General Cycling Discussion - Dirty or Shiny

Do you like your bike to look dirty or clean and shiny?

I raise this question as I rode in today on my Audax/Fast tourer, my commuting and touring steed, and as it was a damp morning, another layer of grime has attached to any bit not protected by my mudguards.

I'm not one for cleaning the bike a lot, other than for maintenance of the usual things and I think it's not laziness, but rather that I always picture touring bikes as covered in a layer of grime.

I think it suggests that they've been places and can go anywhere.

At present, my rims are virtually black with dirt, the guards and mudflaps streaked with mud brake calipers covered in brake dust , and my lights clear (having been cleaned every morning and evening).

And here's the thing, I think it looks great. Every streak of mud or coat of dirt reminds me of time spent on the bike. :D

However, my Flying Scot is always immaculate. (partly because I won't ride it in the rain)


What do you think? Racing frames immaculate, Tourers/ MTB's grubby?

Chewa,I tend to like to keep my bikes shiny and clean,I know that they have done the miles,so it dose'nt bother me if other riders think "oh he must never take it out" !! . Part of my job when servicing bikes is to give them a good wash if needed before I start the service work,this way I can detect problems such as cracks in the frame,cracks around the eyelets in the rims,and generally a better inspection can be done on a clean bike. I don't clean my own bikes religiously,but you will find them more often clean than dirty!. They cost me a lot of money and I take pride in having them look their best. -cheers.:)

I guess I fall somewhere in between. I PREFER my bikes clean and shiny, and try to keep them looking pretty good. But, alas, poor Yorick, the faithful commuter tends to accumulate a certain amount of grime. I try to do chain cleanings every other week. At that time I do at least a quick wash. Every other chain cleaning I try to do a little more thorough cleaning of everything. But it never seems to fail. Within a day or two after a washing I wind up riding in rain or the wet streets after a rain, and there goes the clean and shiny concept for a couple of weeks. Dolce, the old Bianchi, stays pretty clean and shiny because, like Chewa's Flying Scot, she doesn't play in the rain.
Regards,
Raymond

Hi Chewa,

I tend to like my bikes clean and shiny. Katie is pretty grimey as it's pretty wet in the SE at the moment, and I never seem to have the time to clean her.

**mental note...must clean bikes**

Rich :)

I also kinda fall in between. I ride my road bike before work each morning and do not have time to clean her everyday, but once a week she gets a good washing. Bike in stand, remove wheels (to be cleaned seperately), two buckets of water w/soap, wash down, degrease chain, rinse, dry overnight and lube chain the next day (this eliminates trapping moisture between links)

I rinse the mountain bikes in this same manner after every ride unless I get home too late, then the within the next 2-3 days after. If the trails are dry and the bikes didn't get too dirty, then I just lube the chain.

I like to keep them shiny. Because I love the look, but also because I know from a former life in cars that it seems to help prevent problems, and certainly makes it easier to see them developing.

I saw a piece somewhere recently (Bicycling?) where the writer says "frame dirty, mechanicals clean", but it seems a tiny step from mechanicals to everything.


And don't forget, I have a yellow bike. :)

Cheers...Gary

Is that yellow bike part of the "yellow bike program"? j/k gmason. My road bike is yellow as well. O.k. yellow and blue.

BTW, the YBP is organized in several U.S. cities where old junker bikes are painted all yellow, (including tires in some cases) and left in various areas throughout. If you need to use a bike, you just go to one of them, pick it up, use it and put it back. Has worked well in some areas, not so well in others (all bikes were stolen).

Yellow bike program? Hmmm ... I remember "don't eat yellow bikes", but no YPB. ;)

But here it is - it got lost in the recent forum transfer.

Cheers...Gary

I ride a 6 speed cruiser...both to work, and leisurely on railtrails. Its got more chrome than the car...so I keep it immaculately clean, so the chrome dont rust and pit, and so all the mechanicals work properly.

"If the chrome dont shine...it aint mine." Pix :o

My bikes do not look terrible, but they are far from immaculate, since I simply do not have time to clean them frequently. I tolerate more dirt on the mountain bike than on the road bikes, perhaps to make the somewhat silly statement that "this one actually does get ridden offroad." By the way, my idea of cleaning a bike is simply to rub the frame, forks, rims, and spokes with a slightly-damp mechanic's rag.

Clean and shiny! :D Of course, it is sometimes hard to keep them looking that way...but I try.

Dirt and grime may be a badge of courage for the rider, but they are a problem for the machine.

Dirt and grime on any moving part act as an abrasive which will wear your parts.

Even on non-moving parts, dirt and grim hold moisture which eventually cause corrosion.

Keep your bike clean. You can stay dirty if you want. When you are cleaning your bike, you will probably find maintanance needs that would otherwise be overlooked.

I do like Mike's point about discovering problems during a cleaning session. I discovered a cracked chainstay on my Peugeot UO-8 commuter only because I had removed the rear wheel and was cleaning up the bottom bracket area in preparation for mudguard installation. The mudguards went on the Capo, and the Peugeot frame went to a scrap metal recycler.

Originally posted by John E
I do like Mike's point about discovering problems during a cleaning session. I discovered a cracked chainstay on my Peugeot UO-8 commuter only because I had removed the rear wheel and was cleaning up the bottom bracket area in preparation for mudguard installation. The mudguards went on the Capo, and the Peugeot frame went to a scrap metal recycler.

Ouch - bye bye Peugeot. I cried real tears when I read your story, John. What a loss.

Originally posted by mike
Dirt and grime may be a badge of courage for the rider, but they are a problem for the machine.

