Cleaning bike?

[asahitoro]

What's the safest way to clean your bike of mud and grime? Is there a spray-on solution that I can
spray on everything(besides the seat, grips, etc.)? Thanks,

Scott

 

[S. Anderson]

Well, there's a difference between mud and grime. Mud should be removed with just water. You can use
a low-pressure hose and a rag to rinse most of that off. Be careful near the bearing seals. I just
get the majority off and then use a clean rag with Armour All to finish up. Grime is different.
Usually, most grime can be removed simply by rubbing with a clean rag. A little Armour All does
wonders here to. There are many different solutions and methods you can use, but the two biggest
things I see that I wouldn't do are power wash and varsol. Power washing will penetrate many bearing
seals if you're not careful. IMHO, this is not a great way to clean a bike. Varsol is sometimes
necessary for some grime, but it will remove everything from your paint. You should wax your paint
in some way after using varsol. If you have a carbon or bonded bike, I think you should be even more
careful when it comes to using solvents.

Cheers,

Scott..
--
Scott Anderson

<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> What's the safest way to clean your bike of mud and grime? Is there a spray-on solution that I can
> spray on everything(besides the seat, grips, etc.)? Thanks,
>
> Scott

 

[asahitoro]

In article <[email protected]>,
"S. Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Well, there's a difference between mud and grime. Mud should be removed with just water. You can
> use a low-pressure hose and a rag to rinse most of that off. Be careful near the bearing seals. I
> just get the majority off and then use a clean rag with Armour All to finish up. Grime is
> different. Usually, most grime can be removed simply by rubbing with a clean rag. A little Armour
> All does wonders here to. There are many different solutions and methods you can use, but the two
> biggest things I see that I wouldn't do are power wash and varsol. Power washing will penetrate
> many bearing seals if you're not careful. IMHO, this is not a great way to clean a bike. Varsol is
> sometimes necessary for some grime, but it will remove everything from your paint. You should wax
> your paint in some way after using varsol. If you have a carbon or bonded bike, I think you should
> be even more careful when it comes to using solvents.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Scott..
> --
> Scott Anderson

Thanks for the input Scott,

Yeah, the bike is a carbon fiber composite bike so maybe I should stick to some mild soap and water,
being careful when I rinse around bearings. I can just re lube most of the stuff afterwards. I won't
do this often but maybe once every few months or after a good, muddy ride.

Scott

 

[Per ElmsäTer]

I heard that the off road motorcycle riders around my parts spray their bikes with anti-Corrosive
sprays like 5-56 or similar. It dissolves all mud and grime and if it goes into any bearings it will
just be for the better. I haven't tried it yet since I have a carbon composite bike and want to find
out a little more about how carbon reacts to lubricants of this type.

Any opinions anybody?

--
Perre

Replace the DOTs to reply <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> What's the safest way to clean your bike of mud and grime? Is there a spray-on solution that I can
> spray on everything(besides the seat, grips, etc.)? Thanks,
>
> Scott

 

[Peter Cole]

<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> What's the safest way to clean your bike of mud and grime? Is there a spray-on solution that I can
> spray on everything(besides the seat, grips, etc.)? Thanks,

I use a soft, long bristle brush of the kind they sell with dustpans. I hose my bike, wet the brush
and spritz a little cleaner (Simple Green or auto car wash) on the brush. The advantage of this kind
of brush is it is very fast, getting the spokes, rims, brakes and frame tubes nooks and crannies
clean quickly. I rinse, bounce the bike and rag dry. The whole process is only a few minutes. If you
use a low pressure stream to rinse, I wouldn't worry about getting water in the bearings, I never
have on either my road bikes or MTBs.

 

[Stephen Harding]

"Per Elmsäter" wrote:

> I heard that the off road motorcycle riders around my parts spray their bikes with anti-Corrosive
> sprays like 5-56 or similar. It dissolves all mud and grime and if it goes into any bearings it
> will just be for the better. I haven't tried it yet since I have a carbon composite bike and want
> to find out a little more about how carbon reacts to lubricants of this type.
>
> Any opinions anybody?

I use WD40 on my ice bike. It's a steel frame bike of rather low end blood lines.

"Grime" in my case represents anything you can have splashed on the bike from the road, along with
sometimes overflows of white lighning, 30 weight motor oil, ATF fluid, and whatever else is
convenient to dump on the chain and deraileurs from time to time when the squeaking gets bad.

This time of year I have no water easily available (for hosing) so the WD40 just gets sprayed
liberally over everything. Recoat the chain with "something handy" to restart the grime
buildup process!

Been working like a charm over a couple winters now.

SMH

 

[Loony]

Go to your local auto parts store (Advanced Auto, NAPA, O'Reilly's, etc.) and buy a can of a cleaner
called "Tuff Stuff". It is distributed by STP. Spray it on, let it set a couple of minutes, and
lightly spray it off with the garden hose. VOILA`!! It even dries mostly spot free. Try it, you'll
see... loony <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> What's the safest way to clean your bike of mud and grime? Is there a spray-on solution that I can
> spray on everything(besides the seat, grips, etc.)? Thanks,
>
> Scott

 

[asahitoro]

Thanks for the reply looney,

Is this stuff safe if I get it on everything(seat, cables, grips, brake pads, etc.)? What about on a
carbon fiber composite frame?

Scott

In article <VqX6a.240544$tq4.5907@sccrnsc01>, "loony" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Go to your local auto parts store (Advanced Auto, NAPA, O'Reilly's, etc.) and buy a can of a
> cleaner called "Tuff Stuff". It is distributed by STP. Spray it on, let it set a couple of
> minutes, and lightly spray it off with the garden hose. VOILA`!! It even dries mostly spot free.
> Try it, you'll see... loony <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > What's the safest way to clean your bike of mud and grime? Is there a spray-on solution that I
> > can spray on everything(besides the seat, grips, etc.)? Thanks,
> >
> > Scott