Cleaning the Bike

A Bucket of water, dish soap and a sponge. Just make sure not to use a hose to wash off the soap. Fill another bucket with clean water and pour it over the frame. After you dry everything off relube your chain and you're off! 🙄

redmarkerdown said:

Im new to cycling and want to know the proper ways to clean a bike, such as what to clean and how often and anything you guys know that I don't.

Thanks

one statement of advice. DON'T PUT WATER ANYWHERE NEAR BEARINGS.

Oh yeah, do what CGuru said and degrease, relube your chain.

Bobby when I clean my bikes I use Dawn Dish Soap and it works great at degreasing the chain with no harmful solvents needed when using corse side of the sponge.

I forgot to mention to be careful if you have rims that are hollow like 52mm rims or similar. They will fill with water. It is always a good idea to take off your wheelset and clean separately with a wet/damp microfiber towel and nothing more. Then use rubbing alcohol and a rag to clean your breaking surface. You wheels will look brand new and your bearings will stay dry too. 🙄

bobbyOCR said:

one statement of advice. DON'T PUT WATER ANYWHERE NEAR BEARINGS.

Oh yeah, do what CGuru said and degrease, relube your chain.

Can someone recommend a good chain lube?

I'm using a lubricant spray that comes with teflon. Most of the time i just spray it on and give the chain a wipe to remove some grit. Give a second spray and wipe of excess..

I do it pretty regularly so i don't really need to do the major chain cleaning.

As to how much lubricant to put, too much and too little is not good. Too little would cause your parts to wear out, too much would be just unecessarily messy. As long as the chain doesn't squeak and the cogs aren't shiny, you've lubed up good.

What type of oil and mineral do you use?

You know what I do...every now and again, on a morning commute,
- I leave home about 15 mins early
- carrying a bottle of Prolink lube in my back-pack...
- stop on the way to work at one of those Jet-Wash places where you wash your car with high-pressure wand...
- wash the bike with the high pressure hose but don't pull the trigger...
use it on low pressure only...using the soap then rinse off.
- apply chain lube and ride to work
- wind always dries the bike

Aussie Steve said:

You know what I do...every now and again, on a morning commute,
- I leave home about 15 mins early
- carrying a bottle of Prolink lube in my back-pack...
- stop on the way to work at one of those Jet-Wash places where you wash your car with high-pressure wand...
- wash the bike with the high pressure hose but don't pull the trigger...
use it on low pressure only...using the soap then rinse off.
- apply chain lube and ride to work
- wind always dries the bike

Why not add in the morning shower while you're at it? 😄

Aussie Steve said:

You know what I do...every now and again, on a morning commute,
- I leave home about 15 mins early
- carrying a bottle of Prolink lube in my back-pack...
- stop on the way to work at one of those Jet-Wash places where you wash your car with high-pressure wand...
- wash the bike with the high pressure hose but don't pull the trigger...
use it on low pressure only...using the soap then rinse off.
- apply chain lube and ride to work
- wind always dries the bike

This coming from a guy who's sig says why clean your bike, its just gonna get dirty.

I recommend Finish Line or Rock N' Roll Gold. instead of water I use an expanding-foamy type car interior cleaner made by Kitten, which does a good job of cleaning and doesn't put water anywhere. I also use a natural spray on (once again, expanding foam type) 3 in 1 degreaser which doesn't degrease really but cleans grease stains off the frame, works beautifully

See also
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=85