When I was mountain biking- the wash down of the bike and myself was the recovery part of the ride.Even if the bike did not look bad- the drivetrain had to be cleaned after every trip. Now on the road bikes and the bike never looks bad except around the chainstays. Too much lube on the chain and it does splatter a bit and this is made worse by having a white bike. I might do 200 miles before the Chain get cleaned and then it is clean time.

But one "Wet" ride and that bike will pick up road dirt and look filthy. It has to be cleaned.

There is one group of riders that surprise me though and that is commuters. Come the winter weather and all the muck- salt and rain on the roads and those bikes look filthy. The drive chain is so clogged with dirt- I am surprised that it will still work. But when will they have the time to clean and lube a bike once it gets dirty? They do it at the weekend and they jhave a terrific job. We have a commuter at work that does 100 miles a week. Friday pm and his bike is stripped and steam cleaned. Chain and cassete and sometimes deraillers go into the chemical bath to get the crud off them. That trip home on friday night is on an immaculate bike that looks as though it has just come out of the showroom.

It just surprises me that these commuter bikes never fail on the riders. I know they are maintained to a higher standard than their cars- but I rarely see a commuter at the side of the road with even so much as a puncture.