Originally Posted by
nachomc
Funny thing is, I do what you do. I took the chain off and dropped it in a bowl of simple green. Pulled the wheel and cleaned the cassette, put the wheel back on and sprayed the bike with the hose . Then I took a towel, wiped down the frame to get the spots the hose didn't, then with the damp towel I wiped the cranks, the the chainrings and the tires.
You don't do what I do. You do the somewhat more OCD version of what I do.
Originally Posted by
nachomc
Maybe you should spend some more time riding; You seem tense and easily offended about the condition of someone else's bike.
I'm not offended, perhaps you are. I'm simply pointing out that some lengths people go to about the looks of their bikes is overkill. Checking for safety issues isn't overkill. Keeping grit and grime out of places where they could do some damage isn't overkill. I forgot if it was here or mtbr, but someone acutually pulled out their brake pads and cleaned them, only to wonder why they weren't working later. THAT kind of thing is overkill. Cleaning tires is overkill. I would even go so far as to say scrubbing your cassette and soaking the chain in simple green is overkill (running it through a rag or a park chain cleaner gets the dirt away from where it matters).
Dirt is a fact of life in the sport of mountain biking. All I'm saying is that the excessive time and effort people spend trying getting all the dirt off their bikes is largely an excercise in futility if their goal is to expand the life of their components.