Cleaning your bike - QUESTIONS

peachy

peachy

Ripe 'n ready!
Hey girls and guys. w0rd up?
i was just wondering what you guys do when u clean your bike hardcore styles....

my questions
- what soap do you use to clean your bike
- what parts of the bike should you greese up
- what can you use to make u're bike frame look nice and shiny

also, what cleaning suggestions do you guys have?

thanks guys, i'd really appreciate your help
 
fastrider gus

fastrider gus

super huck
just go slow, take off your wheels, use a hose to get it all wet, then go over it with a sponge and stuff.. make sure you get everything...
meh.. people usually just do it their own way.
 
LTR

LTR

Annoys the hell out of Grip!
first wash you bike with sponge to get shit off, then dry it, after just get heapsa metho and it becomes shiney!!
 
J

jayboy882003

Likes Dirt
what i do:
- take wheels off, high pressure hose it ALL. hot soapy water, cleen everything (try not to get the shifters too wet).
-get rag and wipe all water off EVERYWHERE.
-put bike upsidedown and grab the chain with a rag and spin ur cranks so ALL grease and crap is outta ya chain.
-rag all around the cranks
- hot soapy water again all over the wheels the clean with rag.
-get metal brush and clean casette and front cogs
-once all dry, get a clean nice smooth cloth and some mr.sheen and spray most of bike and wipe untill shiny! (including forks, frame, bars, stem, wheels etc etc)
then take a nice pic of it, post it into farkin then go out riding and dirty it again!
 
S

Simo

Likes Bikes and Dirt
should probably try to keep high pressure water away from BB and seals yeh? I could be wrong but wouldn't that force water into it and fark it up?
 
J

jays_5000

Likes Bikes and Dirt
peachy said:
yeh i was thinkin that too....
how do you greese u're headset?
Click to expand...
just take it apart, put greese on the bearings and in the cups then put it together again.....

i use car wash stuff on my frame its great!
 
J

jays_5000

Likes Bikes and Dirt
skillz said:
sory if this a newb question, what do u use to grease things??! chain lube?
Click to expand...
i use greese for headsets and places where there are bearings like hubs n shit cuz it tends to last longer, and oil or chain lube on chain, i put some oil im my rear derailuer sometimes aswell, i dont know if its bad or nething but it makes shifting gears a lot smoother
 
L

lupine128

Likes Bikes and Dirt
pull the wheels off.
hang the bike from a clothes line or similar.
put plastic bags over you're disc calipers.
wash with a light detergent using an old rag and a toothbrush for areas you need to scrub out (use an old toothbrush, not your girlfriends, the excuse you needed anouther one anyway will not work). rinse with a bucket and rag again.
no hoses or pressure, and nothing upside down.
wipe it all down dry, then wipe it all over with a rag with wd40 sprayed on it. this will make it all shiney again and protect it as well. relube the chain, and you're ready to go.
once every while or after muddy/sandy/rainy rides pull the headset and BB out and clean and regrease them.
a good grease is something like lanoguard. anything that will not damage rubber seals is fine, it doesn't really need to be high pressure or temperature grease, cause it's going to be under high pressure or temperature. just make sure it has a good waterproof rating. supercheap or somewhere similar is a good place to get some.
bagging the calipers is pretty important tho to keep any trace of detergent off the pads, and it's better than pulling the pads out and stessing the clips.
umm, hope that helps.
 
A

Adi

It's my birthday!
I got another question:

On my old Giant Rincon whenever I used to give it a clean, the bb and cassette would make grinding noises, even after I lubed them with WD40 + some of that really thick car bearing grease. I used a hose, but never directly aimed for the casette and bb. Can anyone give any advice?

Cheers :)
 
J

juzza

Likes Dirt
Hose it down but make sure you dont blast areas where water could get in and not be wanted. ie headset, bottom bracket, fork seals etc. Then clean with some mehto or rp7 or alike. be careful with the brakes though.....
 
C

chandler_mate

Likes Dirt
cleaning bike

put lube on your frame to make it nice and shiney, squeeze it on a rag and rub it in to everything, except disc rotors, and pads

tri-flow works best for that
 
M

mr whippy

Likes Dirt
ok, anyone here got tips for cleaning rotors? right now i just rinse them down with water, no chemicals or nothin, and then just wipe down with old t shirt. is this the right thing to do?
 
R

Rik

logged out
Hrm, I don't clean my bikes often, but when I do, I go the full monty:

Strip the bike right down to the frame, clean the frame with some household detergent, then polish it up with armour-all.
Every single component gets pulled apart, bathed in petrol, scrubbed with toothbrush, and then wiped down with metho and left to dry. As I assemble it all, I use tri-flo on things that need oiling, and park grease on things that need greasing.
It's a big effort, takes half a day, but I love my bikes so much that they deserve to be brought back to new condition fairly often.
If you're considering doing a full stripdown, you might as well buy new cables for gears+brakes, and maybe get a new chain as well.

If I need to give my bike a quick wipedown, I'll use windex and a clean rag, and the drivetrain can be degreased quickly using a cheap spray.
 
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