How often do you wash your bike in the winter honestly?

[palinurus]

Not often. Outside in the cold, quick wash of the front rim and brake blocks (still on rim brakes), wipe chain, relube. Done, back inside for tea.

Might skoosh down the whole thing if roads have been salted, but a rinse rather than a clean.

 

[Cathryn]

Barely ever. At the end of the season maybe. I actually did mine last week but only because she was going indoors for my new career as a zwifter.

 

[Mrs M]

Usually just rub over with GT85.
Got into trouble a few years ago when I took a bike in for a service for over washing!

 

[Peter Salt]

Barely ever. At the end of the season maybe. I actually did mine last week but only because she was going indoors for my new career as a zwifter.

Pop in: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/zwift-bkool-splitter-chat.215190/

 

[wafter]

Blimey, so you ride hardly ever ! You'd be buggered in Manchester !

I certainly don't ride as much as I'd like, although usually the rain's only a small factor..

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

If it gets especially muddy - either from a single ride or as an accumulation of several - then I give it a good hose down with the hosepipe

This clearly leave it covered in water which will cause rust
About a year ago I came up with the idea of drying it with the leaf blower which works pretty well - basically just blows the water off - at least mostly
every few weeks I drip some extra lube of wome kind over the chain then wind it round through the gears

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I'm a mainly commuting cyclist, in Scotland: the bikes get washed couple of times in summer, between rain showers.
The main commuter gets a quick bucket wash in the living room after riding on gritted roads; a towel dry, squirt of GT85, wee bit of oil on chain after a particularly heavy soaking.
The ice bike, very important for me that it stays functional, gets rims wiped often, crud wiped off after every ride.
I have a garden tap and a hose, but, apart from the constant stormy weather, I need to keep the hose inside during winter and the tap covered with insulation, or they would freeze.

 

[sevenfourate]

If it gets especially muddy - either from a single ride or as an accumulation of several - then I give it a good hose down with the hosepipe

This clearly leave it covered in water which will cause rust
About a year ago I came up with the idea of drying it with the leaf blower which works pretty well - basically just blows the water off - at least mostly
every few weeks I drip some extra lube of wome kind over the chain then wind it round through the gears

Dedicated / keen car detailers have been using leaf blowers or pet dryers for years to dry cars. Great idea 👍

I do the same. On cars, my motorcycle and on the bikes. Gets 90% of the drying job done painlessly in a minute or so 😎

 

[mustang1]

Road bike doesn't get ridden in wet weather anymore. It still picks up road crud but not much so it doesn't get cleaned.

MTB gets a quick hose down after a mud ride but that's just to get the main clumps of mud off. If the bike is lucky and I'm not cold, then I may even apply chain lube.

 

[steveindenmark]

The car wash round the corner from work has a tap with soapy water, buckets and brushes. I could clean my bike every day for free if I wanted

 

[Deleted member 26715]

The car wash round the corner from work has a tap with soapy water, buckets and brushes. I could clean my bike every day for free if I wanted

But you sensibly choose not to

 

[AndreaJ]

The roads here in Shropshire are filthy at the moment so the bike gets rinsed off after most rides before the mud dries on it and chain gets wiped with a rag if it’s wet. Seem to be fighting a losing battle with the mud though, bike, car and dogs all need cleaning!!

 

[slowmotion]

I don't do rocks, stumps or mud. The bike get's cleaned if I think it might be seen by any OCD aquaintances who might be offended, ie rarely.

 

[Rusty Nails]

At the community workshop I volunteer at we get some absolutely filthy bikes in, with people complaining that things like their front derailleurs don't work properly when we can't even see the derailleurs because of the mud covering them.

They are surprised when we tell them we will have to charge for cleaning their bikes before we start even charging for the work done.

I am not anal about a clean bike but I do rinse my bikes down after rides in this awful weather simply because it makes it so much easier to look after it.

 

[I like Skol]

How often do you wash your bike in the winter honestly?

Never. Well, hardly ever.

Last washed my commuter bike nearly two years ago, just before riding LEJOG, because, you know?
MTB and best carbon Sunday road bike get done once or twice a year at most and it does them no harm.