my bike gets cleaned when i need to do loads maintenence to it, its 3 months old has been cleaned maybe once properly, and has been hosed down twice.
just wondering how many of the people on here actually clean their bike after every ride?

I cleaned mine two years ago

Every couple of rides in winter. hardly at all in summer.

there is a free to use hose at the end of my local ride so it would be rude not to give it a hose down !

Probs about once a year or maybe more – after wet rides at GT if the jetwash queue isn't too long/being hogged by hub staff.

Take care of my bikes, washed after every ride this time of year.

road – every ride
FS – when it needs it
SS – never

I have a watering can of water ready at the end of each ride and give the drivetrain a quick brush down and then re-lube it and put it away. Everything else just depends if I have some work that I need to do on it!

I have a bike that I've been riding to work every day since I got it in the spring. Never been cleaned.

My MTB gets cleaned, erm, rarely.

every ride in winter, when ever it needs it in summer

Everytime here, I quite enjoy it, and its not like it takes a long time. And makes it a bit more pleasant to deal with if you want to do any maintanence or load it into the car.

I just spray fenwicks on and then hose it off, no need to take a tooth brush to it and polish up the metalwork.

Every ride at this time of year and maybe every other ride in the summer or perhaps a bit less if it's just a light dusting. If it needs more than a wipe down with a damp rag, it get cleaned properly.

When you say wash, do you mean;

1 spray with hose / rinse off in canal etc

or

2 break down into componant parts and 'attack' with toothbrush?

If its the first, every ride – and if its the second, only when maintaining something that requires dis-assembly.

Mind you, how anyone could ride around here (Chilterns) at this time of year and not at least rinse it down after every ride is beyond me.

FS MTB – after every ride unless it's been very dry

Road bike – twice a year maybe

other bikes – never

MTB – after every ride, apart from those dry, dusty days in summer (remember them?). But I will say its not me that cleans it, apparantly I don't do it properly.

Road – rarely, when it needs it. I was told I couldn't turn up to a ride this weekend with a dirty bike so the cleaning fairy cleaned it for me 🙂

Our bike shop comments on how clean mrdominos bike always is – maybe they think he doesnt ride it enough 😉

I rinse everyride in winter – mostly every ride in summer too.

I have a hose fitted up on a ratchet hose reel right inside my garage though, so its dead easy. Every other week or so in the winter I'll scrub it with some fenwicks or similar, but I don't really do that at all in the summer.

I specifically clean my drive train every ride in the winter and everyweek/fortnight in the summer.

u see…i find less insentive to wash it in the winter cos u get cold hands from the cold water…its easier to wash them in the summer…so mine probly gets washed more in the summer.

u see…i find less insentive to wash it in the winter cos u get cold hands from the cold water

Soft brush & a bucket – Hot water soapy wash followed by a clean hot water wash/rinse
The bike actually dries then too 🙂

FS – less often than I should but I usually get the suspension bits lubed and the chain after every ride
Hard tail – chain gets cleaned
SS- if it rains very heavily on road section on way home
Road bike – every 1000 miles – about 3-4 mths depending- I just lube the chain basically re grease wheel bearings and that is it.

Why would you maintain your road bike more then your MTB?

Nearly every ride to some extent. Night rides normally just involves a hose down and lube as I want to get in the house. I've learnt the expensive way what happens if you are slack on maintenance.

Not every ride, but maybe after 90% of rides I clean mine.

Why?

Well once I found a snapped steer clamp bolt (Single bolt clamp too!!!) and once I found a cracked chainstay, so that makes it worth it. I equate 'clean' with 'looked after', personally. It's no coincidence that those with filthy bikes have more mechanicals, IMO. 🙂

After every ride unless it's dark or I'm pressed for time. Getting the bike from Peak grit/Wharncliffe mud encrusted to showroom condition takes me about 15 minutes – so might as well. It means you tend to spot any mechanical issues before they develop.

It's no coincidence that those with filthy bikes have more mechanicals, IMO.

+1.

Having said that, the commute SS bike gets a brief cleaning probably once every six months or so except when the roads have been gritted – then it gets a daily rinse with the hose.

MTB doesn't get cleaned too often, but the drivetrain is always reasonably clean, if it's after a muddy ride than I just take it outside and give it a quick wash. Got a 5L weed sprayer with a pump built in 🙂 It kinda works as a low pressure sprayer, doesn't damage the seals or bearings but takes off the mud no problem and 5L of water is plenty enough to wash the bike.

Road bike is cleaned less often and I've got full mudguards on as well. Probably clean it more often in the summer to have it nice and shiny 🙂 Again I love my road bike for the fact, that it just works and I only have to put some chain lube every 2-3 weeks to keep it that way and don't want to spend too much time now washing the thing outside when it's freezing.

I do give the bikes a big clean around 2-3 times a year and they are generally in clean -ish condition as I keep both in my room as not allowed to put them in the livingroom.

Mine get a blast with the hose pipe just to get the thick crap off & then a lube up.About once a year or so I really go to town on them to check for cracks in the frame…

Mine came home quite clean yesterday; I chucked it in a tarn at when I was nearly home.

washing depends purely on how dirty the bike gets on the ride.
winter night ride = wash when get home
road bike = wash when really dirty
if not super muddy / horrid, brush off the chain and add some lube.

Road bike (Commuter), every 3-4 months gets a proper take apart/scrub and a basic Drive train clean and re-lube every 200-300-ish miles (more often when it’s wet)…

MTB (HT) Wash down every other ride or in really muddy weather every ride and clean/re-lube Drive every ride, silicone under the fork seals every 5-10 rides…. Proper strip and clean every 6 months

DH bike (HT also, but used a lot less than the normal MTB) , silicone under the fork seals every 5 rides or so, drive cleaned every couple of months, full strip/cleaning once every 6 months or so…

BMX, only ever cleaned it once, only really comes out in summer gets dusty more than any thing else, just wipe over now and then, and do the chain when it needs it…

Biggest thing for me is keeping the drive on all my bikes cleaned and lubed where possible…

I have self-cleaning and self-maintaining bikes
when they get too dirty the mud falls off
when parts need replacing they automatically fall off

As and when needed, if theres no more than dust it just gets a bit of lube on the chain. But on average……….

Hosed down after every ride (no point starting a ride with 5lb of dried on mud!), chain and moving parts get a drop of oil/grease, mech's sprayed with TF2/GT85, rims (v-brakes) degreased, grass pulled out of cassette. check tires for thorns, selas/boots for cuts/leaks

Every other ride:
chain in a jam jar of solvent (petrol, WS, Diesel etc)
cassette scrubbed

Every week:
Cleaned totaly from top to bottom, bolts checked for tighness, fresh grease behind seals/boots, frame checked for cracks, seatpost removed and a bit of cloth wedged in the frame to mop out any moistrue, grease on seatpost and re-fit.

Every 3 months:
Strip bike into parts, and re-assemble with fresh grease.

Bit of a ball-ache, but I'd rather 20min a week in the garrage after rides than a mechanical in the middle of nowhere in the rain.

MTB – Every ride
Road – 3 or 4 times a year, unless there salt on the road then every ride

I usually clean my mtb once every 5 or so rides i guess. My bike rides often end near the lake so i sometimes give it a dip there to clean off the excess mud.

Had my bmx for years, never cleaned it once

FS mtb – cleaned properly every ride (especialy the chain and cogs)
SS – hosed down and clean chain most rides
commuting road bike – properly cleaned 4 to 5 times a year
fancy road bike – cleaned most rides

seem to do alot of cleaning.. but round here, in the gritstone central, you need to or your kit wears out faster than you can imagine