Cleaning bikes
From my experience in the workshop, people seldom clean their bikes. This is understandable. Cleaning a bike is a messy business. If you live in a flat the only place to do it is the bath, and this makes more mess than you would think possible.
Clean bikes don't work much better than dirty ones, and dirty bikes get stolen less.
If a bike comes in for a full service, cleaning it is the first thing to do.
Never jetwash a bike, this takes the grease out of the bearings and the bike will die quickly.
Many products are sold to clean bikes, but we just use domestic products. Washing powder, particularly the high sud handwash type, is good in a bucket and applied with a brush. This will get rid of the easy dirt. After a rinse with clean water, Cif type cream cleaner and a stiff brush can be used on any stubborn dirt left. Finally a cloth and spray lubricant or WD40 will get any remaining dirt.
There is seldom any point in cleaning a chain. By the time it is dirty enough to annoy most people, it's worn out. Cleaning a worn out chain can stop it working. It can be literally the dirt holding it together.
Clean bikes don't work much better than dirty ones, and dirty bikes get stolen less.
If a bike comes in for a full service, cleaning it is the first thing to do.
Never jetwash a bike, this takes the grease out of the bearings and the bike will die quickly.
Many products are sold to clean bikes, but we just use domestic products. Washing powder, particularly the high sud handwash type, is good in a bucket and applied with a brush. This will get rid of the easy dirt. After a rinse with clean water, Cif type cream cleaner and a stiff brush can be used on any stubborn dirt left. Finally a cloth and spray lubricant or WD40 will get any remaining dirt.
There is seldom any point in cleaning a chain. By the time it is dirty enough to annoy most people, it's worn out. Cleaning a worn out chain can stop it working. It can be literally the dirt holding it together.
