im new to riding and i just got my self a nice new Swift. i need some advice on cleaning the bike after a ride…

is using high pressure water a bad idea in case it gets into the hub and damages the bearings?

any particular kind of oil/grease?

i’m thinking about buying a chain cleaner (park tools) as ive seen these and they’re quick and easy to use. any other tools?

cheers

Washing up liquid.
Sponge.
I do find the Park cassette/gear brush good as well.

IME experience chain cleaners are shite and waste of money/unnecessary.

I tend to use Rock & Roll and a towel every few rides if not too grubby or a hose down (not high pressure) and scrub with Fenwicks first if needs be.

Oil, rag, wd40, dashboard shine, paintbrush for dry dirt, toothbrush, small blade for sprocket jam, spot of degreaser.
Hose, bucket, washing up liquid and the dishbrush from the kitchen.
Dishwasher for chainrings etc, oven for rotors.

On my scandal raw, wire wool and duraglit…..

Washing up liquid/car shampoo, sponge, plastic bristle brush to get right in to the transmission and scrub it clean. Jay cloth/sponge to clean the chain.

Rinse off well afterwards, I’ve heard washing up liquid has salt in it, don’t want rust.

Lube up afterwards but don’t put too much on and make sure you wipe off excess, too much can attract dirt and clog up your transmission.

If you haven’t got one yet, get a SRAM powerlink to suit your chain (they come in 8,9 and 10 speed flavours). Makes it a doddle to pop the chain off for cleaning it in a jar of petrol/paraffin and easier to get at everything else while the chain is off.

SRAM powerlink

is that a quick release link? i think the chain has one already.

i suppose that means witht he chain off i can get at all the other parts…

I use muc-off or hope sh%t shifter as a cleaner detergent and it’s not bad, that and either a bucket of water or a hose or the mobi pressure washer I got (low pressure option on it) and some brushes.

In the end of the day unless your bike lives on a white carpet in the living room getting the crap off and wiping stuff down in generally enough. Lubing the moving parts is good with GT-85 etc and the chain with some chain lube. I have also got a can of stanchion lube for the fork/shock/droper post.

Just take care round bearings etc.

we all start like that. my advice, honestly would be to get to the “don’t give a s**t” stage as quickly as you can. at one point i was even taking chains off to clean them.. here’s where i am with cleaning, been riding mtbs about 15 years:

if it’s “nice” mud that rinses off, i just point hose at it, bounce bike to shake off water (picked this up from a guy in wales, nice one), and lube. go wash yourself.

if it’s not nice mud (kind that doesn’t rinse off), i leave it to dry and then it mostly falls off (this is only ok if you have somewhere dirty to keep bike!). go wash yourself.

life is too short (or i’m too lazy etc) for a thorough cleaning routine imho. real danger is it’ll stop you riding! so as long as chain doesn’t rust, that’ll do. fill your bolt heads with grease to stop them rusting. cleaning in general can do more harm than good.

edit: exceptions: if you think you might do any kind of work on the bike, clean it, don’t want dirt getting into parts etc. if you’re going to sell it, make that f***er shine.

avoid riding it, hang bike on wall-relax.

I put Pledge on my frame after cleaning as I find it helps with repelling dust etc on the next ride.

rinse the worst off with water let it dry then treat with Muc-Off or Dr Wack F-100 bikeclean using a sponge.Srub the chainrings and cassette with the Grunge Brush.Let the bike cleaning agent work then rinse off.I always take my 9 spd chain off and clean it seperatley.

SRAM powerlink

Just get a “proper” chain tool tbh. More expen£ive but works with many more chains and much more difficult to lose.

A bit of pre-ride prep works well:

The night before, if you can be so organised and already have to bike cleaned, spray a hefty load of WD40 (heaven forbid!) or similar stuff, onto a rag/sponge. Liberally wipe this all over the bits that get mostly covered in goop.

Obviuosly, keep it clear of bits that need to be sticky: brake pads/rotors, shifters, levers, grips…

It’ll dry off and leave a nice non-stick film.

Then post ride a gentle hosing will remove most of the gunk, no need for seal busting pressure washers, wierd chemicals and elbow grease.

captainscrumpy – Member
SRAM powerlink
Just get a “proper” chain tool tbh. More expen£ive but works with many more chains and much more difficult to lose.

