Hi BikeForums

I wanted to ask the forum community for their advice, tips and recommendations on:
How to clean a road-bike?
How often I should attend to its maintenance?
Cleaning products.

I ride a 2012 Trek 2.1C road-bike.
I would still describe myself as a beginner cyclist. I'm slowly gaining more knowledge about everything to do with road-cycling.
Most weeks, I tend to clock-up around ~60 km/week. I am working on building that up.

I've owned my bike for about 7 months now, but badly, I have not cleaned my bike properly. I know it's something I need to attend to.

How shall I clean the chain-ring, chain, cassette, front & rear dérailleurs? What products do you use? Do you use specified brushes, clothes?

Furthermore, what do you use to clean the frame itself?

Thank you so much for reading, and for any comments!

do you work in advertising?


I just clean mine with a degreaser. Spray it on, and all the grease would sort of get dissolved by the degreaser. Then I would wipe it off. but a better way would be to wash it off with a garden hose or something. Since I don't have that, I think I might buy a super soaker to wash the grease off. The probem with wiping it down is the towel soaks up the liquid, leaving most of the solids behind. that's why every time you wipe down your wet chain, it'll stop spreading grease, but once it's wet again, it'll turn everything black

I have had a quick look at what products/tools are available to purchase for bike maintenance.
It's very confusing, and overwhelming how many different products there are to choose from.

Here's a list of some of the items I've seen:

"Muc-Off" wipes, washs, prong brushes, micropolish cloths, dry-lube, ceramic dry-lube, wet-lube.
"Finish Line" Gear floss, Grease Gun.
Chain Degreaser machines.
"Morgan Blue" Road-race oil.
"Fenwicks" Foaming chain cleaner.
"Weldtite" Teflon lube.

I'm unsure what to use, where to use it and how to use them Help!

@spectastic. Hi. Thank you for replying.
Where do you apply the degreaser?

My father recently purchased a Pressure washer to clean our garden paving slabs. It can apparently be used to wash cars & motorbikes too. Do you think it would be good to use that on my bicycle? Or might it be way too powerful?

(And... Why did you ask if I worked in advertising?)

@spectastic. I didn't understand what you wrote in this part. Can you please explain?

After spending lots of time on these forums and being someone that has OCD (the real kind, not the joke kind) that can go totally anal over maintenance and cleaning, I'm currently of the mindset that if it's not broke don't fix it, and if it's not dirty, don't clean it.

@danmc. Hi. I am wanting to clean my bicycle because my chain-ring, chain and cassette have blackened. I can't remember totally, but I am certain that when my bike was new, those components were entirely silver.

I would guess that the blackening is due to the pick-up of dirt/dust from the road?

I figure that by giving them a clean, my bike will pedal more smoothly/better?

Sure, as long as you avoid aiming it directly into bearings (like bottom brackets, headsets, and hubs) and suspension bushings. It's pretty hard to avoid brake and derailleur bushings and chain rollers, so just oil these lightly after everything dries.

I'm a big fan of those chain scrubbers that allow you to do an on-the-bike chain wash. Just rinse, dry, and oil when you're done.

Off-the-bike cleaning should be done whenever the drivetrain gets really grotty. Loose-ball bearings should be overhauled at the first sign of grittiness, noise, wobble, or gummy spinning.

And Mavic cassette bodies should be overhauled at least once a season, more often if you ride in harsh conditions, or at the first sign of balky freewheeling.

And please go easy on the boldface and italics. We can hear you in your normal indoor voice.

Do not use a pressure washer! Degreaser is for the chain and chain rings. I clean bike top to bottom with soapy water using degreaser to get old cruddy lube off chain, chainrings and cassette. Rinse off soap with a gentle spay of water(I try to not force water into places it does not belong like the bottom bracket and wheel hubs etc). After drying my bike I reapply chain lube and lube critical pivot points on derailers and shifters. I like to give the bike a good looking over while washing it looking for anything unusual that would need attention. As stated, just wiping it with a towel might just relocate the dirty lube but rinsing it will get rid of the crud. Any cleaning product will work but avoid chemicals that will damage finish. I just picked up some park tool brushes but I have in the past used whatever I had that got the job done.

