Mountain Biking - Cleaning after a muddy ride

How bloody important is it to get your bike clean after a muddy ride? What are the consequences of a cleaning that isnt real thorough, and finally what is the best way to clean your rig?

Zed 2.0

Your bike does not need to sparkle. At a minimum try to get all mud off any moving parts, anything else is basically for looks.

Here is a thread that was a few down from yours. It should have some good tips on cleaning...
http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=295336

Someone needs to add a cleaning section onto one of the stickies...if there isn't one already.

How bloody important is it to get your bike clean after a muddy ride? What are the consequences of a cleaning that isnt real thorough, and finally what is the best way to clean your rig?

Zed 2.0

I've got a system that allows me to get my bike (almost) showroom clean in about 15 minutes or less. The key is having a portable bike stand that allows me to easily remove both wheels. Here's my routine:
1. Clean the chain with a chainscrubber using citrus degreaser. (This step not always necessary)
2. Clamp the seatpost in the portable stand, remove the wheels.
3. Scrub the tires with a stiff bristle brush and bucket of soapy water. Rinse the tires with hose. Clean the rear cassette by sliding a taut rag between the cogs.
4. With the wheels off, clean the frame with a rag and diluted bottle of Simple Green cleaner. (It's amazing how much easier it is to clean the frame when the wheels are removed). Finish cleaning frame with Pedro's Bike Lust polish.
5. Reinstall wheels and lube chain.

Your crops shall wither and fail if your bike is not clean.

+ locusts

Clean the drivetrain, the rest is optional

5. Reinstall wheels and lube chain. and derailleurs.

If you have good parts and sealed bearings then hose it down with water. Here's mine after this weekends mud race, I drove thru a nice heavy rain for 45 minutes and it still looked this bad when I got home... DOH

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/487342730_056bd9ac7f_o.jpg

Hose it off (soap if needed) then stand up on rear tire and bounce it a little then dry it.

how would you dry it? with a towel?

how would you dry it? with a towel?
you have to lick it dry

This is really quite simple and I don't know why someone hasn't mentioned it before since this has often been asked.
You must spend a considerable amount of time cleaning your bike after you ride it.
Let me explain. Bikes are very expensive, delicate pieces of machinery that we have spent countless hours researching, constructing and building to our specs and therefore, we need to take take care of our investments.
Translation: After a good ride, it is nice to drink beer in my shop and relax instead of going inside with the family and return to reality.

Would it be bad to take the bike to a do it yourself car wash and clean it there? Would the soap be bad for it? I live in an apartment and have no garage:(

If you have good parts and sealed bearings then hose it down with water. Here's mine after this weekends mud race, I drove thru a nice heavy rain for 45 minutes and it still looked this bad when I got home... DOH

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/487342730_056bd9ac7f_o.jpg


Sniff...

Sniff..


That's beautiful man....


Sniff..





I have a cheapo pressure washer. Works like a charm. It's not super high pressure, so I'm not worried about my chain ring spinning off into the neighbours yard or anything. Gets it clean in minutes, even when it looks like the lovely sweet-ass pic above. I'll use a cloth to dry the chain before re-lubing, but other than that.. it's a touch less wash.

I'd say it depends on the grit you're looking at. I'm riding this crushed gravel path to and from work, that stuff's nasty.. I get that crap out ASAP.

I remove the chain first and soak it in simple green. Then I wash the bike and the car at the same time...hose them both off then dry them. Then when its dry I lube everything and reinstall the chain.