If you want to remove your chain a lot use a power link. Constantly breaking it open will leave it weaker.

Don’t use washing up liquid, it has salt in it to help prevent water marks on your dishes – dishwashers have a salt container for this.

Valet Pro Bilberry wheel cleaner is the best stuff I’ve used, also is the best wheel cleaner out there. It’s non acidic so perfectly safe to use as often as you want.
I use a EZ Detail wheel brush to clean in the nooks and crannies.
The Bilberry wheel cleaning does a good job on the chain, but use kerosene now and then to give it a proper clean. Kerosene is recommended for motorbike chains as it won’t damage rubber seals and evaporates, so more than safe for MTB chains. Use a toothbrush and a spray bottle cap filled with kerosene to dip in.

If you want to be really anal, Autoglym Deep Ultra Shine is brilliant for polishing up, it’s also a sealant so will help make your bike easier to clean next time. Makes carbon bits super shiney!

quick rinse with a hose is pretty much any of mine ever get, if I’m feeling particularly generous I’ll put a few drops of oil on the chain too.

Cheers, Rich

Get a scottoiler and you’ll honestly never need to clean your chain, buy any wee tubs of chain oil or stop to lube ever. Simply squish once an hour or so as you ride.

Get home, wash bike with a garden hose, spray a little FS365 on metal parts and put bike away.

It’s so easy.

Its always best to wash the bike after a ride and do it by hand because your more likely to find that bust spoke, or loose wheel bearings than leaving it or blasting it with a pressure washer,and then finding faults out on the trail.

To wash my bikes a) Wet thoroughly

b) Spray bike with TFR Traffic film remover available from car part suppliers,much cheaper than main brand stuff but be careful on the water to additive mix

c) Let the cleaner soak in for a few minutes, fill up a bucket with hot water and add some CAR shampoo, NOT washing up liquid as it contains chemicals that corrode laquer, damage rubber seals and other bits on your bike
d) Using a good selection of bike brushes and starting at the seat work the shampoo into all parts of the bike until all muddy bits are done, pay more attention to drive chain and shifters etc.
e) Wash with a low pressure hosepipe
f) allow to dry lube up chain and your done…hth 😉

Baby Wipes are good for cleaning chains/drivetrain as they don’t tear and they’re cheap, warm water and a sponge for the rest.

I worry less about ‘clean’ than i used to. I don’t mind some water drying marks… or some dirt in a completely inacessible place.

Bit of a gentle hose, bit of a clean with car shampoo then worry about the inportant bits like drivetrain, shocks, and anything that needs to move or bob.

This year I’ve mainly been using a trowel for post ride cleaning.

Quick hose down after a ride, run a rag over the chain and use it to get most of the muck off the jockey wheels, then lube. Every few weeks a bucket full of hot water and car shampoo and a couple of dishwashing sponges. Toothbrushes/washing up brushes for the cassette etc.

If it’s really minging, chain off, into a sigg bottle with a bit of white spirit, shake, chainrings and cassette off for similar treatment in a bucket.

+1 if its cacked up,Gentle hose while mud is still wet,cassette tool to poke cack out of transmission ,bounce on floor, douse in gt85, wipe off excess ,if not too bad put in garage and forget, and have a brew.

You can clean bikes? Blimey! Every day’s a school day

weeksy – Member
I worry less about ‘clean’ than i used to. I don’t mind some water drying marks… or some dirt in a completely inacessible place.

How do you find time to ride!

MTB – if the mud is wet, bit of dilute Fenwicks or Muc-Off, brush to agitate, then hose off. Let dry then lube drive train (I use a wax chain lube, so not especially mucky). If really bad, take off chain (clean in neat Fenwicks) and cassette (clean in kitchen sink).

Internal geared Pompetamine with discs – wash once in a blue moon. Bought it as a low maintenance bike.

Edit: MTB takes about 10 mins.

Stick bike in workstand

Remove wheels and chain

Degreaser on the chainrings, stiff brush best to have a dedicated one for these jobs, repeat untill acceptably clean.

Bottle of cleaner (fenwicks etc), spray all over bike, leave for a few minutes to soak in.

