WolfRyder

As you can see why, one might be a little nervous about taking shipment this bike. (I think it is a 84 Olympics, Team 7-11, "Murray" Serotta) I guess the owner thought he was doing me a favor by having the bike cleaned at the LBS.


The Seller wasn't communicating very well, then all of a sudden he says ok the bike's being packed and I'm having them clean it up --on me. I then called up the bike shop asked them how they were going to clean the bike? and as soon as they said Simple Green I said stop the presses. I know I would of used Dawn dish soap. So I am thinking they used Simple Green and a rag. I know there is a bike SG formula, don't know if they were useing that. I am mostly concerned about the frame and decals, but I haven't heard great things about SG on aluminum bike parts either.

The bike shop guy pretty much poo-pooed me and said it will be fine.("Saying we clean all our bikes like that") Am I being paranoid here or should I be concerned about the LBS degreasing and cleaning a CV bike like this in this manner.?

Shinkers

Pretty sure simple green is widely used in bike shops and within the industry. Whether the bike being c/v makes a difference or not, I'm not qualified to say.

Kactus

Hope for the best. I think it will be OK; if not, don't hesitate to use eBay's resolution process.

3alarmer 

...I've cleaned all sorts of bike frames and parts with Simple Green and also the purple stuff they sell as a parts cleaner that is a different formulation with zero issues ever. You do need to wipe or rinse it off, but you do that with any cleaner.

gaucho777 

I wouldn't be worried about the Simple Green. I've used SG for many years without any issues. I've heard complaints of it causing issues with some anodized alloy parts after long exposure but I always wipe it away quickly. (I also vaguely recall some forum member saying SG in a heated ultrasonic cleaner did something weird with his anodized parts.) I've never had any issues with SG causing problems with frame paint or decals. That said, I wouldn't want some unknown shop doing any extra work on that bike, who knows what may happen or how they put it in the shop stand, or who knows...I would just politely explain that I prefer to do all the work myself, that I'm eager to start restoring it myself, and to please just pack the bike with all its dirt and grease as carefully as possible.

That's a cool score. You did well!

WolfRyder

Ok man buying a bike from a distance can be a little nerve racking,(Iv'e been trying to go a little more local lately) but how often is something like this going to come up? I guess well see when I take shipment about actual overall condition. I asked him to inspect for dents too.

Really looking forward to doing this one right.(I might need a little help with it) I will report back and start a thread on this bike.

-Ross

oddjob2

As long as no aluminum bits are soaking in the stuff, you should be fine.

Answers are right here.
https://simplegreen.com/faqs/

jetboy 

very basic first step to cleaning aluminum, steal, paint, leather.. or anything else on a bike (or motorcycle which is where this comes from probably) is to spray everything down with WD-40 (which displaces water and loosened grime, rust, grease etc) and then spray with simple green in full to half concentrate. then hose off within 10 minutes or so.

this process alone will clean 90% of the grime off a bike with little effort.

wipe dry and then use lemon pledge. the 20 minute bike bath and shine is complete.

Fairview

I found from the vintage airplane world that Scrubbing Bubbles, the bathroom cleaner, is excellent for cleaning up grimy bikes. The key is that it doesn't attack delicate aluminum surfaces.

I've used Simple Green as well and for me it never has damaged anything, but I find Scrubbing Bubbles more effective and easier to use.

jj1091

I had some really nice Columbus decals that disintegrated after getting WD-40 on them, so I wouldn't recommend "spraying" bikes down with it.

Dave Cutter

I have used (and continue to use) Simple Green. I did damage a decal once on a mid 70's bike (that was of little value). There is no "one" product and/or method to clean everything. There is nothing wrong (or special) about SG or Dawn or WD40. All cleaners need to be used with a little care.

qcpmsame 

What @Dave Cutter said above about using care, going to extremes will bite you in the ass every time.

