How pristine is your bike?

[Globalti]

I'm as fastidious as Mr H with the road bike, though I only remove and clean the jockey wheels when they begin to accumulate crud. Otherwise, car shampoo, clean and re-face brake blocks and pick out grit, clean chain about every 300 miles in white spirit, allow to dry and re-lube. I would polish the frame but car polish leaves a chalky mark on matt paint and in any case the paint seems to have a teflon-like water repellancy about it. I will try Mr Sheen. I actually polish the flat bits between the spokes on the rims of my Ksyrium SLs!

The Tricross is the mud and winter bike so it only gets a hose down, especially after a ride in salty conditions.

Big fettling session coming up this morning with my mechanically-inept cycling buddy's new Tarmac - we're going to cut down the steerer (borrowed a Park cutting guide from a neighbour) then service the steerer bearings, which are already getting manky. Have discovered a cheap local source of bearings - Specialized quoted me £60 for the pair!

 

[rbreid]

All my bikes bar one are plus 50 years old....what is this pristine that you talk of???????????????

 

[Hip Priest]

I've retired the winter bike and started riding the good bike for the last few weekends. This means giving it a full deluxe clean when I get it home! It is currently looking showroom fresh. Whereas ironically, when I retired it for winter, it got covered in mould in the garage and the chain started going rusty.

I clean and lube the mechanical parts of my commuter hybrid every weekend, but that's it. The rest of it is filthy.

 

[Soltydog]

My road bike is now about 7 years old & is showing signs of age with scratches & chips on the frame, & I like it like that. Its always kept reasonably clean though & on my last sportive I was complimented about its good condition. My tourer is about 3 years old now & despite being ridden for a few thousand miles its still pretty pristine, I wish it looked a bit more used, but I just cant help myself keeping it clean OCD???

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Bikes are just like the house , the car and the kids, in this life you have to keep things clean, or the neighbours will nudge nudge over the fence,, look at them they don't donkey stone their door step (northern thing, not sure if anyone actually has done this since 1965), and never wash there nets.
So if you want to be respectable get that bucket out and give the bike , kids and car a damn good wash and polish.

PS don't use the power washer on the bike or the kids as they don't seem to like it.

 

[mattobrien]

I tend to have a pragmatic approach to bike cleaning, probably brought on my having a wife and young children who also, and rightly, place demands upon my time.

The summer bike is very clean and doesn't go out in the wet. The wet weather and winter bike has had a bit of aupgradewell. It's easier to list the parts that were carried over, that the new bits. This is getting dried and cleaned after each ride, but only superficially, rather than a deep clean fully Monty version.

The mountain bike is still covered in mud from last Monday nights muddy adventure, it will get cleaned before this Monday, but I haven't squeezed it in yet. The chia has been cleaned though.

The pub bike, to be honest I don't really care about being pristine, so it is as it is. The dirtier it is, the less likely it will get stolen, well that's how it look at it anyway.

The Brompton needs a good clean too and it won't get used until it has had one. It live inside, so is at least dry and not rusting to bits.

Ideally I will give the MTB and Brompton a reasonable clean this weekend, but if have got transport a chest of drawers, chop some wood, do family things and ride tomorrow morning, so tee isn't looking like and enormous amount of fettling time available. If any of the super clean folk fancy a trip to suffolk, they are welcome to come and make the grubby steeds less so.

 

[young Ed]

I've retired the winter bike and started riding the good bike for the last few weekends. This means giving it a full deluxe clean when I get it home! It is currently looking showroom fresh. Whereas ironically, when I retired it for winter, it got covered in mould in the garage and the chain started going rusty.

I clean and lube the mechanical parts of my commuter hybrid every weekend, but that's it. The rest of it is filthy.

to stop mould and rust get some light oil and go crazy before you put it away literally put it everywhere and grease the hell out of that chain and cassette and jockey wheels and anywhere else that seems relevant!
when rebuilding old motor bikes that haven't run for 30+ years you often find all the old grease is what has saved it from rusting it's horrible to clean off when it has been standing for 30+ years but it is all worth it when you see a lot of sound solid good metal rather than big slabs of rust flaking off! i have found both but never on the same project

welllll my bike just gets a quick wipe down in the shed it is stored in with an old rag and then every few weeks it is thoroughly washed over with caravan wash stuff with a scrubbing brush and a couple sponges then i rebuild hubs and headstock after every few hundred miles
and touch up any bad chips and scratches with a little completely the wrong blue hammerite! and yes it is a rough and ready bike
Cheers Ed

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Hmm. Wonder if there's a business opportunity in offering a mobile bike cleaning and fettling service?

 

[young Ed]

Hmm. Wonder if there's a business opportunity in offering a mobile bike cleaning and fettling service?

its called helfrausds not mobile but maximum 10 miles away!
Cheers Ed

 

[young Ed]

might be a business plan if who ever did the work weren't monkeys!
Cheers Ed

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

A quick Google reveals there are loads of people already doing it.

 

[young Ed]

A quick Google reveals there are loads of people already doing it.

what service could i do next
i know the same as dog walking just bike riding!
Cheers Ed

 

[Hip Priest]

to stop mould and rust get some light oil and go crazy before you put it away literally put it everywhere and grease the hell out of that chain and cassette and jockey wheels and anywhere else that seems relevant!
when rebuilding old motor bikes that haven't run for 30+ years you often find all the old grease is what has saved it from rusting it's horrible to clean off when it has been standing for 30+ years but it is all worth it when you see a lot of sound solid good metal rather than big slabs of rust flaking off! i have found both but never on the same project

Thanks for the advice mate. I appreciate it.

 

[summerdays]

My bike is a state .... It's too depressing to clean it every night as it seems to pick uo so much crud every day (including horse muck like @the_mikey). I never notice if someone's bike is mucky when I pass, it's those that cycle with squeaky, badly maintained ones!

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Cleaned the Ribble yesterday, after a ride out round Aberford, Towton, Sherburn-in-Elmet, South Milford, etc....

Quite a lot of the roads around there see a fair amount of farm-traffic, so it was filthy out there!!
I called at http://www.squires-cafe.co.uk/index.asp for a cuppa, there was only about 6 m/bikes there (some of the rufty-tufty bikers must have driven, as there were another half-dozen cars there)

Once home, & myself sorted, I washed it, took me an hour or so

Then put it in basement utility room to dry off, & drive all the moisture out of the (scrubbed) drive-train

This morning, I finished it off by 'cotton-budding' the chain-rings (by mounting bolts) & jockey wheels....