Winter Cycling - Bike Bath

We just had several cm of snow fall today, the temperature rose and everything landed as slush, especially on the roads where it mixed with car poop and salt. There is so much sat on our roads right now my face is actually bloched with white spots.

When I got home I thought 'hey, I could just run my bike under my shower and rinse all this stuff off.

Good idea or bad idea?

Whats the point, when you go out tomorrow you'll be back at square #1!

I just try to keep my chain and sprockets clean, even thats not easy.

I guess. I just have nightmares of little salt creatures eating my bike during the night.

I'd probably just wipe the bike off and lube the chain.. unless you enjoy bathing with your bike and don't plan to go out again.

Whats the point, when you go out tomorrow you'll be back at square #1!

I just try to keep my chain and sprockets clean, even thats not easy.

+1

I only clean & lube the chain and sprokets. I haven't washed my bike for months.

I also check for grit buildup under the break pads and fenders.

In the winter, I wash my bike twice a day, every day.

I'm not kidding.



Showers are fair game, although admittedly, I havent used one on a bike since the university days...

When I lived in Winnipeg, I put my bicycles in the shower every couple weeks during the winter. It worked really well!! I used Avon bubble bath on them, and they came out clean and shiny.

i take a huge bucket of fairly hot water, and drench the moving parts. E.g. BB, Hubs, shocks, rear derailler and sprockets. I save a bit of water so I can scrub with a dollar store handled scrubber to get rid of salt in the little corners.

For me, it's a big bucket of warm water after every snow ride. I pour it over the entire bike, directing it where necessary. Gets the grit, ice, snow, and salt off. Let it dry, then I lube the chain. My bike is indoors all night, so it doesn't freeze into a solid block of Trek ice.

I'm waiting to find a large plant-watering can with a showerhead-type spout. Easier to direct the water that way.

I said "good idea" in the poll. :)

if you're gonna ride again in frozen temps, i'd say bad idea.... i'm too paranoid about water getting in somewhere and making something break when it freezes!

i showered my bike when it was new... now i clean it every few months... looking forward to a thorough cleaning (take apart brakes, new brake cables and housing, new bar tape) in a couple weeks!

Living in an apartment, the only place I have to wash my bike is the shower stall. Through the winter it's been getting a shower after every ride. I'm not bothering with soap since it'll get filthy again on the next ride, just hosing it down to desalinate it. Since it's hung up overnight in the living room next to the radiator, it dries thoroughly before returning to the cold.

Like zippered, I'm looking forward to when I can use my roadie for a few days in a row while I strip, detail and fully service my commuter rig.

Living in an apartment, the only place I have to wash my bike is the shower stall. Through the winter it's been getting a shower after every ride. I'm not bothering with soap since it'll get filthy again on the next ride, just hosing it down to desalinate it. Since it's hung up overnight in the living room next to the radiator, it dries thoroughly before returning to the cold.

Like zippered, I'm looking forward to when I can use my roadie for a few days in a row while I strip, detail and fully service my commuter rig.

Yeah, I live in an apartment too and it usually has enough time to dry. I wouldn't use soap since soap is only really for washing away grease, I'll keep what's on there for now.

Starting a better thread...

Starting a better thread...

This one. (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=270743)

it's a bad idea... for the bath[room] itself.

it's a bad idea... for the bath[room] itself.

True. I have to clean the shower with Simple Green to degrease it.

Given the choices:

1) Use the kitchen sink instead,
2) Leave it outside and hope it's not frozen in place, damaged by maintenance with shovels, snowblowers and plows, or stolen,
3) Let it drip salty, muddy, slush down the wall and on the hardwood floors.

I'll put up with having to degrease the shower stall once a week.

WATER AND METAL DO NOT MIX! For cleaning, use rags to knock off the dirt, mud, etc. Then clean with oils. I use hand-rubbed CLP. A bicycle is no different from any other metal tool. They hate water, but they love oil and grease. If you must expose it to hot water and degreasers, you have to follow up with a very complete oiling and re-greasing.

WATER AND METAL DO NOT MIX! .


A shower wouldn't be any different than riding in the rain.

True. I have to clean the shower with Simple Green to degrease it.

-i know this already has been said many times on this forum-
but "girlfiend" and "[winter]bike in the tub" usually mix like water and oil...

that's a hard choice. since you have to do what you have to do... you can bring water out in a bucket but i agree that it still has to dry somewhere...

my solution? i park the car in the driveway. i have more room to clean and dry my 3 bikes in my heated garage... :)

-i know this already has been said many times on this forum-
but "girlfiend" and "[winter]bike in the tub" usually mix like water and oil...

that's a hard choice. since you have to do what you have to do...

:roflmao: "Too many jokes...!" -Chandler Bing :roflmao:

A shower wouldn't be any different than riding in the rain.

A hot shower with water directed at critical junctures will strip oils much faster than cold rain. Plus, I believe rain water is softer and strips grease less effectively.

Do you clean your rifle out in the shower?

Do you clean your rifle out in the shower?
No way! A pressure washer pointed directly down the barrel is all that's needed:D

I don't even wash myself in water. I just put on a fresh coat of pine tar once a fortnight.

IMO the less water/dry cycles the better.

If it is freezing cold out, I leave my bike frozen in the garage and ride it again then next day.

If it is warm out and the roads are wet, my bike is fairly dry by the time I get home as suburbial residential streets are still frozen. I won't re-wet my bike just to rinse off a bit of dirt.

I'll wash my commuter bike when it starts to get groady. That means in the winter, I'll bring it into my shop every month at a minimum, clean and lube it. To wash it off inside, I just wet bucket it in the utility room with a sponge and let the water drain into the floor drain.

In the summer I wash my commuter once a week, or rinse it off after every rain ride just to get the wet road grime off.

My Road bikes I'll wipe down and clean after every ride... no need to flame me, I'm a bit weird like that :D

Call me crazy but I feel my bikes are happier when clean :)


Hey TJ, glad to see you around :beer:

I would not put the bike in the shower. I wash it with a bucket of warm water dish soap and a rag.

My Road bikes I'll wipe down and clean after every ride... no need to flame me, I'm a bit weird like that :D Call me crazy but I feel my bikes are happier when clean :)

Good, I'm not the only one.

Tell mom and dad I'm OK. :D

I wash my bike about once every 2 weeks in winter. I spray some pink bike wash stuff on it, take it over to the wand car wash place, spray it down (making sure I do not spay any water into the hubs or bottom bracket). Walk the bike over to the bike shop that I work at, and use the air hose to get all the water off of my bike and all the cable housing. I find that if I do not get the water out of the housing it is impossible to shirt the next ride.