Medic795

Hello,

Whats the best way to clean your mountain bike after a ride?? I'm thinking a garden hose and some water :-D

dminor 

. . . and an Ikea vegetable brush, in your choice of red, yellow or Yeti turquoise ; yup.

YamiRider1316

Personally I never use a hose on my bike. Just warm soapy water and wipe it down. If you do use a hose, be careful not to use to much pressure. It can drive dirt/sand grit into bearings and greased pivot points etc. Diluted simple green is another good cleaner. But make sure you dilute the heck out of it and wipe or wash it off with water after words because it has been known to pit aluminum though I've never seen it. Park tools also has some nice brushes that make things easier but the above posted vegetable brush looks like it would do the trick. Old tooth brushes are another good thing to keep on hand. Also spraying your bike with pam (atleast the underside) pre ride will keep heavy mud from sticking and make things easier to wipe down. I have buddies who never clean their bike short of a basic wipe down for fear of water damaging things. But, to each his own.

Daspydyr 

I mix up some simple green with warm water and use a rag to wipe it down. If dminor lived close by I would use his brushes and then just let the hose run over everything to rinse things off.

Then I mist the whole rig with Old Spice. da da dump de dump de dumde!

Skepsis

Hose and wipe down after every ride. Clean chain (degreaser in a rag and run chain through it) every two weeks or so and re-lube. Clean braking surfaces and pads maybe once a month. I'm a little bit of a stickler for clean, but it's really not too hard.

alexaschwanden

I brush off the bigger dirt with a brush and then use a ragg and some soap water for the littlte dirt to clean it. I clean the bike once every two months or so.

3speed

I say why introduce water to the mechanical parts for no particular reason. I've never cleaned my bikes other than a once per year overhaul and it's worked out just great. I do wipe down my forks after every ride as per the manual instructions, wipe the dirt/grit off of the drive-train when it starts to get a buildup, and drip some lube onto the chain once in a while, but that's it. Water is bad for bikes, so why introduce it on a regular basis if there isn't an obvious need for a deep cleaning? ...though even then I don't use water except to clean the frame tubes. Parts cleaning is done with paper towels and a little PB-Blaster if some sort of liquid is needed for stubborn grime.

med01

I was going to post a similar question so I'll use my newbie excuse to ask this... my bike is pretty muddy (I rather like it ), but is it vital to keep the bike clean after use or a casual wash off is fine?

dminor 

Really? You never ride in the wet either?

If you have a machine that you prize, you keep it clean. It doesn't matter if it's a car, a motorcycle, a good fishing reel . . . or a bicycle IMO. Besides opposable thumbs, it's what separates us from the bike-riding apes. A clean bike is a happy and cared-for bike.

Zephyr11

I clean my nice bike. I just use rags though, nothing fancy.

My not very nice bike is currently sitting in my trunk covered in mud. Wiped down the fork before I threw it in the car, because that's by far the nicest part of the bike, and then told myself I'd clean it later. And I do usually clean it before taking it on its next ride (usually...but sometimes it gets to be time for that next ride and I'm like "oh, it's just going to get dirty again, I'll clean it after that ride"), but hmm...I think I fall into the category of "bike-riding ape" with that bike.

3speed

Definitely not. It's bad for the trails. If fact, it's been Really frustrating because it's been raining ~every 2-3days here in WI all spring. It's just enough to keep the trails wet and all of us responsible riders are getting annoyed pretty much only being able to ride urban for the past month+. You can Definitely notice a difference in the trails around here when people ride them wet, though, so I never do. We have that soft brown dirt that turns into thick wet mud with any moisture and leaves the trails really rutted, which then leads to puddles and worsens the problem in the future.

roccobike

I clean my MTB once a year whether it needs it or not. Geez, It's a mountain bike, dirt is a statement that you've been riding a rugged course, sort of like a badge.
Cleaning an MTB makes it look like you've been riding MUPs.

samburger

I clean my mountain bike frequently because I take care of my things, & as reliant as as my bike is, dirt & sand still corrode & wear away at things that cost me more than I care to spend twice. If that means people will think I don't really mountain bike then..well..I didn't really care what they thought about my biking to begin with, so it really makes no difference. Function > fashion for me. But to each his own.

mechBgon

The Finish Line Professional brush set is really good, I use them at work with a bucket of hot sudsy water (Dawn dish detergent) for general bike cleaning.

dminor 

Only that you are a slob or a poseur or both.

Daspydyr 

A clean bike is aerodynamic.

Scars and scrapes on the body and bike are the only badges that count. I circle my scars with a red sharpie if I know I'm going to be running into people.