So after finally being allowed a new bike I thought I’d try and look after this one a bit better. It goes in the van I drive home, hose it down carefully then dry. Then what? Gt85 drivetrain? Quick squirt here and there there? Different lube for the chain? Forks and shock? What’s you lot do?

I wash the worst of the crud off with an ‘ose, clean the drivetrain well, wang some lube on it spreading it about with a rag. Silicone spray on forks, shock and Reverb, and that’s it.

Mostly I just throw mine in the garage.

I don’t let a hose anywhere near my FS, and even on the HT I don’t spray the drive train with it. Let it dry and brush it off, only thing I do when I finish my ride is to give the chain a right good wipe with an old towel with some GT85 on it, then lube chain and put bike away. Every few weeks I was with a bucket and cloth.

Was wondering re the reverb as I’ve never been so lucky as to own one before.

Give it a spray of that pink silicon lube stuff, keep the wiper seal clean, and use a mudguard to keep the shite off of it.

Every few rides I tend to GT85 the chain, rub down with cloth and then lube it. Rub down the stanchions and spray with silicon spray (+ the reverb). Don’t really see much point in cleaning non moving bits but when the feeling takes me I just spray down with a hose.

If it’s proper filthy then rinse off when still wet.

Clean drivetrain with white spirt, rag and brushes, then lube chain.

Fork lube for suspension and dropper post, and then cycle a few times to lift dirt out of seals.

Did you repack your hubs?

Clean the chain with kitchen roll and lube it with finish line wet. Clean the fork and shock stanchions and lube them with silicone spray. Put a little wet lube on the mech pivots. It might get a proper wash once a year or so but if I do that I always try to ride it the next day, if only to work, to make sure I don’t get water sitting inside the various bearings and causing them to seize.

If it’s really wet with mud then lightly hosing the mud off is fine. If not then the water the hose is adding is a potentially greater cause of problems than the mud!

mine gets a hose down* then a wash with soapy water, including all the drive-train, then dry it. chain gets lubed on every link, then wiped down, forks get juicy lube, occasionally spray lube other moving parts. this after every winter ride, less in the summer. My bike was about £2k why would I not look after it.

* if there are parts of your bike that won’t suffer a hose down, they have no place on a mountain bike.

Rinse off the wet mud with a hose. Be careful not to blast water on fork/shock seals, brake calipers and bearings. My chain gets covered in mud so I rinse thoroughly with the hose aiming the hose at the lower jocky wheel to avoid the freehub. Dry and spray chain and mechs with gt85. Clean and oil fork and shick seals. Lube chain before next ride.

if there are parts of your bike that won’t suffer a hose down, they have no place on a mountain bike.

This +1000

No need for a fire hose pressure just something to remove the mud and a brush.
Lube chain – gt85 is not chain lube
GT85 the springs etc. in the mechs fork juice on the slidy stuff.

Ditto.

Every couple of rides remove the reverb from the seat tube and give it and inside seat tube a good clean. You don’t want to get that stuck

* if there are parts of your bike that won’t suffer a hose down, they have no place on a mountain bike.

It isn’t whether they survive a hose down or not, it’s whether they benefit from it? If I can save time by leaving more of the bike dirty and it last at least as well as with more thorough cleaning, then why hose it down? Obviously if you like the look of a clean bike then that’s your prerogative!

After ride maintenance tips?

Give it a wipe, maybe go to the loo, put your keks back on and then fall asleep.

light hose down while mud is wet, good wash wish hot soapy and a brush, light hose again.
dry with a tea towel, lube chain………sorted. takes 10 mins tops.

At the weekend after a filthy ride around the Brecon Beacons:

Gleaming chain, shock and fork stanchions. There’s a little bit of dirt on the rest of it. No, I don’t live in Linton Travel Tavern permanently… 😉

@CGG perfect after ride maintenance that!

As posted in the full sus winter thread, mine gets the same, stanchions with silicone polish, chain wiped and relubed with Squirt.

The rest of the mud stays on, the VPP area once dried by next ride all falls off once I start riding, same with mud around any other moving parts, front mech etc.

Most rides: Hose, soft brush on frame, forks, wheels(never use frame brush on oily parts). Hope sh1t shifter if really claggy. Rinse off. Properly dry with nice much off towel. (Important , don’t contaminate with oil, just for drying.) Rock ‘n roll lube, wipe off.

Every few rides: De-grease cassette and paper towel around jockey wheels, chainring.

Luxury: Wax up frame and other painted bits if time allows. Sort scratches and tidy things up.

Been doing this on my Czar and Flux or 18 months, they look almost new and ride the same. No issues with cleaning any element of suspension. Czar has done 4500 miles. Flux 1500.

I have to repeat this for GFs Czar and Flux too.

I think it’s good time invested as they’re not cheap and keeping the crap off means they always ride well, and drivetrain and suspension gets plenty of life due to lack of muck being swished around. Oh, and they live in the house where they get dried off via a bit of heat.

