HOW TO CLEAN YOUR BIKE - A GUIDE

Cycling is a sport that demands not only a decent set-up of the bike, but also a consistent level of maintenance. There are a gazillion things that can deteriorate over time, but with the right care, you can keep the costs at your local bike shop as low as possible. But there’s cleaning and there’s cleaning. Are you Stefan Bolt, Laurens ten Dam or Niki Terpstra?

Three ways to keep your bike in shape through the season

It seems like an open door, but even when your bike doesn’t look that dirty, you should definitely give it a bit of attention after your ride. Mud, sand and road salt are the biggest threats for your bike and will speed up the process of damage to the bike parts or the frame. Sand and grease mixed together will affect smooth adjustments of your gears and brakes. Keeping the chain clean can be done after or before every ride (pro style) or every once in a while (amateur style), but must certainly be done every 200-250 kilometers. Let's take a closer look at the three routines of Stefan, Laurens and Niki.

Stefan:
Comes back from basically any ride and his first thought is to get inside and take a shower, because he’s cold. Uses a regular garden sprinkler for a quick solution. Only when it has been a really muddy ride, he will use a long brush to take out the final remaining clumps from the cassette. Leaves the bike to dry outside 8 out of 10 times. The other 2 times, the bike gets an upgrade to dry in the unheated shed..
Now Stefan does clean his chain after every ride, because he was told so over and over. He simply sprays Dynamic Disc Brake Cleaner on the chain. Not really sure this is how the product was meant to be used, but, hey, it works. Probably goes inside the house to watch an old movie about cycling. Comes back and removes the loose grease with an old towel. He then applies a new layer of oil lube on the chain and gives the wheel a few spins to evenly spread the oil on the chain. Every two months or so, Stefan gets nervous and decides to give all of his bikes the attention they actually deserve. A three hour bike cleaning session makes up for al the missed moments.

Laurens:
Comes back from his ride and his first thought is to get inside and put on a pan with boiling water to cook some rice, because he’s hungry. Uses a high pressure cleaner for the first rinse. If he feels decadent, he will use warm water. Then applies Dynamic Dirt Destroy Spray on the frame and does a second rinse. In case there is still obvious mud creeping through the bike parts, he will go look for any kind of brush (or finger) to remove it. He takes the bike inside in the heated garage to let it dry.
He checks the rice, still has a solid 5 minutes, hangs up his bike, takes an old towel and, while spinning the back wheel by pushing the pedal with one hand, he lets the chain go through the towel. Most of the grease will now be in the towel. He’s still amazed how many times he can actually do this by using the same dirty towel over and over again. He then applies a new, thin layer of oil lube and gives the wheel a few spins to evenly spread the oil on the chain. Most of the oil will now be on the wall next to it. Nothing a little Dirt Destroyer can’t solve. But first a quick shower. Lunch is ready in 2 minutes.

Niki: 
Of course Niki will never use the same way of cleaning every day. What a dumb way of thinking. As a professional mechanic, he will choose what is best for every situation. When the bike is really dirty, he will use a high pressure cleaner with warm water for the first rinse. But watch the lagers! Then uses a bucket with water and dish washer soap of for a second, more thorough cleanse, using special brushes to get in between the gear blades and other parts. He dries the complete bike with a towel.
He now gets to the bike chain part, where the men are separated from the boys. He will alway use a clean piece of cloth and some window cleaning spray. Rubbing the cloth firmly on the chain, he gets out every last bit. The same bottle of window spray will be used to clean the frame and the gear blades. Dishwasher soap and water in a bucket again are used to clean the cassette..But watch the lagers! He blowdries the wheels with a compressor station. Because he has a compressor station. Every week, he takes off the bike chain, puts it in a bath of wax and hangs it to dry for 24 hours. If he is up to it, he might even use a protective wax for the frame. The dry and shiny bike then gets carried into the heated garage, through the hallway, up the stairs and will be spending the night next to him in bed.

Shortcuts to bike cleaning- because life is too busy sometimes

If Laurens and Stefan are really in a rush, or when the ride has been on super dry ground, they will admit they will sometimes skip all of the washing and only use Dirt Destroyer to wipe off any dirty spots on the frame. Even Niki agrees on this one. Water is to be used carefully and not to be wasted. Besides, too much water can also be a hazard - watch the lagers! The chain on the other hand, always gets a decent treatment. One flask of 'Unbound' oil (Dynamic Ultra2 Lube) pretty much gets you through a whole season. Less is more in this case, because more oil only turns into more filthy grease stuck to the chain. How much wax is needed for a whole season, is something we don’t want to know, you should definitely ask Niki. It’s a sensitive subject :)

Some final words

By now, you can probably relate to one of these three men when it comes to cleaning your bike. For sure, Stefan got nervous again after having contributed to this article and wants to improve his bike clean set-up. Coming back from Race around Rwanda, he will be upgrading the Gardena situation with a warm and cold water external faucet that is frost resistant. Now he can still use a quick solution like a sprinkler, but doesn’t need to drag the hose into the house. Talking about shortcuts! Laurens on the other hand, will probably not be changing anything, except maybe get rid of that dirty towel. And well, we certainly doubt it Niki can do anything better at this point.