Ok, guys, but don't drink it, OK?

Basic cheapo cleanup, gets you a long way towards what the bike should look like.
1-Wash it down with soap and water, to see what's rust and what's dust.
2-Walmart Rust Remover, $4.34/bottle and an old toothbrush. Do not use your brother's.
3-Brush on the rust remover on chrome, paint, avoid non-polished alloys. I use it on calipers, no prob.
4-Brush it on real well, take your time, try not to let it dry. Rinse it off.
5-Now, wash the bike again, quick job with soapy water. See what's left.
6-Same toothbrush, rinsed out. Spray WD-40 right on the crankset, calipers, FD/RD, the shiny parts. Scrub it with the toothbrush. This cleans and also loosens up remaining rust.
7-Quick wash and rinse again. (1 bucket of soapy water does the entire op for me)
8-Tougher rust on bolts, etc? Walmart remover, 00000 steel wool, use Q-tips to get inside allen head bolts. Soapy wash/rinse again. No need to dry it.
9-Detour if a chain is involved. Rust remover on the links, or Degrease it. Better off off the bike.
10-The tires. I like Clorox cleanup, since I use it on the hoods, too, and bar wrap. Same tootbhrush. I've also had great luck with Bleche-White, available at Auto Zone, etc.
11-Now, you've scrubbed the bike with soap, water, rust remover, other stuff, and it should be clean.
11.5 Individual rust left now takes polish (your pick) time and elbow grease, but that's not cleanup.
12-Final wash with soap and water. You're not done, yet.
13-Get a rag, get it saturated wtih WD-40. Wipe the bike down, and pay attention closely. You will see stuff that didn't come off before, especially on the frame. often what you thought were defects, etc, come off.
14-Final rinse with water, an wipe down. The remaining WD-40 will evaporate.

Takes about $7-$8 worth of stuff, does 3-4 bikes, some Q-tips for the cable guides, brake nooks, etc. The bike will be pretty clean. Generally takes me about an hour, if I don't stop moving, step to step. Pretty good results without disassembly and individual cleaning. A little lube on the FD/RD, should be good. One bonus: Hands get pretty clean, too. If you get rust remover on a soft alloy part, like a clamp for an old Shimano FD, it will turn it black. It's not ruined, will polish right off, but it's easier to be careful. I've found older alloy components much easier to clean by hand.

And I'll update with an example of my Triumph, cleaned only using the steps above. That's all I've done with it, because I have no idea why I bought it. It was just a good deal, and it was a bike....No polish was used, simply the recipe above, with about 30 minutes of 0000 steel wool before the last wash. Is the bike worth tearing down and polishing each part? I don't know. It's pretty, but it's a ton.

Edit: Here's some pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/3000856...7613080433973/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3308/...fb3c62.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/...7407c6.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3394/...8836cc.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3089/...ab21cb.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/...46d882.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3394/...409e27.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3436/...8a6894.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3426/...c4b45b.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3383/...be084d.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3445/...cf586d.jpg?v=0

Great tips. I'm going to try this on my $20 Fuji Royale, just as soon as I get motivated and get off my lazy butt.

Mutt

Thank you, I appreciate it. :beer: