cleaning bikes can be a real pain but I
hate riding dirty bikes I just actually
hate it
so let's come up with a way of keeping
my bikes clean that didn't take ages and
wasn't a faff here's my five minute buy
cleaning routine that I can do
immediately after every ride especially
in the wet so that my bike never gets
really filthy and I can always set off
with a shiny bike the first thing I do
when I get in is immediately fill a
bucket of hot water with washing up
liquid now some people complain that it
damages the paint but I've never found
this to be a problem before I start
washing though here is my controversial
technique I used obd 40 as my degreaser
I know I can almost hear the disgust
from here but I'm disorganized it's
always on hand and it works for me so
give it a try put the chain in the big
ring and the smaller sprocket at the
back and then spray wd-40 on your chain
and cassette and give them a bit of spin
now I get my bucket of hot soapy water
and start getting stuck in with a car
sponge I start at the top of the bike
with a handlebars first I'm pretty
generous with the amount of water that
I'm using I also do the saddle at this
point because if any crap comes off it
then I still have time to wash it off
the rest of the bike because it drips
down I've actually got the end of a
broken brush to clean underneath my
setup
it still works pretty well even though
it's got that handle anymore now wash a
top tube and the down tube the rest of
the bike the front of the bike now it's
time to pop the front wheel out so I can
wash it properly and also wash the
inside of the forks and particularly
inside the brake calipers where all that
black crap hangs around front wheel next
take your sponge and quickly run it over
the tire pressing quite firmly on the
brake surface of the rim just to get any
kind of black gunk off the rim it
collects if you've been breaking then
it's time to turn to the rim you can do
this really quickly and then the spokes
and then finally the hub with the front
wheel still out it's time to do the same
with the back wheel now rest the bike on
the tips of the fork blades and on the
brake levers there it's much better for
it than having it upside down and it
also means you can clean the grubby S
bit of the bike the rear triangle seat
stays brake callipers and then chain
stays particularly the drive side next
the back wheel approach it exactly the
same as the front except give the
cassette a good going-over as well the
wd-40 you sprayed on earlier will have
loosened up any kind of oil or grease so
it should come up really quickly a tire
on the rim time to put the wheels back
in now as we're on to the last bit the
drivetrain while you've been cleaning
the rest of the bike the wd-40 will have
been gently degreasing the chain so the
chain still the big ring I take my black
gunky sponge and just start to wash it
like that you can see that straight away
it comes up really clean now if the
chain it's been really really thickly
coated in old oil it might take a second
going over the wd-40 so if that's the
case just give it a spray on riemeck now
and it shouldn't take much to keep this
clean because I clean it regularly a
sponge will do just put it against the
jockey wheels give it a bit of a split
right chainrings now nearly there
remember to do both the front and back
of the chain rings back to the chain out
my clean sponge just a quick turn over
with soap and water and it should be
pretty much close to spotless now now
that's all the cleaning done all I need
to do now is rinse all the dirty soapy
water off the bike a host bike would
great for that but failing that is the
bucket of clean water
now for the ultimate cheats trick I use
w44 the lubricant as well as degreaser
now I know every rule in the book says
this isn't going to work but I've used
nothing but for the last five years in
the UK in winter doing five hour
training rides that says quite a lot and
then choose if the road as well and use
it for soccer across a mountain biking -
now if you use a normal degreaser that
w4t isn't going to work it'll last five
minutes and you'll end up with a dry
chain but if you use it for both
degreasing and lubricant for some reason
it seems to work
now before you cry foul actually wd-40
have not paid me to endorse their
product so this is just me being a lazy
butt rider looking for a cheap trick
spray it on your bike on the chain
cassette dre let throw that great
caliper brake calliper try making it
part of your riding routine just 5
minutes after a ride and you always get
to ride a shiny bike it'll last longer
and it will work better and if after
that you still think that w4t sucks
feel free to complain in the comment
section down below to find out how to do
a more thorough deep clean of your bike
including decreasing your chain click on
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