Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 50 total)
  • Pressure Washing – Yes or No?
  • tpbiker
    Free Member

    As the title suggests, how many of you pressure wash your bikes and does it really do damage?

    I live in a flat so have a Mobi pressure washer, always a bit wary about using it around any bearings/suspension but no other way to clean a filthy bike before putting it in my hallway!

    Rorschach
    Free Member

    Bucket+Spongey.
    Its not the pressure washer that does the damage…its the idiot holding it.

    lucien
    Full Member

    I use pressure washer – just careful where I point my hose 😯

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    sambob
    Free Member

    Just don’t aim it at any bearings or the forks, should be fine.

    69er
    Free Member

    Yes, with care.

    nammynake
    Free Member

    Yes, as above just taking care around bottom bracket and fork/shock seals. Stand back a couple of metres until the pressure isn’t so high. Never had a problem with it myself.

    SOAP
    Free Member

    Yes till an inch of its life.(joke) If I had a garage or a house come to think of it I might use a sponge.
    But to be honest I ain’t got the time

    boxfish
    Free Member

    Nah. Bucket and soapy sponge, with a standard hosepipe for rinsing.

    stevewhyte
    Free Member

    I always go to the local garage with the bike on the rack after a run.

    £1 gives me 1.5mins on hot shampoo and 1.5 mins of water.

    The spray is pretty wide, the dangerous thing about a pressure washer is the narrow jet that can strip pant and get into bearings.

    Works well for me. I hate having a dirty bike, i think not cleaning a bike does more harm than a jet wash.

    Just add GT 85 when home.

    loum
    Free Member

    Flip the bike over and aim the jetwash at the tyres, see how fast you can make the wheel spin. Strangely satisfying and fun.

    nammynake
    Free Member

    …then spray the other side of the wheel to bring it to a halt 🙂

    messiah
    Free Member

    No, mud is a protective coating. Only time I jet wash is if I’m selling stuff :mrgreen:

    elaineanne
    Free Member

    nope !!!!!! you will ruin your bike…. 😥

    Trimix
    Free Member

    Jet wash it. Save loads of time, keep it spotless and do it in a min or two. You will find it very very difficult to jet wash the grease out of your bearings.

    Think about it, unless you actually jetwash the bearings directly for ages you are not going to remove the grease from them.

    But spraying the bike generaly will clean the crap off it in seconds.

    Ive done it for 10 years and dont find I replace bearings. Using lots of Muc Off will remove grease, not jet washing.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Spray the mud n crap off the bike and go for light spray and brush round the bearings and shock

    mrhow
    Free Member

    I personally, never risk it. I’ve worked on so many bikes that are destroyed due to jet washers.

    stevewhyte
    Free Member

    Destroying a bike with a jet wash, maybe the jetwash from an F-15 Eagle but not a pressure washer.

    oxnop
    Free Member

    I remember reading somthing where Santa Cruz ran 2 identical bikes which were ridden at same time in same conditions (when new VPP was released). One was washed after every ride the other just brushed off.

    The bike that was washed required it’s bearings/linkages replacing ahead of the other.

    I still wash mine though (only with a hose mind)

    nuke
    Full Member

    No but then the only thing that gets cleaned on my bike are the drivetrain and the fork stanchions.

    mrhow
    Free Member

    New rear gear cable, new bottom bracket, new headset bearings and full rear hub bearings. True story.

    skywalker
    Free Member

    Don’t do it, no matter what them goons say up there ^ it is no good for your bike.

    bobgarrod
    Free Member

    If it’s a mobi i can’t seeing it doing any damage – not powerful enough

    Cougar
    Full Member

    new bottom bracket,

    How does one wash the grease out of sealed cartridge bearings?

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Could I do a wee hijack please? How much water does a Dirt Worker hold?

    Does the Mobi one hold more?

    Thanks. 🙂

    DaveVanderspek
    Free Member

    Don’t use a pressure wash if you’re a bit thick or a clumsy oaf, if you have a bit of common sense then you will be fine.

    shortbread_fanylion
    Free Member

    No need in my opinion. Watering can or a garden hose used carefully is all you need.

