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Bike cleaning and detailing...How do you clean yours?

7K views 68 replies 51 participants last post by  azhu 
#1 ·
Hey I'm wondering how everyone cleans the dust and road grime from their bikes? How do you keep your bike looking new? I was wondering if automotive cleaning supplies would work? Or are car paint and bike paint too un-similar
 
#35 ·
I think Simple green is a caustic solution and shouldn't be used around aluminum... caustic will eat aluminum. I used to use it spareingly, but I got some on a hub once ans it discolored the black anodizing.
I just use a little Dawn in a bucket of water and rinse well. The drivetrain I clean the chain off the bike and wipe the cogs and cassette with Gojo wipes to get the grime off.
 
#38 ·
I wet the chain down with lube after every ride, then wipe off the excess with a rag. Once a month use degreaser on the chain, cassette and front rings, then the whole bike with dishwashing liquid in bucket with water. Rinse off with hose and gentle stream, let dry and lube and ready to go.

My wife says I pay so much attention to the bike, I snap, she says I'm sensitive...I say leave me alone. It goes on and on. I would like to see a television reality series with pro riders and their wives that complain to them all day. "but you're always going for a ride". Don't listen to your wife.
 
#39 ·
The chain gets lubed every 100-200 miles or so.

I wash the bike once every 2 months during the summer, every month in the winter when it is wet. Low pressure hose, rags & some Simple Green car wash. I also pull the cassette and scrub it clean along with the chain. I dry the cassette and chain with high pressure air the lube the chain, cables and mechs.
 
#43 ·
I'm new to all this so I tend to be a bit over the top...
I use ArmorAll Orange Cleaning wipes on the frame and whees and then wipe it all down with a towel. I try to do this after every ride (anal - I know...). I cean my chain about every 250 - 300KM's - de-greaser and then re-lube with Pedro's Ice Wax 2.0. So far so good (and shiny and quite...)
 
#44 ·
I just tried the Pledge furniture polish based on previous posts. I purchased Pledge Wipes that are very convenient for a quick wipe down. The packet fits in my toolkit easily. It worked very well and smells good too. Gets my approval!

Easy Clean | Wipes | Pledge®

Target makes a generic equivalent for about a $1 cheaper (I think about $2.25 for package of 20 wipes). It's probably cheaper to buy the spray canister, but the wipes are really convenient.
 
#55 ·
Water, Windex and Elbow Grease. My bikes are matte finish natural carbon.

Pledge (never ever EV-AR) would ruin that, as would an automotive wax. However all you glossy paint jobs would benefit from Aerospace 303 Protectant, (Google it).

Get an old t-shirt and floss your cassette. I use dry lube on my chain and clean it after every 100 miles.

Citrus degreaser is the easy way out, until you realize you'll never get it off completely and will be counteracting relubification on your next ride. Use it sparingly at best.

You want your bike to look new? Take the time to keep it looking new. It usually takes 30 minutes to an hour to detail, especially after wet weather riding and sometimes I even q-tip my chain links, one-by-one but I'm crazy like that.

Tire gel is for cars, automotive wax.... is for cars. Get that Aerospace 303. Simple Green is good for cleaning mud off your tires but don't put it on your clear coat frames unless you eventually want to end up with a matte finish bike.

Use a #000000 steel wool only on sections of aluminum rim surfaces that have build up. Go too hard and your brakes will squeal.

That's all I got.

Cleaning is therapeutic.
 
#56 ·
I won't answer the how so much as the when. I clean a bike whenever I do maintenance on it. The only time I clean a bike immediately after a ride is if moisture was involved (raid, puddles, whatever). Otherwise, it just stays dirty until I decide I want to clean the wheels or the drivetrain, at which point the entire bike gets a complete lookover.
 
#57 ·
Simple Green can be safe

Simple Green makes many different solvants. There is Green, Blue, Purple, etc. Never use the purple, green seems to be ok if you use it sparingly. Blue is safe to use on carbon fiber and aluminum. So, that is what I use - along with a chain brush for the cassette and a tiling sponge for the chain itself. For the frame, I use Dove or any other dish washing detergent. Bleach spray for the saddle and handlebar tape.
All this takes about 10-15 minutes start to finish.
 
#61 ·
I clean my bike very precisely, first I lay a couple sheets of newspaper on the garage floor, put my bike in a stand. Next, I get an ice cold Miller Light out of the fridge and turn on some music :) Get my Nashbar chain cleaner tool and fill with degreaser and work on the chain. I then spray degreaser on the rear cassette and scrub that with a brush. As that is air drying I wipe down the entire frame with a rag and 409/Fantastic. Look at the chain, still not dry, walk back to fridge for a second Miller Light. Admire the clean frame. :) Lastly, I re-lube the chain and the derailer. Process done. I enjoy cleaning my bike, its part of the hobby and lets me appreciate my bike even more.
 
#62 ·
If the chain and sprockets are dirty enough that I need to use a carb or break cleaner they get sprayed down, than its an old windex bottle with water and a few drops of Meguiars gold soap, thoroughly wet everything down (bike, seat, bars...), than wipe clean with a terry towel, reapply if area's are real dirty, than spray bike again with another windex bottle filled with clean water than wipe with clean soft terry towel. Next if it has been a while a coat of Mequiars liquid gold wax or spray de-tailer. Than its time to lube the chain.
 
#68 ·
Hi folks, new here. Curious to know if anyone has any suggestions for safe degreasers on a carbon frame. I have a 2011 SuperSix 5, and am a bit concerned about degreaser (say, White Lightning) getting on the frame components. This, unfortunately, didn't occur to me until after the first wash where I was probably a bit liberal with the degreaser on the chain (with the chain on the bike). I never let the degreaser sit longer than maybe 10-20 seconds without a thorough rinse, but should I be concerned?
 
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