What would you say is the number one reason for cleaning your bicycle on a regular basis?

[gaijintendo]

If i never cleaned my wheels I'd probably miss the cracks forming around spokes. Counterintuitively, that seems to happen on wheels with steel eyelets.

 

[DCLane]

Found this whilst cleaning:

Always worthwhile ...

 

[screenman]

NO!!!!!!!

WHY!!!!

 

[Threevok]

Pressure washing a bike is like cleaning your old 78's with turps

 

[Rooster1]

Looking for faults - worn brake blocks, damaged chain, buckled wheel, frame issues etc

 

[Rooster1]

NO!!!!!!!

Just don't (Some say a Jetwash is no issue - I say (and a pro-mechanic friend) that jetwash water penetrates beyond the usual cavities and beyond)

 

[Deleted member 26715]

WHY!!!!

Cos it forces water where you really don't want water, headsets bottom brackets are the favourite places, they're designed to keep put passing water, not water under high pressure.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Found this whilst cleaning:

you'll be saying next there's something wrong with that, as kids we used to jump frames with worse

 

[screenman]

Pressure washing a bike is like cleaning your old 78's with turps

Please tell me why, I have been using a jet wash on my bikes for as long as I can remember certainly 40 years. I even use the jetwash on my shoes if I have had a muddy off road ride.

Remember it is the tool holding the tool that does the damage and this tool knows how to use a jetwash on his bikes.

 

[screenman]

Cos it forces water where you really don't want water, headsets bottom brackets are the favourite places, they're designed to keep put passing water, not water under high pressure.

Only if you are the sort of thick person who would point it directly at those points, even then you would have to leave it on a long time, used properly it does much the same as riding the bike in the rain.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzbpHGyFzc8

 

[fossyant]

Clean bikes break less and are easier to find issues when they do.

Less wear and tear on consumsbles like chains and cassettes.

I like clean stuff, my motorbikes are treated the same

This. Wouldn't have spotted a half snapped chain on the MTB without cleaning it. Clean bikes are the fastest, and just look good, you scruffy urchin.

 

[fossyant]

I don't think mine has had a clean this year, it spends enough time in the rain to get the bulk of the road muck off.

Another urchin

 

[screenman]

Just don't (Some say a Jetwash is no issue - I say (and a pro-mechanic friend) that jetwash water penetrates beyond the usual cavities and beyond)

Then your mechanic does not know how to use a jetwash, this guy knows it does his bikes no harm.

 

[Moodyman]

I'm of the view that cleaning is a part of maintenance. I clean any moving parts (derailleurs, chain, cables) before lubing them.

However, I share the view that maintenance is better than cleaning alone.

I know several car mechanics who drive tired looking cars, but under the hood, they are meticulously maintained.

Then, there's the motorists who take their car to the hand wash place every weekend but the bonnet rarely gets lifted for fluid checks.

 

[Threevok]

I use a garden sprayer - much less force than a jet washer, uses less water and better for the environment