Can Cleaning Your Bike Make it Lighter?
08-04-16, 07:40 AM
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Can Cleaning Your Bike Make it Lighter?
I own one of the best looking road bikes on the planet. Unfortunately, I am lazy when it comes to chores like cleaning my bikes. Other than a quick, superficial wiping, I don't think I have cleaned my gorgeous girl since I got her back in May of 2015.
Last Sunday it was too hot and humid to ride, so I decided to give my bike a thorough going over. Removed every spec of dust and dirt and all the road grime. I even de-gunked the chain and used my CamelBack hose brush to painstakingly clean the inside each chain link.
When I was finished, I picked the bike up to bring it back in the house and it felt noticeably lighter. Was that all in my head, or did I get rid of enough dirt, etc., to make my bike noticeably lighter?
Last Sunday it was too hot and humid to ride, so I decided to give my bike a thorough going over. Removed every spec of dust and dirt and all the road grime. I even de-gunked the chain and used my CamelBack hose brush to painstakingly clean the inside each chain link.
When I was finished, I picked the bike up to bring it back in the house and it felt noticeably lighter. Was that all in my head, or did I get rid of enough dirt, etc., to make my bike noticeably lighter?
08-04-16, 07:46 AM
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I blame Dark Matter. It's estimated to be up to 27% of all matter and energy, so if you washed it off, your bike would be lighter, but less energetic. Perhaps the energy part of the dark matter stuck to you, making you more energetic, so the bike felt even lighter.
Science is interesting.
Science is interesting.
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Bikes so far: 2011 Felt Z85, 80's Raleigh Sovereign (USA), 91 Bianchi Peregrine, 91 Austro-Daimler Pathfinder, 90's Trek 730 Multitrack, STOLEN: 80 Schwinn Voyageur (Japan)
"I had a great ride this morning, except for that part about winding up at work."
Bikes so far: 2011 Felt Z85, 80's Raleigh Sovereign (USA), 91 Bianchi Peregrine, 91 Austro-Daimler Pathfinder, 90's Trek 730 Multitrack, STOLEN: 80 Schwinn Voyageur (Japan)
08-04-16, 07:50 AM
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My guess is that it triggered an association to your impressions from when you first bought it, when the bike was lighter than what you were previously used to.
08-04-16, 07:53 AM
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I hope not ... but we all have different standards of cleanliness ....
08-04-16, 07:56 AM
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Dang! How dirty was your bike?
Last edited by texaspandj; 08-04-16 at 08:00 AM.
08-04-16, 07:57 AM
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08-04-16, 07:58 AM
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Unless you have a very precisely calibrated hand, I doubt it, and I hope you aren't using that Camelback hose cleaning brush for its intended usage anymore...
Then again if it had caked on mud, maybe. I've accumulated and removed a few ounces on my bikes before.
Then again if it had caked on mud, maybe. I've accumulated and removed a few ounces on my bikes before.
08-04-16, 08:35 AM
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Not only is is lighter but faster!
Also, do not use that brush for its original purchase.
Also, do not use that brush for its original purchase.
08-04-16, 08:40 AM
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08-04-16, 08:40 AM
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No, it didn't make it lighter. That's silly.
You reduced the air friction so it moves more lithely through space and time.
You reduced the air friction so it moves more lithely through space and time.
08-04-16, 08:44 AM
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I fixed a flat bed Ford truck that was vibrating to death. Used a water hose to spray off a huge hunk of clay dirt stuck on the back wheel.
08-04-16, 08:52 AM
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You were using your muscles more and more as you cleaned your bike. So when you picked up your bike it was relative to that, as opposed to when you first picked up your bike.
It was your muscles thanking you.
On further thought we may have the same malady, being lazy.
:0)
Last edited by ArmChairRider; 08-04-16 at 09:02 AM.
08-04-16, 09:00 AM
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I blame Dark Matter. It's estimated to be up to 27% of all matter and energy, so if you washed it off, your bike would be lighter, but less energetic. Perhaps the energy part of the dark matter stuck to you, making you more energetic, so the bike felt even lighter.
