cleaning my bike

[guitarsark]

Here's a question that's probably been posted 1000 times already: Is it safe to hose off my bike with water to get the mud off? I have an aluminum frame and my bike got extremely muddy this week. I used soap and water and some pedro's degreaser then hosed the bike off with water. can i do any damage to the frame or parts? what do others do? thanks.

[SloMoJo]

Hiya Karen,
You gonna get some purist who never spray water under pressure on their bike. Brush off the dry mud and such.

I wash my bike all the time with a hose. Soft brush and soapy water. Also get a thin brush for the gears and hard to reach spots.(like this one http://pricepoint.com/product753.html ) Take your cyclometer off too.

Dry what you can then lube the gears, chain, and derailers to prevent any rust. All done in 10 mins & ready to go again.

I don't use degreaser when washing the bike. I use degreaser in the park chain cleaning tool. (Great tool, I use 2x a month). I also used degreaser when I took the gears apart for a serious cleaning just once this spring. The right brush and soapy water will clean the gears up pretty well. (Dawn liquid soap)

Cuz of all the mud, I have had to clean my bike after every ride this spring so far.
Good luck
-Slo

ps...So, did you get any of those upgrade parts you were thinkin about? and did you fix the play in your front fork?

[AA]

This could help.......

http://www.nemba.org/yabbse/index.ph...;threadid=1134

[I Are Baboon]

[quote author=SloMoJo link=board=10;threadid=2002;start=0#13627 date=1054732459]


I wash my bike all the time with a hose. Soft brush and soapy water.
[/quote]

I'm with SloMo. I hose the **** out of my bike then towel dry it and lube it up. ;D If anything rusts or begins to grind because of water, I'll just replace it. I use a toothbrush on the hard-to-reach places every third or fourth ride.

[Jisch]

I use a hose all the time as well to knock off the dirt wherever I can get it. I try to not spray into stuff, but I'm not overly cautious. After it dries I oil the chain.

Every 2 or 3 weeks I'll do a thorough clean job with a bucket of water, a rag, a brush and the chain cleaner (that citrus cleaner stuff works great on the chain).

I would advise against using a power spray at a carwash, I've seen people doing that. Its got to push water into the bearings etc.

John

[knucklebuste]

I notice that some of the chromed allen bolts get rusty. So I'm such a fanatic I take some qtips and put a lil WD40 or some 3in1 oil and dab the bolts. Anything that moves, apply a little lube too. Id also degrease your chain every 10 hours and relube. I usually spray a bunch of wd40 inside the cap that comes with the can, use a toothbrush, not the one you brush with and clean the chain, dipping the toothbrush in the wd40 and brushing the chain, gears, cogs, etc. Then wipe the chain with a rag, and LUBE IT UP. You'll be good.

Oh yeah. Get a Kona. They are easier to clean.
knuck

[Dawgee]

Knuckle i thought you would just do wheelie drops off the Hover dam and wash it that way?

[knucklebuste]

No man, I'm not that good. I meticulously clean my bikes slowly. Kona's like that. knuck

[Dawgee]

Oh you make love to your bike while cleaning i get it . Nothing wrong with that as long as the clothes stay on LOL

[JimmyTwoTimes]

I hose down my bike after each muddy ride and towel dry it. I use compressed air or a leaf blower to ensure complete dryness around the rust-sensitive areas such as the chain or allen bolts. Use caution though because you can dry out the wheel bearings if you get too close with the air. That's why I stand at a distance, usually 3-4 feet away. Within 1-2 minutes, the bike is completely dry. At this point, I WD-40 or 3-in-1 oil everything that moves.

Jimmy