In the past two months I haven't ridden my bicycle much. This was mostly due to the bad weather. It has been raining a lot. It actually was the wettest year in history. And the rain mostly fell in the last three months of the year. And at the start of the new year it was freezing, so it was to dangerous to go cycling.
But in the last few weeks the weather started to change and I started cycling again.
In the beginning it was quite tough. Especially the first rides after weeks.
But I've picked it up again. Last week I've even ridden about 150 kilometers.
I cycled to work for three days and yesterday I made a nice 50 kilometer ride. Although it's mostly dry there is a lot of wind which makes the rides quite tough. But It's nice to see my fitness slowly improve again.
A dirty bicycle
Although it's not raining constantly anymore, it is still wet sometimes. And even when you go cycling after the rain you still have wet conditions on the roads. And this results in a dirty bicycle. Which isn't that much of a problem, but you do have to clean your bicycle regularly to prevent wear and tear of the components.
Here is the result of a week of cycling in wet conditions:
Sand everywhere!
And a greasy chain and gears!
The cleaning
The first step in my cleaning process is wipe the loose sand off my bicycle. I'm using a special bicycle brush for this, but you can also use an old dish brush.
After this I take my bicycle outside, put it upside down on some rubber tiles and spray it off with a garden hose. I keep using the brush to get the dirt off that didn't came of yet.
Then I use some biodegradable degreaser to spray in the gears and the chain. I'm using a combination of an old dish brush and a toothbrush to clean it all.
I pay extra attention to the small gears. They tend to collect a lot of grease over time which can really get in the way as you can see in the image below.
I use something to run against the gear to scrub off the grease and dirt. This can be anything, but I won't use metal things like a screwdriver since that can damage your gear. Anything plastic or wooden would do.
See here the before and after:
Then I spray off my bicycle of for the second time to remove the degreaser soap.
Just look at the chain shine! I run my chain through an old dry cloth to make it dry.
After that I apply a tiny bit of lubricant on the chain. I'm using special wet lube from the brand Muc-Off since I'm riding in wet conditions. I'm applying a single drop op lube for each chain link. You can see the lube going into the chain link.
After applying the lube I run the chain through the old cloth again to remove excessive lube since this can attract sand and other dirt again. The lube should only be inside the chain links.
And here is the final result of a nice and thorough cleaning; a shiny bicycle that is ready to roll again!
I hope you enjoyed my blog.
Do you have any additions, questions or tips; feel free to share them in the comment section!
FriendlyMoose
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One of my least favorite parts of cycling. But it's so much better for the lifespan of all the parts! Maybe I should do the same :D
With my gravel bike I often pass by the local carwash directly after a muddy ride. It's not a deep clean, but it is much less hassle to get the main gunk off.
Mine too, but it's so nice show smooth everything is running once you're finished.
I sometimes use the hose when I get back after a muddy ride. It removes the mud, but doesn't get the grease and dirt from the chain and gears.
So I do this deep cleaning once in a while.
Its a constant struggle :D
This is what I must do for mine ... Enjoy riding your cleaned up bike 🚲
Thanks, I will!
Doing this every one in a while is good for every bicycle.
Dear God, so satisfacting to see the chain shining. The other day I saw an ultrasound kind of bath to deep clean chains and other parts, just not sure if they work well
But then you have to remove the chain to put it into the bath?
I do have a quick link, but this seems faster. It might clean better in bath maybe.
Yup, we have to remove ☹️
Rubbing with degreaser like you did works great (it's what I do as well). I'd use the bath if i had two chains
!LOL
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I'm sure it felt nice riding your bike after the break, that seem like a lot of work cleaning it up.
The "Sand everywhere!" got me laughing 😂
Well, it's so cool that you have every little equipment to keep all parts clean. So shining bike indeed hehe
It seem like you use your bike for fitness purpose too, do you have a special routine for it or how do you go about it?
It costs me about 45 minutes to clean the bicycle, so that's not even that much I think.
The equipment mainly exists of old dish and tooth brushes. And a degreaser, but you can even make that yourself.
I'm commuting two or three times a week with this bicycle and from the start of the year I try to make a nice round in the weekends too with some friends.
We've done a 50k round last weekend and slowly build up to 100+
The goal is to cycle our yearly 200+k round in June, so I have to be fit enough then 😀
Oh I see, really not so much time
And the result is beautiful.
That's a huge goal but from you last weekend round, you'll achieve it. Good luck becoming fit hehe.