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    Hmmm…mixed response so far!

    I’d rather use a garden hose but don’t have access to one, and a bucket isn’t massively practical since I have to put my filthy bike in the back of my car due to having a car that can’t take a bike rack.

    I imagine the Mobi on a lowinsh setting (it goes from 50-140 psi) would be ok, as long as I stay away from firing straight into the linkage bearings and BB, although ironically that exactly wear the mud all gathers.

    And for the person who asked above, mobi holds 15 litres, does 2 bikes when a bit muddy, or 1 when its clogged with dirt.

    Thanks for the responses!

    druidh
    Free Member

    I have one of the wee Mobi V15s and the power out of it is no more than I get from mains pressure at home.

    c_g – as the man says, you’ll get a couple of bikes reasonably clean with one tank full.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    normally just use the hose but on occasion I’ll break out the pressure washer, only takes a small amount of common sense to to frig the bearings, people can be a bit alarmist, it’s only squirty water…

    DickBarton
    Full Member

    Get to b&q and get a length of hose and tap attachment…you then have a hose that goes on kitchen tap, out a window and to the bike.

    Brush off the main mud and wash in bath/shower.

    Bucket and sponge.

    Jetwash is fine, just be prepared for more frequent maintenance and servicing.

    monkeyboyjc
    Full Member

    nope – i just use a bit of muc off / degreaser and then the standard garden hose on a tight spray setting followed by a bucket and sponge/brush if needed.

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    A Mobi or Dirtworker isn’t really a jetwash is it…I think you’d struggle to do any damage with it. Almost certainly less pressure a metre from the trigger than you would get from a garden hosepipe.

    A 240v home jetwash or garage jetwash (shudders) is another story and aimed in the wrong place, would probably sort out any degreasing issues you have.

    (thinking about it, I spent half a day getting filthy repacking 4 trailer wheel bearings before Christmas…should’ve just used the jetwash!)

    supercyril
    Free Member

    MotoX riders have been pressure washing bikes for years. Better a pressure washed clean bike than a dirty one.

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    I think people are overestimating how powerful the little portable pressure washers are. Proper jet washers are a no-no, but riding through a big puddle will do more damage to your BB than a Mobi etc. They’re no more powerful than a garden hose and you can vary the spray speed if you’re really worried.

    hugor
    Free Member

    What about the jet washers you see at trail centres?
    Given they’re put there for that purpose do you think they’re ok to use?
    Most of the ones that I’ve used are on a spray setting rather than jet.

    steveh
    Full Member

    As others have said your mobi washer will be fine as it’s not a pressure washer, use it as you wish with no worries.

    RustyMac
    Full Member

    I got a mobi V-15 for christmas and one of my concerns was about the pressure it would pump the water out at. I was plesently suprised to find it is almost exactly the same as get from my mains water.

    Living in a flat as well, being able to quickly rince the bike down after riding saves alot of faf droping the hose out the window when I get home.

    bspoked
    Free Member

    Inspired by this thread I just tried to wash my bike for the first time in two years without using a jet wash. Pah, how do you get the tyres clean?

    Maybe if I had a workshop, garage or even a garden. Jet wash clean is the only way to put it back in an apartment.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    tpbiker/druidh – thanks for your replies. I have a Dirt Worker that was rarely used but am now having to drive to ride so it’s been going in the car too.

    Bike was extremely muddy yesterday and was disappointed with the pressure I was getting with it, used plenty of water too. Hence my question about the Mobi, whether it was an improvement on the Dirt Worker.

    stevewhyte
    Free Member

    Its amazing how diverse opinion is on this, on one hand i have je washed bikes for nearly 30 years since i got my first race bike without any issues.

    And on the other people whose bike will fall apart even if you go to halfords and look at pressure washer boxes.

    There must be some pretty crappy bikes made these days. Any bike that cant take a few mins with a pressure washer really is not up to much.

    Keep up the good work.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 50 total)

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