To quote mrs ws, “I see we have a new dining room ornament”!

light hose down while mud is wet, good wash wish hot soapy and a brush, light hose again.
dry with a tea towel, lube chain………sorted. takes 10 mins tops.

This plus a squirt of fork juice.

Bought some Fenwicks Foaming Chain Cleaner on a bit of whim. Seems to do a pretty good job on the drive train and using it is a little bit like a cross between spraying silly string and making candy floss.
Which is always fun.
RM.

Post ride maintenance, put bike in garage, open beer.

Depends on state of it and me!

What is the silicon lube everyone uses? I have usually given a wipe with float fluid or fork oil as that’s what sloshing around in the fork and seals.

Hardtail here so no sensitive rear suspension stuff and I subscribe to the run it until it’s shagged school of drivetrains so no excessive chain checking and polishing although it does get cleaned every 6-8 hours riding

hose down , bucket of soapy water and a sponge, rinse off with hose bounce on the back wheel put away lube before next ride, suspension lube and chain lube spray GT85 on a cloth and rub over shiney parts, seems to help wash the mud of later…. 😀

Wipe down the worst, store, dust off dried crud, ride again. Maybe a wash of the drivetrain if bad. One of those chain cleaner gadgets for example, but just water, dry and apply lube.

Eventually give whole bike a gentle clean with water.

Stop with the GT85. It’s a solvent first, pretty much WD40 with added Teflon. Never use it anywhere near bearings. Even on a chain you risk stripping the factory lube out which is the best lube the chain will ever have. Trust me, it’s a great degreaser as I use it to clean bearings of old grease 😉

That said, with the chain, consider a first time degrease, apply Squirt, then just wipe or gentle hose occasionally, dry and apply more Squirt. Chain stays relatively clean and lubed without having the properties of normal lube off sucking in crud.

Take it from Santa Cruz on bike cleaning…

http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/us/news/347

Q: I’m lazy and lack motivation, what can I do to prolong bearing life?
A: Stop washing your bike so much. We did some experiments with bikes that were washed a lot but ridden infrequently, bikes that were ridden a lot but washed infrequently, and bikes that were both washed and ridden a lot. Guess what? Your bike hates only being washed and not being ridden. This test group had the worst results. They became creaky and not much fun to be around, much like the people who own bikes like that. Don’t get all angry (you know who you are), you can still wash your bike from time to time – and there are those times where it has to be done after every ride. Everything needs more attention during those times. BUT, maybe you should examine your priorities. It’s a mountain bike. You can get dirt on it. It’s OK.

Wipe chain clean and lubricate (I use White Lightning Epic Ride).

Brush the dirt off once dry.

Tighten bolts up now and then.

Erm, that’s it.

^^ this, and a 3 chain rotation policy, one on the bike, one in soak and one oiled and ready to roll.

I leave it in the garage over night then in the morning hose the worst of the crap off frame and bits. I give the drive train a bit more hose action, then dry the chain off a bit with a rag. I then spray the chain with Gt85 – not for its lubricating properties, it’s just really good at displacing water. It’s then ridden round the block (or dragged around the lawn) dragging the brakes till they stop howling.

After that wipe the GT85 off the chain and re-lube it. If it’s really bad I scrape the grunge off the jockey wheels with a screw driver. 10 minutes all in, bish bosh.

In summer it gets left till it actually needs cleaning (maybe once every 4 or 5 rides)

I always hose mine off and towel dry, lube the chain and make sure the seals are free of any grime, it lives in the house (family member)

The bike goes under the stairs to dry out by the radiator then I brush the worst off and vacuum the rest. Doesn’t see water unless it rains

Squirt keeps the drivetrain surgically clean. Cycle the suspension with some light oil and it’s ready to go again

Looks shit, works perfectly

A quick hose and brush down. No detergent just water and a brush. Takes about 2 minutes. Wipe off the excess water with a rag. Wipe the chain a couple of times after spaying it with GT85. Dry the chain. Lube the chain.

Best tip is to ‘maint’ yourself when you get back, shower and get some food in for quicker recovery. The bike will be ok and wait for its clean once the rider is ready ;->

i only wash the bike if the mud is still wet. If the mud is dry it gets left and brushed off following day.

In dryer periods I use Squirt on the chain, so it just gets a wipe and reapplication. This time of year use MucOff Ceramic wet lube on chain, so a quick run though the park tool chain cleaner with some neat muc off and same with a cassette brush. then a spray with GT85 and following day relube. Stanchions and reverb get a squirt of Fork Juice and a wipe. mechs and bolts often get a spray of gt85, levers a spray of silicon lube.

So the ‘wet mud’ routine, as will likely happen tonight, takes me between 5 and 10 mins from arriving home with bike on roof to everything tucked up for the night and me in the shower.

If it’s good enough for a namby pamby cross bike, then a roughty toughty MTB should be fine 😀

[video]http://youtu.be/DvAZv-wiVkM[/video]

scotroutes – Member

Mostly I just throw mine in the garage.

We share a common philosophy brother 😀