I stay away from soaking down with Simple Green, in 2002 I got a warning from a friend that had a vintage aircraft, he got a bad awakening when he began to have pitting in aluminum spars for the wings. He had used Simple Green in large amounts to keep things clean and didn't rinse it thoroughly, allowing it to seep in at mating surfaces and then sit. An FAA inspector handed him an A-D about using SG for cleaning and rinse procedures. At the same time I was told by the Trawing 5 maintenance staff that Navy aviation maintenance had issued a maintenance bulletin about the use of SG, they told the aircraft maintainers to stop its use and get it away from the maintenance areas. The Wing's Command Master Chief told me about the pitting of aluminum air-frame parts they had experienced.

Since I had tried it on our motocross bikes, I went into the side covers of the motors and found where it had begun to pit them. The gaskets soaked the SG in, so no more use of that stuff for me. If others wish to use it and had good experiences with it that is fine. I don't proselytize about cleaning habits, but but I don't want to get burned a second time when I was warned.

Bill

rootboy 

See the above.
From the MSDS sheet:
The Butyl Cellosolve in Simple Green® is part of a chemical category (glycol ethers)

Lazyass

The only thing negative about SG is that it will remove wax on the paint (as will dish soap). I use it to clean the drivetrain. I use car soap for the rest of the bike, the cheap Blue Coral stuff at Walmart.

I remember a thread a long time ago about waxing your bike. I was surprised there were so many people that don't do it. If nothing else it helps protect the paint.

Michael Angelo 

How else are they going to sell bearings

oddjob2

Last time I checked, bearings are generally steel, not aluminum.

T-Mar

These days, ceramic bearings are the hot ticket.

Dave Cutter

It is that first.... clean and rebuild that is the most critical and worrisome.

I like a really clean bike. Getting that like-new spotless shiny clean.... takes more then a good cleaner. It takes disassembly, elbow grease, and patience. I'd rather wash something twice (or more) to get it spotless... than scratch it up with a too stiff scrubbie.... or damage the paint with a harsh chemical overspray.

But I don't mind chemicals where they're needed and appropriate. And I do like hot soapy water. I rarely ever wipe anything on a bike. Although I will blot off water droplets to prevent water spots.

Once the bike is clean..... it is much simpler and easier to keep it clean.

9volt 

WD40 on leather?

xiaoman1 

WR no need to worry now...it is done, when you get the bike assuming no damage to paint/decals I would give it a good rinse and light wax and not look back...once its done it's done.
Regards, Ben

repechage

Having work done of the type described via an agent is problematic at best.
Simple Green in my view requires that it be completely rinsed off, to me this means lots of hot running water.
There can be problems otherwise as described above, and I have seen fractured chain side plates too with too long exposure at too high a concentration.
So, success is operator dependent.
I don't like the stuff due to the tedious rinsing required, the one time a hand was exposed to it via a leaky glove I said "never again".

oddjob2

Obviously Simple Green is an oxymoron.

When I bring an old bike home with hints of deferred maintenance, I spritz all the bolts, nuts that have to be removed with a rust penetrant. Then I stow away the bike until I am ready to work on it.

If the bike frame or driveline components have grease I spritz them with Home Depot HDX degreaser. It's not better or than anything else, but it is cheap and appears to work well enough. If it is caked on grease from chain lube, a spritz of WD40 goes on before hand and is allowed to soak in. The parts go into a Harbor Freight Ultrasonic washer, the frame is often just wiped with a damp paper towel or scrubbed with Dawn and a dish brush.

After final reassembly, the frame is cleaned again and I spritz with spray Turtle Wax.

clubman 

BMW 'Airhead' owners have long used Simple green on their aluminum cased horizontal twins. Then you move in with the buffers and polish and then a little wax to keep the water off, for a few kms anyway. I've never seen any pitting apart from the regular corrosion alloy gets from water, sun, wind, water, etc. Cooling fins are the hardest part in the world to clean in my experience. I've no patience for it.

Wileyone 

Love your Bings.

jetboy 

Sure its basically various oils with some water displacement chems.

Proofhide is just oils with wax...

Not much different really.