Road Cycling - How do I keep my bike clean?

Heya,

I only recently joined this forum and have found it to be aok so far. I have a couple of questions regarding my commuting road bike that ya'll can probably answer...

What's the best way to keep it clean? I am told that sand and dirt can really damage a good bike.

How do I deal with rain showers and prevent it from getting and rusty and creaky? I wipe it off when I come in from the rain but other than that I haven't any idea of what procedure I should follow

Hope ya'l can address mine questions here

-ilia

The big thing is to keep the drivetrain clean and lubricated. After every ride I use a rag and run the chain through a few turns and then lubricate it. (I am not a commuter, so I don't ride every single day)
I use a Park chain cleaner every three or four weeks to get it perfectly clean.

I wash the rest of the bike by hand like a car. Be careful not to spray water into the hubs and BB. Just rinse it off softly.

Also make sure your cable are very clean.

What is a BB?

BB = Bottom Bracket.

BB = Bottom Bracket.

The things the cranks are attached to. Sheldon Brown describes it here (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_bo-z.html#bottom).

Bad idea to hose into it, as it may force water inside. Not nice on the bearings...

Get some fenders, soap and water (Blue Dawn dish soap) and Prolink (follow the directions on the bottle).

I posted this earlier in the year

1) spray on degreaser for chain, cassette and crank
2) hose off degreaser and wet the rest of the bike
3) soak with car detergent and big sponge
4) dry with chamois including spokes
5) re-lube chain and cassette

CHEERS.

Mark

First clean it thoroughly, then place it in a large plastic bag and seal it closed after spraying with a mist of triflow. :D

thanx ya'll

all this lube is gets expensive

heh, Bart: People don't wanna see animals, they wanna see celebertie at their
worst. Is that Reiner Wolfcastle? Check out the gut-Reiner
Wolfcastle! You really let yourself go!
Wolfcastle: Its for a mooovie. I'm playing a fat secret agent.

I commute daily & I find the problem is not so much the water but all the road grit. Usually I gently hose off my bike each night before putting it away in my heated garage. Try to keep water away from the bottom bracket & hubs. I clean & lube the chain & sprocket every two or three weeks but probably should clean & lube more often. I try to give the whole bike a thorough wash, rinse & wipe down every 6 weeks. & my Winter Rain Bikes get an annual teardown, clean & lube. Don

I use a product called "Bikewash". It's in a spray bottle, and is similar to a product my brother uses on his Harley. Basically, you spray it on and rinse it off and it foams up and gets the dirt off without any muss or fuss. I think a big bottle of this is like six bucks and well worth it.

Clean the bike, then wax the frame. Fit fenders.
Most commuters are using bikes that can take a little neglect. I dont have the time or inclination to clean my commuter bike after every bit of rain, but it has lasted 7 years without any sign of rust, and it was old when I bought it.

Good coat of car wax will keep some crap from sticking and make washing easier.I use dawn to wash with.Wash once a month unless i've been on wet roads,then that week will be a wash week.A good wash,clean cassette and chain,less then an hour.

I may be wrong (and I am sure I will hear if I am), but I don't use water!! instead I use a dilute solution of degreaser - Finish Line Eco2 - (yes it has water in it). I spray it on a rag and wipe down the bike frame and wheels (hubs, rims and spokes too) with it. I then go over it with a clean dry diaper (the softest thing I have found yet). I then give the frame and fork a light wipe down with Bike Lust. I degrease and relube the drive train by dripping White Lightning Race Day onthe the chain and shifting through all the gears (front and back). I do this about once a week or two depending on weather condtions and the amount of rideng the bike has seen. This process includes lubing hubs, quick releases, derailliers with Triflow. About every month or so I lube all the cables as well with Triflow.

Oh, and I DO wax the bike periodically to refresh the finish (Mother's 100% Carnuba wax). For the real fanatics out there there is another product to look into. It is called LiquiTech (www.liquitech.com). It is not a wax and it really puts a finish on things!! I use it on my cars all the time. The drawback is that you have to put it on and let it sit overnight in a garage so it sets up. Then all you do is wipe it off. The firt time you use it you will have to put two coats on to get the finish up.

In good weather my bike meets the road daily!!!

I use a method similar to others I have seen above.

Generally, I spray the bike off with water. This gets rid of the most accessible dirt.

Then I clean the chain with degreaser followed by water.

I wet a rag with degreaser and wipe off the cranks, the rims (wheels), brakes, and the dirty spots on the frame. I then spray off the degreaser with water.