Dirt and grime on any moving part act as an abrasive which will wear your parts.

Even on non-moving parts, dirt and grim hold moisture which eventually cause corrosion.

Keep your bike clean. You can stay dirty if you want. When you are cleaning your bike, you will probably find maintanance needs that would otherwise be overlooked.

I take your point Mike, but I do keep all the moving bits well cleaned. However, the cracked frame is one that dirt will hide.

Does anyone do a custom paint job to look like a dirty bike :)

I sometimes cycle through some rough neighborhoods, so I don't like the idea of keeping my bike looking shiny and expensive. My bike is so covered in stickers that you can't see the brand name anywhere on the bike at all. Year round, I keep the moving parts cleaned, and in the winter, I work at keeping the salt, etc. off of the bike. But I deliberately keep it grungy looking. I have no illusion that the grunginess makes my bike theft-proof (since even Huffys and old 3-speeds get stolen), but I don't exactly make my bike an attractive target for a thief either. (If the thief who steals my bike wants to make my bike look shiny and new for a quick-sale, he will really have to work at it. He'll spend far more time getting the stickers, etc. off the bike than the time spent breaking through the lock.

Ideally, clean and shiny. I want everyone to see how beautiful bicycles really are.

In practice, though... I clean the drivetrain religiously and wipe down the frame etc., when it gets spattered in wet weather.

Thsi si all for the roadie, though... couldn't care less how dirty my MTB gets. :-)

Originally posted by chewa


I take your point Mike, but I do keep all the moving bits well cleaned. However, the cracked frame is one that dirt will hide.

Does anyone do a custom paint job to look like a dirty bike :)

It is funny you ask...

Menards Hardware chain does sell a can of speckled paint that is suppose to look like stone. The brown paint mix, however, does look like dirt.

Treat yourself to a fresh coat of dirty paint for the holidays!

I recently rode my brother-in-law's Schwinn around some country roads. It had that "dust layer," especially around the
lubricated parts. Even some cobwebs.

This discussion of "clean vs. dirty" is interesting, indeed.

;)

The theft issue is real. Thirty years ago, as a UCLA undergrad, I commuted on old bikes (10-speeds or 12-speed derailleur/hub hybrids) with deliberately splotchy, horrid-looking paint jobs, mismatched fork colours, etc. I carried a 4-pound case-hardened chain and always tried to park next to a new-looking bike secured with a curly cable. My favorite "stealth bike" was my first Capo; thieves apparently could not see past the abominable paint job to the elaborate lugwork. "Beauty is only paint-deep."

Maybe that means that true afficionados of bicycles - who know quality when they see it - are not the ones who steal them. That is a nice thought. :)

Cheers...Gary

While my bike is at home, sparkling. But after a ride, I want it to be all dirty. But when I get home I clean everything up. One of my favorite things to clean are the rear derialleur pulleys. All that dirt mixed with grease, oozing off....YEAH!!! I love working on my bike, I love the dirty hands that smell like grease and mud when I am done, I like to see rags laying around......And lately, whatever I do on my bike, I take notes in my "fubar5 bike manual". So someday I might be able to diagnose my bike. And also when I have to put stuff back together it helps to have notes on how it came apart. Cheers!!

shiny
I clean my bike at the end of the week. wipe it down after
every ride. doing the ride I check glass in my tires.
I ride my bike far from home i dont want it to break down
because of dirt. the new stuff the make bikes out of these days dont like dirt.


K

I have seen some pretty terrible things done to bikes in the name of keeping them clean. Some people will use a power hose at a car wash to clean off their bikes, this is a really bad idea as the sealed bearings were not designed to withstand the pressure from this type of abuse. The soapy water is forced into the moving parts and corrodes them, forcing them into early retirement.

I don't obsess about the cleanlinees of my bikes, I do obsess about the workings of them. The chain must be clean as does the rest of the drive train. I don't like the grime to buildup on my rims as this interferes with the brakes and wears out the pads.

I do like to keep my racing bikes somewhat cleaner than my commuters, I don't think it's practical to try and clean some of them too much as they will just get dirty again. I will apply some non-abrasive car wax to the frames and this not only helps to keep them cleaner, I also think it protects the working parts as the water tends to bead up and run off before it will accumulate.

It's also not a bad idea to wipe down a bike if/when it gets ridden in the rain, it takes only a few minutes and it won't allow dirt to build up to critical mass.

I rather have my bike dirty but have all the moving parts moving. (drive train and shocks.)

I keep 'em clean...the road bike gets frequent wash and wax jobs, and even the mountain bike gets washed after each use. (Okay, I don't wax the mtn bike, but it is clean!) I rode motorcycles for years, and I learned that the best way to identify little problems before they get to be big problems is to find them early. And besides, I am kinda proud of my rides, and I like them to reflect that. I must also admit that I get to park my bikes inside all the time, so security is not an issue for me.

Originally posted by Runge
I rather have my bike dirty but have all the moving parts moving. (drive train and shocks.)


MOUNTAIN BIKER!!!!:beer: I love getting new Mountain Bikers to this forum!

OK! I gave ina and washed the bike at the weekend. I did it but I didn't dig it.

So it's all nice and sparkly again, and I realised I've got self adhesive reflective patches on the rims. I haven't seen them since months ago :)

I Like my bike sparkling clean when I frist step out of my house, but its gonna be dirty after riding it the whole day soI will spend some more time cleaning my bike after every ride

I clean it on a Sunday afternoon and it's filthy by the time I get to work on a Monday morning, a state it remains in until Sunday...

Richard