Bicycle Husbandry (cleaning)
Sean Drury
As a Bicycle mechanic I have learnt that it does not matter what bike you own, unless it is kept clean, well serviced and in good running order then cost, technology, aero and mechanical gains etc all become irrelevant!
The price of fun…
In an ideal world we would all have a bike for every occasion, unfortunately this isn’t always possible and we often find ourselves utilising the same bike for any number of on-road / off-road scenarios in both summer and winter; therefore a good cleaning and servicing schedule is vital if you want to keep your bike in good condition, and more importantly in good mechanical shape and functioning at its best for many years to come.
Bicycle Husbandry can loosely be split into two necessities - Cleaning & Servicing
Cleaning:
The requirement to keep your bike clean and shiny and aesthetically pleasing which in turn will keep the ‘love alive’ and the desire to ride ‘strong’, it is also vital in keeping highly technical and essential componentry clean, lubricated, protected and functioning at their best for as long as possible
Generic cleaning kit - Muc-Off seem to be the benchmark brand although there are plenty of other options…
Servicing:
The requirement to ensure that every component on your beloved bike is functioning perfectly and is lubed, greased and exchanged when worn, so as best to keep the bikes components all running in harmony and not detracting from each others performance
With a little skill, a lot of love and some relatively cheap expendables, it is feasible for anyone to keep their bikes clean; Servicing your bike takes a bit more skill, some expensive tools and a lot more technical knowledge - depending on your bikes complexities! (neglect either and both your enjoyment and your bank balance will suffer)
Bike servicing - whilst there are dozens of ‘YouTube mechanics’ out there it is often the case of ‘a little knowledge can be dangerous’. Some jobs are relatively simple with the right tools and a bit of mechanical acumen but even a simple error can have expensive consequences on today’s highly technical and expensive bicycles!
Cleaning your cycle should be time factored in when planning your ride, 30 minutes added on to the end of your ride for cleaning your bike is all it should take to keep your bike performing at its best. Whilst everyone will offer seemingly contradictory advise on how best to clean your bike and which products work best, and which components should be cleaned with this or that bottle of Unicorn tears, there are a few simple guidelines to ‘how best’ clean your bike:
What not to do:
Do not leave your bike wet after a ride for more than 12hrs or it will start to corrode and rust!
Do not get any oil based products on or near your disc brake pads or disc rotors
Do not spray degreaser onto your chain or cassette whilst fitted to the bike or on or near any bearings - it will destroy them! (There is a dreadful advert by Tru-Tension bike degreaser advocating spraying their degreaser on your in-situ cassette - Do NOT do this!)
Do not use a power hose to spray your bike down and keep any forced water pressure away from bearings.
An effective routine: (For general road bikes)
Hang your bike in a simple mechanics stand, these can be simple stands if only to be used for cleaning purposes and can be had for as little as £41.60 from GoOutdoors, but the better - more stable ones are from £140 upwards for something like the Park Tool PCS-9.2 which is also suitable for home mechanics tasks.
Gently wash the whole bike and tyres over with plain hosepipe water to soften the mud and grime (avoid bar tape and shifters, use a damp rag for these)
Spray the whole bike (apart from bar tape & shifters) with a general bike cleaner such as Muc-Off Nano Tech Bike Cleaner (For bikes fitted with electronic gears you are advised to cover these parts in clingfilm or another such water-shield for this stage and clean only with a damp cloth) Leave cleaner on for no longer than 5 minutes before next phase.
Agitate the tyres and stubborn grime with a soft brush ensuring the Muc-Off is foaming up and doing its job! use a soft cloth or ‘pastry type’ brush to get into delicate or intricate places
Rinse off the whole bike with plain water as per step 2
Use a soft microfibre rag with a small amount of Muc-Off cleaner to remove any remaining grime and run over the whole bike with a clean microfibre cloth to clean all the intricate parts, paying particular attention to the wheels, hubs, spokes, underside, chainset etc. ensuring the bike is left spotless from all angles!
