What has been the biggest cleaning mistakes you have made with your bike?
10-09-18, 02:40 AM
#128
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I've heard that a couple of times after reading articles. But how would i know if something needs to be repaired or changed?
Complete begginner - obviously
Complete begginner - obviously
10-09-18, 02:50 AM
#132
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To address the OP...
Avoid using products that contain ammonia on unprotected aluminum -- it can cause a bleaching sort of look on the metal surface. The same goes for using some automotive wheel cleaning products.
Avoid getting waxy or greasy substances (think wax or Armorall) on brake tracks or rotors. It won't bring about The Apocalypse, but it will make braking interesting for the short term while it wears off. If you get enough of the slick stuff where you don't want it, you might have to do a little work to get things right.
High pressure water use won't end the world, but it'll probably get you just as greasy, dirty and wet as the bike with all the water blasting going on. Using very high pressure on a poorly painted bike can cause the paint to come right off. Most bikes are painted well enough and most pressure washers don't generate high enough pressure to cause problems, but just know it can happen.
Using a "hands on" approach to cleaning your bike is a good practice. The act of wiping down the bike -- every nook and cranny -- will bring to attention issues of concern. You'll notice the loose spoke, cracked cable housing, or any number of little things before they become big things or roadside repairs.
Regardless of the macho, chest thumping, "I never clean my bike" bravado going on, there's a certain amount of pride in ownership with cleaning ones bike. Keeping a bike clean is a healthy part of keeping it in good working order -- no matter how forcefully some will express their opinion otherwise. A clean bike may not work any better than a dirty bike, but proper cleaning won't make it work any worse either, and it provides the opportunity to catch things before they become problems. The great part is that we're all free to decide how much time we want to spend on it.
-Kedosto
Avoid using products that contain ammonia on unprotected aluminum -- it can cause a bleaching sort of look on the metal surface. The same goes for using some automotive wheel cleaning products.
Avoid getting waxy or greasy substances (think wax or Armorall) on brake tracks or rotors. It won't bring about The Apocalypse, but it will make braking interesting for the short term while it wears off. If you get enough of the slick stuff where you don't want it, you might have to do a little work to get things right.
High pressure water use won't end the world, but it'll probably get you just as greasy, dirty and wet as the bike with all the water blasting going on. Using very high pressure on a poorly painted bike can cause the paint to come right off. Most bikes are painted well enough and most pressure washers don't generate high enough pressure to cause problems, but just know it can happen.
Using a "hands on" approach to cleaning your bike is a good practice. The act of wiping down the bike -- every nook and cranny -- will bring to attention issues of concern. You'll notice the loose spoke, cracked cable housing, or any number of little things before they become big things or roadside repairs.
Regardless of the macho, chest thumping, "I never clean my bike" bravado going on, there's a certain amount of pride in ownership with cleaning ones bike. Keeping a bike clean is a healthy part of keeping it in good working order -- no matter how forcefully some will express their opinion otherwise. A clean bike may not work any better than a dirty bike, but proper cleaning won't make it work any worse either, and it provides the opportunity to catch things before they become problems. The great part is that we're all free to decide how much time we want to spend on it.
-Kedosto
10-09-18, 02:54 AM
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10-09-18, 02:56 AM
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10-09-18, 03:03 AM
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I only ride on paved roads so my bikes don't really get dirty. However, at the end of the ride I almost always wipe my bike down with a micro-fiber, a beer in one hand(for drinking) and the tunes cranked (in the garage).
Biggest mistake?.....putting Amour-all on the sidewalls and seat. Looks pretty but going around corners can get a little squirely and hitting the front brake hard can get the boys jammed. As a matter of fact I still do the Amour-all....on my Cruiser
Biggest mistake?.....putting Amour-all on the sidewalls and seat. Looks pretty but going around corners can get a little squirely and hitting the front brake hard can get the boys jammed. As a matter of fact I still do the Amour-all....on my Cruiser
Got a link?
10-09-18, 03:04 AM
#136
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You need to get the bike wet to clean properly. I use on of those rain shower wands that are used for watering fragile plants. The water almost just falls out. Less pressure than the hose pressure. Wet / bike friendly spray on bike soap / wipe around with a paper towel and then rinse again.
Big mistake - letting lubrication get on your braking surfaces. Bad times when you need to stop.
The big thing is the chain. It's one thing to clean your bike and make it pretty. Cleaning the chain is something that I see a noticeable performance improvement from. You should get one of those chain cleaning devices (about $20), run it through until the chain is shiny. Then rinse and run it through a cloth to dry. Then use chain lube per bottle instructions and wipe / wipe / wipe. The perfect chain would have no lube on the actual visible surfaces. It's only doing it's job inside the link joints. Lube on the outside of the chain only helps attract and accumulate road dust / dirt, etc. Besides making the chain less effective, it also becomes and abrasive that can age your cassette / chain rings more than normal.
Big mistake - letting lubrication get on your braking surfaces. Bad times when you need to stop.
The big thing is the chain. It's one thing to clean your bike and make it pretty. Cleaning the chain is something that I see a noticeable performance improvement from. You should get one of those chain cleaning devices (about $20), run it through until the chain is shiny. Then rinse and run it through a cloth to dry. Then use chain lube per bottle instructions and wipe / wipe / wipe. The perfect chain would have no lube on the actual visible surfaces. It's only doing it's job inside the link joints. Lube on the outside of the chain only helps attract and accumulate road dust / dirt, etc. Besides making the chain less effective, it also becomes and abrasive that can age your cassette / chain rings more than normal.