Hi,

There are many ways to skin a cat and many ways to approach the basic maintenance
and cleaning of a bike, the former in the long run being more important than the latter.

Pressure washers are bad, they get water into places you don't want it.

General grime is easily removed with detergent and water. Silicone furniture spray
is good to get your bike gleaming and make it easier to clean next time round.

Drivetrain :
Loads of methods but I use lots of WD40 applied from the inside
of the chain and keep wiping down until most of the crud is gone.
Leave overnight and then sparingly lube with decent chainlube.

rgds, sreten.

It'll certainly ride quieter and shift better with a clean drivetrain.

Your LBS will sell various degreasering products. There are bike specific cleaning products along with stuff like Simple Green that you can get at any hardware store.

Get some clean rags. Spray some degreaser onto the rag (*not* onto your bike). Grab the chain in the rag. Pedal the cranks backwards by hand. Repeat as necessary until the chain looks reasonably clean. The derailleur pulleys are also going to be coated in muck; scrub them as best you can. Scrub the gears as best you can as well.

Take some chain lube and put one drop on each link of the chain. I like to let the chain lube settle in for a while -- let some seep inside the chain. Take a rag and wipe off the excess.

You're good to go. I usually go through the above process every ~150 miles or so (which is about once a week for me).

Like anything, the "best" degreaser and "best" chain lube are religious debates around here. My take is that everything works well, so long as you use it fairly regularly.

Spraying degreaser right onto the bike is "bad" as it tends to get degreaser in places you don't want it.

Edit: as others have said, there are many ways to do this. Whatever you find that works well, do that. It's more important to keep the drivetrain clean than to follow some exact steps. Somebody once said: "cleaning a bike is like cleaning the bathroom. Do it regularly and it's no big deal. Put it off and it becomes truly disgusting". That pretty much sums it up.

That blackening is also metallic dust from wear on the chain and cassette.

@oldbobcat. Thank you so much for your replies.
What is "bushing"? I've not heard of that term yet.

And with regard to the "chain scrubbers" are you referring to something like these:
Muc-Off X1 Chain cleaner
Park CG2 Chain Gang Cleaner
Finish Line Chain Cleaner
Weldtit Dirt Trap degreaser

Also, what were you referring to with, "Loose-ball bearing"?...

@sreten. Hi. Thanks
Can you recommend a Silicone furniture spray that you have found works well? Thank you.
So do you use WD-40 to take the dirt off the chain/chain-ring?

do you need patktool brushes? can't you just use a regular paint brush from walmart? Also, I didn't know derailleurs had bushings. I would keep the degreaser out of the hub and bottom bracket, but I would assume that a coating of teflon, or silicone lube would protect the derailleur enough that any grease dissolved by the degreaser would be replaced by the silicone coating, and would remain there long enough until the next cleaning. It would also keep dirt off of the derailleur crevices, which is a nice bonus.

@UK_cyclist,
the recommendations we give are what we've gathered from experience. I guess it could be a good starting point to do exactly what someone else does, but everyone has an opinion. Bike maintenance can be done in many ways.

Personally, I've found regular maintenance with the right products to be better that anything. A lot of lubes are designed to have really good lubrication qualities, but will attract dirt like crazy if you apply the slightest bit too much. That forces you to spend lots of time using a degreaser and brushes, etc.

I've found if you stick with a product like Finish Line's 1 Step, which both cleans away dirt and grime from the chain as you ride as well as lubricates, you'll spend a lot less time on your chain. Of course, you still need to pay attention to the rest of the bike. I don't use hoses at all because you really have to be careful where you aim them to avoid getting water in spots where it could cause damage. A bucket of water and mild detergent does wonders on your frame and then all you have to do is just wipe it down after.

Your drive train needs a major cleaning. All that grime is causing wear to your cassette and chain rings. 30 weeks or so into it, 60 km a week, you may need to replace the chain by now, and possibly the cassette. Chains don't last that long, if they're not maintained. That could cause whatever rough shifting that you're experiencing.

