I’ve been lax with maintenance in the past having been riding a battered hardtail for years. Now I’ve got a full suspension frame I realise I’ve got to take a bit more care.

What’s the process then? Currently I hose off the mud, apply muc off, hose down, shake off drips, GT 85 moving bits, dry and oil the chain

Sounds about right, and more than I usually do 😀
I guess just remove the shock periodically and check the pivots.

If you’re talking standard after-ride cleaning..

Jet wash the bike pretty well (I know I know…), dry roughly with a towel, dry chain with towel, lube chain with chain lube or spray lube.

I’ve been lax with maintenance having been riding a hardtail for the winter. Now I’ve dusted the cobwebs off the full suspension frame to go racing I realise I’ve got to use it in the mud a bit.

Fixed that for myself.

Hose and soft brush to get the crap off. No jet washing of bearings or suspension. Wipe with a rag and maybe a bit of GT85 on the main frame, but not on the suspension. Carefully clean suspension seals and stanchions and apply Fork Juice and cycle suspension 20 or so times to get the muck out and lube the seals etc and wipe off muck. Wipe chain and lube it.
Every so often degrease the drive train.

I wouldn’t spray lube on the bearing pivots as if its thin enough to get in its thin enough to wash out the grease.

My bike is scratched, dented, chipped and battered but everything works and it rides great and is clean but not toothbrush clean.

it’s been a while but it used to go something like

Clean, lube and remove chain
Quick blast with the Karcher
Wash all over with a soft brush and bucket of hot water and Autoglym TFR
Quick blast with the Karcher
Silicone spray on the shock and forks
Oil can for the mechs
Replace chain

about 20 minutes all in

Sounds about right, apart from the GT85 bit which is unecessary on parts of the bike which rely on grease to stay smooth running.

And use Zip Wax (or similar) rather than Muc-Off with a big soft brush. Much nicer to paintwork.

wash mud off, lube moving bits, put away, have pint

did I miss anything?

dont power wash the bike :cry:..it takes all the grease off and spoils yer hubs…. use gently spray….then ‘muc off’…i use an old toothbrush for the cassette and chain using muc off…spray bike down to rinse… towel dry… get can of BIKE SPRAY (black can -the one off leisurelakes bikes….it gives your bike frame that new shiney look again 😉 :mrgreen:…..occaisionaly i sparingly use 3 in 1 silicone lubricant on my forks (sparingly) you can use it on ya chain too…it has to be the ‘silicone’ based one tho (so not to damage your forks for lubing..sparingly !!!!..
now ride…….

You’ll be needing one of these…

*other toothbushes, without Winnie the Pooh on are available

Pretty much as said above. Just be sure to check all those linkage bits and grease regularly. And keep an eye out for anything that’s starting to stiffen – that’s a sure-fire way that something’s gonna snap.

– Hose down to loosen and remove the worst of the muck.
– Wash everything but wheels and drivetrain with sponge and warm water/fairy liquid.
<If not in a hurry>
– Hose down
– Clean the bits I missed
</If not in a hurry>
– Clean wheels
– Clean drivetrain, toothbrush for cassette and hard to reach bits. Maybe some degreaser/Muc-Off if it’s particularly grubby. Chain bath every 3rd or 4th clean.
<If not in a hurry>
– Hose down
– Clean the bits I missed
</If not in a hurry>
– Hose down
– GT85 on chain (with rag) and rings/cassette to disperse water
– Lube on rag, run the chain through it.

Put it in the cellar & forget about it

Get someone else to do the bearings every 12 to 18 months

Everyone knows this is how you do it..
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72RcsXvlCYs[/video]
It’s the only way to get the dirt out of the bearings.. 😉

dont power wash the bike :cry:..it takes all the grease off and spoils yer hubs

Get some properly sealed bearings then 🙂

I’ve always jet washed my bicycles/motorbikes/cars and never noticed any adverse affect or any shorter than expected bearing life.

Very rarely clean any of mine I think I’ve cleaned my Rize about five times since 2009. I imagine a lot depends on where you ride but Cannock is basically sand and after a day or two it dries out and falls off. Any stubborn bits can be removed with one’s fingers or a toothbrush.

Dry lube the chain so it doesn’t attract any more dirt than necessary and that’s it.

I jet wash mine from about a foot away.
I bet if I hand washed it bits would still break, get more clogged up and stop working.
Nothing like a gritty chain and discs

Ive been jet washing my current bike for 3 years, only last weekend had to replace one set of bearings. Cost me £25 and took about 30 mins.