10-09-18, 03:12 AM
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Armour-all.
You've cleaned a car before ... right? Helped your mother or father maybe?
You've cleaned a car before ... right? Helped your mother or father maybe?
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10-09-18, 06:28 AM
#138
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I generally keep my bikes pretty clean. I store my bikes in the house, and my wife gets mad if I leave trails of mud and grime. Last winter I washed my bike one day and some water got into the head tube. When I rode it the next day the water froze solid and I couldn't turn. I had to pull the fork and chip the ice off the steerer tube so I could get home. Avoid doing that.
10-09-18, 07:09 AM
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Yes, Pledge is merely used for making the bike shiny. It has no mechanical purpose. And, as it is basically a lubricant, don't use it on wheels, especially if you use those wheels to stop you.
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10-09-18, 08:37 AM
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Yes, what he said. Pledge is a furniture cleaner/polish. Unless the bike frame is really cruddy I just saturate a rag with Lemon Pledge and wipe it down, then go over with a dry rag. It gives it a shine from the polish and has the nice lemony smell Not as good as cleaning and using auto polish but it is quick and easy.
I don't think it should be used on the wheels unless you have disc brakes. With rim brakes you don't want a slick surface on the rims !
Not as good as cleaning and using auto polish but it is quick and easy.I don't think it should be used on the wheels unless you have disc brakes. With rim brakes you don't want a slick surface on the rims !
10-09-18, 08:44 AM
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10-09-18, 08:46 AM
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10-09-18, 08:48 AM
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I generally keep my bikes pretty clean. I store my bikes in the house, and my wife gets mad if I leave trails of mud and grime. Last winter I washed my bike one day and some water got into the head tube. When I rode it the next day the water froze solid and I couldn't turn. I had to pull the fork and chip the ice off the steerer tube so I could get home. Avoid doing that.
10-09-18, 08:51 AM
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It might be easier to digest and understand the comments you make by using spell check.....
When someone boasts to the entire BF forum that keeping a clean bike is not part of a well maintained bike, and by the way, it is not "My cleaning procedure". It is recommended by the manufacture. But if you have your own methods based on what? Oh yeah that is right 40 years of blah blah blah. Don't present yourself as an expert and then get your feelings hurt when you get called out on it. I am not an expert, but the people that engineered and made my bike are just that. I rely on their guidance as well as the gruppo manufactures guidance. You want to follow something else based on your own history, feel free.... but at least be honest and present it as that alone, not as " Is the confidence of my local co-op to make me a shop lead for the busiest day of the week enough of a metric for you? Is the confidence of my local co-op in my mechanical abilities to have me teach the 6 week long Master Mechanics class, enough for you? Is the confidence of my local co-op in my abilities to have me develop and teach wheel building enough of a metric for you?"
In my experience alone, in aviation, the master technicians that the owners and pilots have confidence in, are thoughtful, go to the proper source of information, organized, hospital clean, and are willing to always try and do a better job. This experience has transferred well in to maintaining my bike fleet to the highest standard. I can live with that!!
When someone boasts to the entire BF forum that keeping a clean bike is not part of a well maintained bike, and by the way, it is not "My cleaning procedure". It is recommended by the manufacture. But if you have your own methods based on what? Oh yeah that is right 40 years of blah blah blah. Don't present yourself as an expert and then get your feelings hurt when you get called out on it. I am not an expert, but the people that engineered and made my bike are just that. I rely on their guidance as well as the gruppo manufactures guidance. You want to follow something else based on your own history, feel free.... but at least be honest and present it as that alone, not as " Is the confidence of my local co-op to make me a shop lead for the busiest day of the week enough of a metric for you? Is the confidence of my local co-op in my mechanical abilities to have me teach the 6 week long Master Mechanics class, enough for you? Is the confidence of my local co-op in my abilities to have me develop and teach wheel building enough of a metric for you?"
In my experience alone, in aviation, the master technicians that the owners and pilots have confidence in, are thoughtful, go to the proper source of information, organized, hospital clean, and are willing to always try and do a better job. This experience has transferred well in to maintaining my bike fleet to the highest standard. I can live with that!!
10-09-18, 08:53 AM
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10-09-18, 11:13 AM
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But that is basically the same problem with all polishing products. They may make you feel good but they don't do diddly for the bike.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
10-09-18, 11:46 AM
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You got it bad if q-tips are part of your bike cleaning kit
10-09-18, 12:36 PM
#148
Jedi Master
I bought a set of used wheels a few years ago that were absolutely filthy with years of caked on grime. I figured since I was going to service the hubs anyway, I cleaned them with my powerwasher in a fraction of the time it would have taken with a brush and a bucket. I didn't go to any extra trouble to spare the hubs and was a little surprised to find that the grease was still in very good shape when I opened them up (early 2000's campy chorus hubs in case you're interested). I don't use a powerwasher on my bikes more because it's not necessary than out of any concern for the bearings. I use a powerwasher on my dirt-bikes (off-road motorcycles) all the time and the bearings aren't any different than they are on a bike.
Last edited by kingston; 10-09-18 at 05:19 PM. Reason: correct spelling error
10-09-18, 06:40 PM
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