http://www.teamsky.com/gallery/0,27401,17545_7649869,00.html#photo=0

There was an article about one of the teams cleaning regimes on BR (could have even been Sky) last year, it was a near identical procedure, and took about 5 minutes per bike!

The “cut down water bottle filled with degreaser” is a cool idea.

That looks exactly like the methodical and thorough deep cleansing my bike will be receiving at about 11.30 tonight when I get back in from post night ride beers. 😀

Yep that’s pretty much the same I do after I use my bikes

Surely they’ve heard that jet-washing a bike will make it disintegrate before your eyes?

these boys need some STW wisdom before they run out of bikes

Tis what I do too, apart from I use diesel, and dont bother poloshing it or lubing the chain until I next go out.

Isn’t that how all bikes get cleaned?

…apart from the jetwash bit, which is ok if you can replace or repair stuff on an as needed basis.

My chain cleaning technique consists of turning the bike upside down, gripping the chain with a manky old wet rag and turning the cranks. Pay attention Sky.

Plus won’t they be using ceramic bearings which don’t need as much/any lube? That and the bike had Di2 stuff, so no cables to lube/wash lube out from.

The more I think about it the more I want a garrage with a compressed air supply, everytime I go in there at the moment I seem to do a job while thinking “this would be easier if….”.

That procedure is pretty much what all pro-team mechanics do, not just Sky. 10 mins per bike, leave them out to dry and by the time you’ve degreased and washed each bike, the first one is dry and ready for it’s full check and lube.

Some mechanics use a spare hub or a chain roller device while they’re splashing degreaser over the chain, saves the degreaser going into the freehub body. Wheels get sold off after a season anyway so they’re not that bothered a lot of the time.

morgan blue, morgan blue, must buy morgan blue.

“Other lubes and cleaners are available…….” 😀

what a great way to completely f*ck your chain?? (this goes against all the technical advice issues by Shimano and KMC)

hope they are replacing these chains very regularly!

and the idiot using the air compressor hose to “dry” the bikes really should put on some eye protection…really stupid behaviour, the air comes out of the gun at 100mph+ and can shoot / ricochet grease and dirt into your eyes before your blink reflex can react.

I work with compressed air all day drying bike parts, and cleaning (never “degreasing”) bike chains 😉

I lightly sprinkle water to rinse the bike down no higher than the split in the seat tube and no higher than half way up the headtube. soaping down shifters,bar tape and letting the soap/chemicals pour down the back of the stem and into the headset.. then down through the frame into the bb shell is just over doing it.

The air is a joke too. Its so easy to dislodge grease to where its useless. Who taught the guy to do that?! I got my dads spray painting air line when I was about 11 and dried the bmx off. Aimed it at the rear hub and the grease flew out all over the stays!

That was 28 years ago.. not 28 days ago!

The clearance for the back wheel is rubbish. No wonder they get so muddy.

the best clean my bike ever got was when I leaned it against the sofa and it fell over leaving some dirt on the armrest

I must say I’d like a source of compressed air for various purposes but I’m not impressed with filling a small workshop with aerosol polish from umpteen bikes – still I suppose it means he won’t need to worry about his pension.

I worry about getting degreaser in the jockey wheels and the bb.

how do people clean there rear mechs?

My chain cleaning technique consists of turning the bike upside down, gripping the chain with a manky old wet rag and turning the cranks. Pay attention Sky.

Me too – about once every 3 months. 😆

hope they are replacing these chains very regularly!

Of course they are, every couple of days.

Who taught the guy to do that?! I got my dads spray painting air line when I was about 11 and dried the bmx off. Aimed it at the rear hub and the grease flew out all over the stays!

Well that’s how all Pro Tour bikes are done, and yet I can’t remember the last time I saw one splattered with grease from the hubs…

As said above many teams will use ceramic bearings which need much less lubricant anyway. But as they clean 20 bikes a day to showroom standard I suspect they’re a bit better at it than you 🙂

I work with compressed air all day drying bike parts, and cleaning (never “degreasing”) bike chains

How do you clean a chain without degreasing it (and why wouldn’t you degrease it)? Honest question, not trolling.

excuse me while I stop looking after my databases to tell the pro mechanics how to wash a bike…what do they know!

only on the tinternet 🙂

How do you clean a chain without degreasing it (and why wouldn’t you degrease it)? Honest question, not trolling.