Car shampoo + warm water + stiff brush (a clean one), gets all the mud and grime off, then repeat with a sponge.

Chain in a big jar or white spirits (family sized curry/pasta sauce works best). The spirits can be re-used indefinately, the crudd settles out.

Take the oily job brush and degreaser to the cassette (careful not to spray into the freehub), if you’re really fussy then run a rag betweeen the sprocets.

Clean the rims/spokes/hubs/tyres etc.

Re-assemble.

I usualy only do that once a month or if something’s broken and needs replaceing. Otherwise it’s a bottle of fenwicks sprayed on post ride, banter/beer, then dirtworker.

I use warm water and car shampoo with a sponge and brush to get the mud off the bike, garden hose low pressure to rinse. I also use a dry lube on the chain, which means it just needs wiping off and relubing after each ride. All this talk of degreasing worries me a bit! Dry lube also means that the chain and cassette etc don’t get caked in grinding paste courtesy of the local millstone grit, so all the cassette needs is a nylon washing up brush and the same car shampoo to get it back to sparkly.

I shake the water off the bike and give the whole thing a wipe down with a rag and some GT85 (avoiding pads and rotors obviously)

Personally, I just wack it in the lockup unless is really bad. If it’s bad, I run the hose over it while it’s still wet then wack it in the garage and lock it up. I go down later in the evening to lube up the chain once I’ve cleaned myself up.

(I’m a student) so when I go home and have proper space to clean I get the ld sponge, bucket and washing up liquid out and spend a morning stripping and cleaning the whole bike.

I also use a dry lube on the chain

What dry lube have people been using this ‘summer’? I had an attempt at moving to finish line dry in about June, but found it appeared to wash off about about ten minutes.

What dry lube have people been using this ‘summer’? I had an attempt at moving to finish line dry in about June, but found it appeared to wash off about about ten minutes.

I don’t think dry lube is the right option in this country. It’s always wet, from my experience it’s rare for me to complete a ride without conditions that dry lube would wash off in.

What dry lube have people been using this ‘summer’? I had an attempt at moving to finish line dry in about June, but found it appeared to wash off about about ten minutes.

I don’t think dry lube is the right option in this country. It’s always wet, from my experience it’s rare for me to complete a ride without conditions that dry lube would wash off in.

Putoline wax (the solid stuff that you have to melt ona camping stove).
upsides:
+ tenacious, lasts about a month unless it’s really really shitty.

downsides
-burnt hands/arms when you forget that it’s actualy very hot
-messy
-stinks
-ruins everything it comes into contact with apart from chains

There’s a small puddle of the stuff in the car park that’s not washed away in 3 years! It’s outlived some of the landlords tarmac repairs!

“I put Pledge on my frame after cleaning as I find it helps with repelling dust”

I hate you 😉

Rock n roll for drive train and when time allows a clean with hot water and sponges.

Gt85 will **** up any seals, rotors & pads if your not careful

Makes it a doddle to pop the chain off for cleaning it in a jar of petrol/paraffin and easier to get at everything else while the chain is off.

That’s a great way of stripping all the oil out of the rollers, which you then have to add back in.

Just clean the chain with a clean rag, lubricate, wipe off excess.

Clean what moves, ignore the rest.
Special attention to chain and drivetrain with a stiff brush and blast out with the hose, and brakes – soak all over the callipers with muc off and blast out with the hose. Get ALL muck away from suspension rotating and sliding parts.

Various post wash potions include WD40, clear grease round suspension pivots, light oil round suspension seals (wipe off before riding). I’m not getting into the chain lube debate.

Bear in mind that in singletrack forum universe, turning the bike upside down un-bleeds the brakes and “anyone else’s preferred detergent” is made of acid that dissolves metal (especially hardened bearings) in seconds. 😆

The salt in dishwash liquid is there as a thickener not as a rinse aid.

regarding the salt, do people avoid sweating on their bikes too?

I decided to give the hemlock a proper service clean after its alps trip, as it was fairly battered. Turned out to need t-cut and 1200 grit wet and dry to get some of the stains out of the white

So that’s my cleaning regime. Look after the worky bits. Every 2 years or so, attack with abrasives.

Some people here must spend longer cleaning and cooing over their bikes than riding them!