whatever you do, don't use a powerwasher! it shoves water and dirt into your bearings and ruins the slick coating in your cables, not to mention getting water inside your frame. it sounds dumb, but plenty of diluted simple green and paper towels is all you need to get crap off your frame. it takes a long time to completely rebuild all the bearings on your rig - BB, headset, hubs, pedals. and if you are doing it for the first time it will take twice as long and cost you a chunk of $$$ for tools, new bearings, replacement cups/cones, etc.