How often should you wash your bike?
- Thread starter Anonymous1502
- Start date
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HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
Depends which bike and conditions as to how and how often mine are cleaned. The commuter I don't want to make to attractive so it gets a mechanical clean when it needs it. The good bike gets a more rigorous clean and needs it more often as my acceptance of dirt on that is lower 😂
Hover Fly
Lazy so and so
- Location
- Besides the lake, beneath the trees
I clean mine before every ride, personal pride, I would as soon ride a dirty bike as wear the same underkeks for three days.
PaulSB
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
You will receive many opinions on this my personal one is my bike should always be as clean as possible. Washing the bike is a good opportunity to examine it closely a spot any problems before they become serious. I'm also of the opinion clean components will perform better and more smoothly than those which are dirty and possibly clogged with grime, oil, dust etc.
I get great pleasure from riding a clean bike and driving a clean car. I clean my bike with hot soapy water weekly, dry it and polish with Mr Sheen.
You mentioned oil or grease on the back of your leg. If it's the right leg this tells me your chain and perhaps cassette and chain ring need cleaning.
I keep these spotlessly clean. First you need to degrease and thoroughly clean the chain, cassette, chain rings and jockey wheels. Then lube the chain with one small drop of lube on each roller. Allow it to dry and wipe of any excess.
After each ride wipe your chain clean with a cotton rag to remove dirt, oil etc. Use the same rag every time and a little of the oil residue will transfer back on to the chain surfaces to help keep them clean. Wiping the chain like this prevents build up of dirt on the chain which gets transferred to the cassette and rings. It takes two minutes.
If I have been out in wet weather on dirty roads I sluice down the cassette and chain rings with water. Again 2-3 minutes.
If you find dirt is building up degrease again but this is probably only necessary every 8-10 weeks.
In my view this treatment makes a significant difference to the performance of the components and reduces wear.
I use Chain Juice Ceramic all year round. A bottle lasts 18-24 months.
Juice Lubes Ceramic Chain Juice https://g.co/kgs/o3u7Nt
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fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Presumably that one comes around a bit more often than Halley's comet does.I clean mine regularly - each time Haley's Comet is due.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
What kind of fool only wears their skiddies for 3 days?
Salty seadog
Space Cadet...(3rd Class...)
HMS_Dave
Grand Old Lady
Both of my bikes are steel. So if its wet when i come back i just wipe it down with a rag. Other than oiling the moving parts, i don't fart about with it. I did re-grease my wheel bearings on my fat bike in time for winter though, good thing that as they were as dry as a bone!
Salty seadog
Space Cadet...(3rd Class...)
I thumb my nose at your three day's sir.
slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
I ride on the roads. I can't remember when I last washed the bike. It doesn't look filthy to me so that's good enough.
Brandane
Legendary Member
- Location
- Costa Clyde
Mine gets cleaned every time the OP asks a question. Every 100 questions it gets a full strip down and rebuild. It's spotless and running sweet!
Supersuperleeds
Legendary Member
- Location
- Leicester
Just before it goes into the bike shop for some work on it.
Oops
Would that be the comet discoved by Bill Haley when he was rocking around the clock?