It takes only a minute or two after a ride to take a clean rag, and run the chain through it by cranking the pedals backwards for a few revolutions of the chain. That will remove most of what accumulated during the ride. You don't even need to put the bike on a stand--just lean it against something solid. Once the chain only leaves a slight oily film on my fingers, after running it though a rag, I pinch a little corner of the rag, and run the exposed part of the derailleur pulleys though it, to get the black smears off them. At 60 km a week, you can probably go about 3 weeks between re-lubing it. A little lube goes a long way---you want the lube inside the rollers, not outside on the surface of them and on the links. Wipe down your chain after every ride. Figure once a month, give it a thorough cleaning. The best way to do that is remove it, and put it into a container with solvent (mineral spirits work well), agitate it, remove it after a few minutes, give it a good wipe down, and let it dry. If you're not comfortable with removing and re-attaching the chain, one of those cleaning tools by Park does an acceptable job. Even soaking a rag in solvent and running the chain through it is better than nothing. While the chain is off the bike, clean the rings, and take a rag and floss between the cogs of the cassette. If you don't want to remove the chain, pull the back wheel to floss the cassette. You're going to have to learn how to remove the wheels eventually, to repair a flat. Easier to do that in your back yard or garage, than having to do it for the first time on the road.

While a 2.1 is far from the most costly ride in Trek's stable, you still paid 4 figures for it. It's an investment that should be cared for.

In "bike school" they taught us to clean the chain on the bike by using chain lube, the "dry" kind. The advantage is that not only does it clean the chain it keeps it lubed where it should be lubed. You rub the heck out of the chain when it is on the bike. This method is easy and works well for me. Just make sure you really wipe it off well, otherwise you can easily get a gunky chain.

Windex is a good cleaner for the bike. So is alcohol, which is nice because it drys quickly. It works especially nice on the rims.

For really greasy areas a bit of dishwashing soap works too. Wipe it down afterwards with a clean, wet rag.

Don't pressure wash.

When you are cleaning you might release the brakes and sand lightly the surface of the brake pads.

unless it's a garden hose or a super soaker.

I keep the chain and drivetrain in tip top condition, but only clean my frames when I change components or otherwise disassemble them. Grungy, well used looking race bikes intimidate many challengers. ; - )

i use simple green for the frame and small mechanical bits and an industrial size can of wd-40, rag, and chaing lube for the drivetrain. dont buy one of those dumb "chain cleaners". they eventually gunk up and are pretty worthless. i dont spend too much time on the cassette though. if its a little greasy and black thats fine. dont let that stuff accumulate to the point that it turns into that greasy toothpaste slop that get stuck between the cogs though. a combination of a bike stand and pizza box underneath to catch the falling crap works great also.

i noticed at a bike show i went to, there were two types of bikes on display with whatever product was being utilized, 1) were glossy perfectly shiny bikes with glossy hot rod type paintjobs. 2) super high end DIRTY road bikes with said component. the chris king booth had some cool bikes that were obiviously employee owned, just with ck headsets and stuff.

I've tried it both ways, and cleaning drivetrain components have made absolutely no difference. So I don't do it anymore. The only reason I can see to do it is cosmetic; if a shiny drivetrain is important to you, then clean it. Anything else is just rationalization.

Only use degreaser on parts in isolation. Take off the cassette for instance and put it in a degreaser. A citrus-based degreaser works great, like Simple Green. Never use degreaser on a complete bike.

I spray S-100 on the bike and wash it off with a garden hose set to a light fan-type spray. Then I add plenty of grease to the drivetrain, run it a little, let it sit a few minutes and wipe off any excess with a non-linting rag. If there's no excess I'll repeat.

It's easy to overthink this.

That's only abut 1200 miles. Many of us ride a whole lot more than this. A chain will last twice that without any maintenance whatsoever other than drizzle a little lubricant on it and wipe it off once in a while... while cassettes (other than maybe Dura-Ace) will last years at that riding volume.

If there's rough shifting it's likely due to something other than wear. Clean and lube the derailleur, lube the cables, check for kinks or lack of smoothness, put the bike on a stand and adjust the indexing. I bet it'll run fine for another 1200 miles. (Edit: you probably won't get another 1200 miles out of the chain, and in fact 1200 might be a good time to start monitoring it for wear, using a chain checker.)

Yep. As long as there's lube on the chain, it may not look so pretty but the chain doesn't wear out that quickly. Chain wear is caused by lots of things including riding style and terrain.