Washing it takes 10 mins, which includes a bit of lube and quick check over.

You will be fine with a jet wash so long as you do it sensibly. On the plus side I always have a clean bike which makes checking it and working on it nice.

Isn’t the usual STW perceived wisdom to go out and spend an absolute fortune on a full-susser, which will then never see the light of day, as whenever there’s any hint of rain you’ll be riding your rigid singlespeed?

Same as a hard tail for me, I use a hose rather than jet wash so don’t bother avoiding bearings/pivots. I tend to use a paper towel on the pivot areas after washing to get most of the water out and then just use a drop or two of dry lube on each pivot. Rear shock I’ll tend to use a bit of juice lube stuff and pump the bike to try and lift the dirt out of the seal area and wipe off (same as with the forks).

I have one of those totally weather proof Californian full sus bike. Hose is fine. 1 set of bearings/18months ish and at least 2 months of my life saved not dicking round with a toothbrush 🙂

Is a jet wash significantly more powerfull than a hozepipe with a nozzle on the end?

I never jet wash but iv recently moved to a new house where the water pressure seems to be much higher than iv had before. This coupled with my hozepipe nozzle sends the water out at a fair old lick.

Should I take the nozzle off??

Should I take the nozzle off??

No just don’t hammer the pivots/bearings

1. Arrive home,
2. Switch kettle on,
3. Pressure wash worst of the crud off bike,
4. Spray bike with Fenwicks caravan cleaner (other products are available),
5. Make & drink coffee (other beverages are available),
6. Grab anything to eat (idealy with the 3 main food groups present Sugar, Salt and Fat),
7. Rinse bike paying particular to crud traps,
8. GT85 frame, etc (other water dispersing products are available)
9. Lube chain,
10. Secure bike in garage/shed/house with a big chain & gold standard locks.

I go completely the other way with my bikes.

Bike in stand, wheels off.
Jizer on casette, then scrub wheels. Rinse.
If chain is manky, spare hub in frame, chain bath with jizer, rinse.
Clean whole bike with soapy water, rinse.
Clean chain again with fairy liquid, rinse.
Dry bike with towel and take in doors to dry properly.
Then Lube chain and forks.
Check wheels spin freely with no rotor drag.
Store on the wall.

If it’s not too mucky,
Rinse chain in sink and lay on radiator to dry.
Kitchen roll to clean fork stanchions and shock shaft.
Lube fork and shock.

Wow this explains why my bikes only last 4 or 5 years….

Just treat it like any other bike. My FS is currently in the shed covered in mud from a ride 6 weeks ago. My HT had a bit of a hose down after last nights ride but no muck off brushing or relubing. I will probably lube the chain over the weekend and that’s about it.

Isn’t the usual STW perceived wisdom to go out and spend an absolute fortune on a full-susser, which will then never see the light of day, as whenever there’s any hint of rain you’ll be riding your rigid singlespeed?

Busted 😳

Bounce on back wheel to get thick mud off.
Run the chain through a rag to get crud off chain.
Lube chain
Wipe excess lube off chain through rag
Put away.

The above works on most bikes, full sus included.

you’ll be riding your rigid singlespeed which after about 15 seconds of attention you can put it away and do it again the next day, and again.. and again, and again, and again

It’s true.. After spending what feels like thousands of hours cleaning the full suss its quite refreshing. 😀

You should clean your bike as often as you have sex.

Is having a tommy-tank the same thing ?

Chain and suspension get cleaned if they need it. Then I wait for it to dry, then flail at the mud for a bit with a 50p Tesco brush. Voila, it is clean. For a given value of clean.

Mind you when I decided to give it a proper full-on deep clean a while back, I discovered the white paint was permanently stained brown, ended up needing tcut to get it white again. So maybe my method is flawed.

I’ll hose the worst of it off if it’s not too cold 😀

Lube the chain.

I might even bounce it a couple of times to shake some of the water off before i put it away.

You should clean your bike as often as you have sex.

You should have sex instead of cleaning your bike..

Standing in the cold wet and dark out the back of my house after a night ride caped in mud, I dont spend too long cleaning the bike. TBH it does need much, and do the following which works for me:

Hose bike, maybe with some Fenwicks
Spray wd40 or gt85 on derailleurs and chain and frame.
Put bike away.

Lube the chain another day and check I got most of the mud off.

You can tell who rides frequently in the mud around here…. 😀

Weapon, feet, wash and eat.