Science is interesting.
Science is interesting.
#blackmattermatters
08-04-16, 09:05 AM
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Darn thing is so soft that it never worked that well for cleaning stubborn mold out of the hose.
I routinely use the bladder brush to clean my cat box. Do you think it's still o.k. to clean the bladder with it.
08-04-16, 09:30 AM
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Of course it made the bike lighter and faster. Unless in a zero G situation, everything weighs something. Keep in mind that 100lbs of feathers DOES indeed weigh the same as 100lbs of dirt, and if you cleaned off 100lbs of dirt the bike became as light as a feather.
I am quite certain that every time I washed and waxed my 1968 GT350 Shelby it drove better.
I am quite certain that every time I washed and waxed my 1968 GT350 Shelby it drove better.
08-04-16, 09:38 AM
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08-04-16, 10:02 AM
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Good job on cleaning your bike. While I am sure that it isn't measurably lighter, whenever I clean my bike, I also check it over carefully and that gives me confidence. Enough extra confidence to push harder and ride faster.
So far, I found a few things that needed lube or adjustment with the cleanings, and that not only let my bike look better and perform better but most importantly, inspire the confidence to ride it like I stole it!
So far, I found a few things that needed lube or adjustment with the cleanings, and that not only let my bike look better and perform better but most importantly, inspire the confidence to ride it like I stole it!
08-04-16, 10:49 AM
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I only have access to one photo at the moment and it doesn't really do it justice. Still, if I posted it you would spend hours drooling over it and waste much of your day. I don't want that on my conscience. Believe me, I get plenty of praise and stares. During my morning ride today some passenger in a car craned his neck to get a long look as I was riding along a rec path in the opposite direction.
08-04-16, 10:53 AM
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But doing so does make you look sexier. There is little that is more offensive in cycling than hairy tree trunks sticking out of the ends of a pair of spandex shorts. indeed, I saw Sasquatch's cousin during my morning ride today. I'd put it right up there with sleeveless jerseys.
08-04-16, 10:58 AM
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I own one of the best looking road bikes on the planet. Unfortunately, I am lazy when it comes to chores like cleaning my bikes. Other than a quick, superficial wiping, I don't think I have cleaned my gorgeous girl since I got her back in May of 2015.
Last Sunday it was too hot and humid to ride, so I decided to give my bike a thorough going over. Removed every spec of dust and dirt and all the road grime. I even de-gunked the chain and used my CamelBack hose brush to painstakingly clean the inside each chain link.
When I was finished, I picked the bike up to bring it back in the house and it felt noticeably lighter. Was that all in my head, or did I get rid of enough dirt, etc., to make my bike noticeably lighter?
Last Sunday it was too hot and humid to ride, so I decided to give my bike a thorough going over. Removed every spec of dust and dirt and all the road grime. I even de-gunked the chain and used my CamelBack hose brush to painstakingly clean the inside each chain link.
When I was finished, I picked the bike up to bring it back in the house and it felt noticeably lighter. Was that all in my head, or did I get rid of enough dirt, etc., to make my bike noticeably lighter?
In other news, professional wrestling is real.
08-04-16, 11:00 AM
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You must have picked up some neutron star material while riding.
08-04-16, 11:06 AM
#24
Banned
In Cyclocross racing on a really Muddy course, your Mechanic-Helper will hand you a Clean Bike
every time you pass the pits, once a Lap , if necessary, then hose down the Dirty Bike
and swap it again the Next Lap.
every time you pass the pits, once a Lap , if necessary, then hose down the Dirty Bike
and swap it again the Next Lap.
08-04-16, 11:37 AM
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I only have access to one photo at the moment and it doesn't really do it justice. Still, if I posted it you would spend hours drooling over it and waste much of your day. I don't want that on my conscience. Believe me, I get plenty of praise and stares. During my morning ride today some passenger in a car craned his neck to get a long look as I was riding along a rec path in the opposite direction.
