD, etc is not correct. In fact, the opposite will be true.

You're saying that taking grease/chain lube off with WD-40 is better than leaving it on? The thin coating they leave on the surfaces won't last 5 minutes in wet conditions.

Not sure if that reply was meant for someone else? I was pretty clear in what I said in response to your previous post. But your reply doesn't seem to bear any relevance to that.

pblakeney

simon_e said:

imposter2.0 said:

WD40, GT85 and others like it are all just light mineral oils in a carrier solvent. Once the solvent has evaporated, it leaves the light oil coating. So the suggestion that bare metal will 'corrode faster' if sprayed with GT, WD, etc is not correct. In fact, the opposite will be true.

You're saying that taking grease/chain lube off with WD-40 is better than leaving it on? The thin coating they leave on the surfaces won't last 5 minutes in wet conditions.

pblakeney said:

All good advice.
I'd add if riding in cruddy conditions then strip down and clean the cassette & jockey wheels every 3 months. You'll be astonished at the build up!

3 months?!?

The drivetrain on my winter bike would seize up completely if I left it that long! Much more than a week and the chain will wear out faster, though the squeaking will probably drive me mad before then. And the longer I leave it the thicker the build up so it then takes a lot longer to get things clean. I've found more frequent, brief cleaning stints (little & often) work better than leaving it for ages.

Depends on how frequent you go out, and how cruddy. I am using my turbo more often when the weather is unpleasant these days for example.
PS - I was out today for the first time in weeks and washed my bike immediately on return even though it was washed the last time.
Why? I keep my bikes in the house and there is no way a bike was getting in the house in that condition! 🤣🤣🤣

pilot_pete

webboo said:

How much did you pay for the dryer. A quick google says some of these are £300 plus.

I actually can’t remember now, but I think it was about £70. Works a treat and is about two years old now, so quite a small amount when you consider how much use it gets...

PP

rwoofer

In 40 years of bike ownership I have never dried my bike (oldest bike still in use is a 26 year old steel mtb), so surprised to see that on the list. On my daily commuter I just give it a good wash and lube every 4 weeks and that seems to work fine. It drip dries in the garage after the wash.

pilot_pete

rwoofer said:

In 40 years of bike ownership I have never dried my bike (oldest bike still in use is a 26 year old steel mtb), so surprised to see that on the list. On my daily commuter I just give it a good wash and lube every 4 weeks and that seems to work fine. It drip dries in the garage after the wash.

Like others on this thread I keep my bikes in the house so dripping dry is not a great option. Plus it drives the water out of all the chain links, derailleurs etc which is better than letting it sit in there and dry slowly.

PP