[Closed] The sad pleasure of cleaning the bike

I don't mind cleaning a bike, and I love having a clean bike. Its the knowledge that I have to clean a bike that isn't enjoyable.

always clean my bike after every ride, it's then ready for the next one. Perhaps I've got OCD ?

Could you post up a pic of your shiny clean BFe please? Looking for some inspiration as i'm building one up next month.

I really enjoy it. The aftercare bit is all part of it for me. I hate riding with a dirty bike. If i go away for the weekend i take cleaning stuff with me 🙂 ok maybe i have OCD ha ha

Spray wash at the petrol station of the super markets is good for this in winter. Cost a couple of quid but it's heated and you can line 4 or so bikes up and do them in one hit.

I wish I had cleaned my bike after my last ride. To be fair, I came back from the ride with a stinking cold and coughing up blood so just went straight to bed.

Just been down to look at it:

[img] http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=1fq4nl&outx=800&quality=70 [/img]

I got to clean one of my bikes during the last thaw but the hose is frozen again. If I was determined enough I suppose I could dig out the dirtworker and use that but in all the snow they just aren't getting very dirty. I know I should wash off the salt but I worry about all the water freezing and seizing everything.

I don't clean my bike after every ride, but eventually I do mint the bike up and use WD40 on all the black bits which makes them look brand new again, wheels, frame etc. Not proper sad! Just a little!

tk46hal ? eh ? you use WD40 on your frame ? are you mad ? please dont use it on the stanchions whatever you do !!!!!

Good to hear I'm not the only one 🙂

@stevede here's some so-so photos of the Bfe - http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cotic-bfe-assessment-after-week-1#post-1441642

Lots and lots of fun to ride.

Loving my BFe as well 🙂

[IMG] [/IMG]

WD40 has its place, though I prefer GT85. Spray liberally after cleaning to disperse the water, (avoiding brakes obviously) then I lube the chain immediately before I ride.

Its common to use WD40 to shine up the frame and clean components as well.

I know a couple of people who used to add a few drops of chain lube to their fork stanchions, turned out it was causing premature wear and the gold layer has worn off, they thought I was the mud at first. They do what I do now, fill an old lube bottle with fork oil and use that instead.

Personally, my bike cleaning involves hose-piping off all the mud, GT85 on the drivetrain, saddle clamp, seatpost clamp, shifters and anything else I want to keep shiny. Its quite rare for the bike to actually see a sponge and car shampoo. (don't use any of that bike specific stuff like shit shifter)

I find the best time to clean it is when I've just ridden home, even if that's just a quick hose down and a splash of GT85 & chain lube.

tom - Valves and logos! Even the pedals aren't level. Go back and try again pleae

mcinnes - nice build you have there, looks loads of fun to rag around.
_tom_ - good to see a gritstone BFe as thats the colour i'm going to go for, my build will be black 454 u turn pikes which i'm going to stealth up with some black decals,slx cranks with mix of xt and slx group,hope tech v2's,thomson post,521's on pro 2's,wide bars,short stem. Can't wait to build it up, got most of it already apart from the frame which i'll be getting next month.

Summer, yes it's almost therapeutic, Winter no, can't wait to get inside, cold enough after anything from 4 to 8 hours in minus whatever already thanks.

HT is SS now so I get far more winter cleaning pleasure that I used to as it's only 10 mins on average.

Steve you'll have fun, it's a really nice frame. To be honest it doesn't feel particularly special or anything, it just has that feeling like you're the limiting factor rather than the bike, if that makes any sense. With my Trailstar I always felt it was a bit twitchy at speed and so it was knocking my confidence but I don't even think about the bike when I ride this 😀 (apart from when the gears **** up like they did today 😡 )