I lube the chain with Pro Link

And I put spot amounts of lube on deraillers and other parts as needed.

I may be wrong (and I am sure I will hear if I am), but I don't use water!! instead I use a dilute solution of degreaser - Finish Line Eco2 - (yes it has water in it). I spray it on a rag and wipe down the bike frame and wheels (hubs, rims and spokes too) with it. I then go over it with a clean dry diaper (the softest thing I have found yet). I then give the frame and fork a light wipe down with Bike Lust. I degrease and relube the drive train by dripping White Lightning Race Day onthe the chain and shifting through all the gears (front and back). I do this about once a week or two depending on weather condtions and the amount of rideng the bike has seen. This process includes lubing hubs, quick releases, derailliers with Triflow. About every month or so I lube all the cables as well with Triflow.

Oh, and I DO wax the bike periodically to refresh the finish (Mother's 100% Carnuba wax). For the real fanatics out there there is another product to look into. It is called LiquiTech (www.liquitech.com). It is not a wax and it really puts a finish on things!! I use it on my cars all the time. The drawback is that you have to put it on and let it sit overnight in a garage so it sets up. Then all you do is wipe it off. The firt time you use it you will have to put two coats on to get the finish up.

In good weather my bike meets the road daily!!!
Would you do that to your car paint?

Actually YES!

I am talking a dilute mixture and a gentile Biodegradable degreaser at that. I have seen no detremental effect yet. I use the same mix to get bugs and tar off my car (a classic RX7 in mint condition!!). I figure the less water the better on a steel bike!! Also, this avoids the water in the BB issue compleatly (for that area I use a soft brush/rag with a bit of the offending mix on it (we are talking a very little degreaser here).

Actually YES!

I am talking a dilute mixture and a gentile Biodegradable degreaser at that. I have seen no detremental effect yet. I use the same mix to get bugs and tar off my car (a classic RX7 in mint condition!!). I figure the less water the better on a steel bike!! Also, this avoids the water in the BB issue compleatly (for that area I use a soft brush/rag with a bit of the offending mix on it (we are talking a very little degreaser here).
Guess i'm nicer to my car then to touch it with that.

Get some fenders, soap and water (Blue Dawn dish soap) and Prolink (follow the directions on the bottle).


You should NEVER use dish soap on anything painted. Dish soap is made to cut grease (petrolium based). Piant is petrolium based. It can actually, over time, make your paint go powdery. Many a good automotive paint job has been ruined with it.

For my commute bike all I do is put it in the garage and ride it the next day. If it rained I'll wipe down the chain with a rag and oil it to keep it from rusting (maybe). Once or twice a year I tear it down to clean and lube everything.

-s

You should NEVER use dish soap on anything painted. Dish soap is made to cut grease (petrolium based). Piant is petrolium based. It can actually, over time, make your paint go powdery. Many a good automotive paint job has been ruined with it.
Wont hurt your bike.

Most, if not all, soaps cut grease to a certain extent. So does degreaser. I don't think either will harm a bike's paint job.

When I was in grad school in a cold climate I had an old bike, probably worth about $20 max. I never washed it and used it for 3 years. The worst part was fixing a flat.....my hands would get so nasty from built up dirt. But I also left it parked out in the open so some dirt got washed off when it rained!! I'd never do that with any other bike....but this bike was almost disposable. And so ugly it couldn't even get stolen!

Grad school eh

Titanium... Gotta love it. No worry about paint and just take a green brilo pad to get out scratches and scuffs.

:)

Also I typically do a "dry-clean" also. Simply spray diluted degreaser on some rags and wipe down the frame, spokes and cranks.

Typically white lighting keeps chain clean.

Once every couple of months I pull the cassette off of the rear wheel and scrub it with a brush. I don't like spraying degreaser on the cassette when it is still on the freewheel as I've seen damage caused by degreaser leaking into the hub bearings. Besides I can clean the area of the wheel behind the cassette when I remove the cassette.

glass cleaner will cut the film left behind by the degreaser.

I do wash the bike if it gets really cruddy or sandy... Wastes too many cleaning rags (though I do wash the rags) to get the sand off of the frame. But usually I just use the hose and a sponge to knock off the sand and dirt. Then it is back to dry-clean.

Is all of this degreaser stuff eco friendly? Could one use castille soap or something of the like instead? I like to be careful about my I put into the water supply.

I had my bike laminated. It works great. Just wipe it clean and its good to go.

Simple Green is supposed to be eco friendly (it works really well). There are also several citrus based cleaners that are too.