You want lube (or grease) inside the rollers of a chain, degreasing too thoroughly strips all that out, which is what makes a chain noisy. For that reason KMC specifically say not to use a chain bath type cleaner on their chains.

I worry about getting degreaser in the jockey wheels and the bb.

how do people clean there rear mechs?

for chainrings and cassette on bike cleaning I use neat degreaser and a wee brush – I find the aerosol ones tend to go places you dont want, like jockey wheel bearings BB etc, whereas a small brush, some agitation and a rinse does the job. Remember to put a drop of chain lube onto the jockey wheel bearings at the end – keeps them running quiet and smooth.

I think the big difference between how the pro guys do it and how we ‘should’ is that they are driven by short term performance and appearance, where we are driven (or at least i am) by both performance and longevity of components, hence whey it is easy to question their use of jetwashes and airlines

You want lube (or grease) inside the rollers of a chain, degreasing too thoroughly strips all that out, which is what makes a chain noisy. For that reason KMC specifically say not to use a chain bath type cleaner on their chains.

Understood, but that’s why I lube my chain after degreasing, rinsing & drying it. Still fail to see the problem here?

cleaning bikes? what mountain bikes? freaks.

the mud falls off when its dry, the chain will only need attention if i have been riding through a river, or “summer” as its commonly known.

Understood, but that’s why I lube my chain after degreasing

But the point is that lube inside the chain isn’t a problem, and by flushing it all out you may not actually be putting enough back in.

Or something, but most of us degrease our chains because of what it looks like on the outside, which is irrelevant.

when I degrease my chain, after every two or three rides on my road bikes, i individually lube the top of every roller, so it sinks down through the roller. I imagine thats how sky do it too.

loving the stubby lube straw, never thought to do that

Whilst I agree with the advice of leaving the sticky factory lube on (inside) the chain as long as you can there comes a point where it’s going to get grit in it and become a grinding paste and accelerate wear – I really don’t see an option at that point but to degrease and use lube for the rollers 9and accept you’ll need to do it regularly after that – unless you use a wax bath type lube I guess).

And some people on this thread need to understand there’s a different requirement on pro team bikes than the general public have…

But the point is that lube inside the chain isn’t a problem, and by flushing it all out you may not actually be putting enough back in.

Or something, but most of us degrease our chains because of what it looks like on the outside, which is irrelevant.

I guess I just assume if there’s loads of crap on the outside of the chain, there’s likely to be some on the inside too. Oh well, probably labouring the point now but I think I’ll just stick with the degrease & re-grease theory 🙂

cleaning bikes? what mountain bikes? freaks.

the mud falls off when its dry, the chain will only need attention if i have been riding through a river, or “summer” as its commonly known.

+1

I’ve started using the Scott oiler lubing system and it works a treat, nice clean cassette all the time with a nice lubed chain.

i individually lube the top of every roller

😯

Do people really do this?!

‘Degreaser’? Cheap bathroom mousse does the job nicely. Learnt not to use carpet shampoo though, tends to suck the grease out of your freehub/BB. Peanut shaped floor scrubbing brush for the chain and a simple kitchen sink sponge to rub the dirt off everything else and then to drench the bike in water to wash it all off. A flat headed screwdriver applied to a spinning jockey wheel removes the hard stuff and TF2 to re-lube the drivetrain. 5min job.

i individually lube the top of every roller

Do people really do this?!

Umm, I do! Takes 30 seconds.

Do people really do this?!

yep

lucozade bottle and degreaser to clean my chain, both in the bottle shake rinse repeat, chain over radiator to dry, back on bike and lube every roller. Gotta love power links.

Gotta love power links

if you can release them 👿

if you can release them

squeeze together (laterally) and slide, since I was told that technique I’ve not had trouble. Used to struggle before tho.

Surely ‘that’ technique is just ‘the’ technique? How else can you do it?

On the subject of cleaning one of the old 70s cycling films from the Danish director starts with a mechanic using the same brush/pot of degreaser technique so it’s not new!

EDIT : A Sunday In Hell:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ktTXjSqvJc[/video]