Clean the chain by running it through your fingers using a thick rag to remove any excess grime (easy in a bike-stand). If you only occasionally use your bike in the rain or wet then it makes much better sense to lubricate your chain with ‘dry wax’ lube such as the outstanding ‘Smoove’ lube, this will dry dry and not pick up all the road grime and turn your chain and gears into a black oily mess!, Dry wax will last for up to 4-5 hundred kms between re-lubing intervals and will stand up to the odd brief shower or wash, only needing re-lubing after a heavy downpour or a few heavy washes. it can be cleaned using a dry rag with only the jockey wheels in your rear mech requiring an occasional scrape with a small flat bladed screwdriver if excess wax builds up. If you ride all-seasons in persistent rain and wet roads then wet lube will probably be required, the cleaning of your drive-train using wet-lube will require either the removal of your chain and cassette using special tools to degrease, or a device such as a ‘chain pig’ to clean in-situ.
Using a gentle ‘bike spray’ such as ‘Muc-Off Bike Protect’ which dries dry and non-sticky, lightly spray your whole bike including all metal parts, gears, chain rings, rim brakes, wheel rims, hubs, spokes, exposed cables, saddle bolts, bearings etc etc, this will drive out moisture and lubricate and protect at the same time. If you have disc brakes then remove wheels and clean rims with a dry rag and ‘Bike Protect’, and cover the disc brakes with clingfilm or similar to shield the disc pads from oil (Do not put oily fingerprints on disc rotors or pads at any stage as once contaminated they cannot be cleaned - despite ‘Mental Dave’ putting them in the oven or sanding them down)
Remove all excess ‘Bike Protect’ with a clean dry microfibre cloth before spraying disc brakes and rotors with ‘Muc-Off Disc Brake Cleaner’ or a similar ‘Disc Brake Cleaner’ and wipe off with a paper towel, Rim brake alloy tracks and pads can be rubbed clean with a paper towel sprayed with ‘Disc Brake Cleaner’, carbon rims and pads should be treated the same as disc brake pads and rotors and removed and cleaned separately.
Once the whole bike is clean and dry and sprayed with ‘Bike Protect’ / Disc Brake Cleaner’ then using an Aerosol Grease with a fine delivery tube such as the WD40 Grease 400ml use this to lubricate gear mech springs, jockey wheel bearings and rim brake pivot springs, avoiding getting on anything else! If your chain is now clean, shiny & dry but lacking the waxy feel of a dry-lubed chain then slowly rotate the cranks and apply a light lube of wax to the inside rollers of the chain for one turn only. wipe off excess with a dry rag and then leave to dry for a couple of hours.
Check that everything is still functioning by running through the gear changes in the bike stand and checking the brakes are functioning correctly. (Bike Protect will not effect brake pads and rims on alloy wheels like it will disc brakes, if in doubt or you have a steep descending ride planned then avoid spraying the brake contact points with ‘Bike Protect’ - Bike Protect has no adverse handling effects or noise when used on MY rim brakes and after the first couple of braking actions has all but vanished!
The spotless winter (all year) road bike
Riding in winter can destroy modern road bikes with their intricate designs, hidden cables and electronic gears etc. A good Titanium (rustproof) frame with traditional alloy rim brakes and external cables is perfect in not only function and form but also in longevity, cleanliness and equally easy to service and maintain!
An effective servicing schedule:
For those that routinely clean their bikes and average less than 500km per month or less than 6000km per year
Bronze Service - 6 monthly (basic check and adjust)
Silver Service - 12 months (clean & degrease drivetrain etc)
Gold Service - 18 months (full strip-down, clean, lube & rebuild)
For those that routinely clean their bikes and average more than 500km per month and more than 6000km per year
Bronze Service - 3 monthly
Silver Service - 6 monthly
Gold Service - 12 months
Obviously for extremes outside of these distances or a poor cleaning schedule then please readjust accordingly!