Best way to clean my bike?

FWIW, I don't have access to an outdoor faucet at my apartment. Okay, we have one, but my building doesn't allow moving bikes in and out of the front door. (But she's not dirty! Or, not that dirty.) It's also difficult because the stairs are so steep. So I clean her up as described

I don't do much riding in winter save the unsalted trail back home. (Cleveland winters are nasty and wet, and they're not great about salting roads because they want to save money...therefore it's icy.) If I did, I'd see about getting one of those sprayers to "hose" down the bike after a ride.

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Originally Posted by Irulan

i have become a fan of citrus cleaners over simple green. If you google enough, you'll find that some classes of simple green users won't use it because there are components in it that will destroy certain metals if you use enough of it for long enough. I know I didn't beleive it either but aircraft mechanics won't use it.

Plus, Sheldon Brown loves ( loved?) citrus cleaners. ;)

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I use Park Tool's citrus degreaser. I can't find disposal instructions for it, though.

After a ride in the rain, mine got real nasty so I brought her into the house, put her in the tub and gave her a "shower" using the handheld shower attachment and a little citrus degreaser on the extra dirty parts. Then I dried her off with a towel and re-lubed the chain. She looked so purdy.:p

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Originally Posted by sundial

I got into the habit of washing my mountain bike after every ride with this. I also dial it to fine mist and rinse off my road bike when it gets dusty or muddy. The chain gets cleaned about once a month so that I don't get gunky chain grease on me. I lube the chain about every other week.

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You are a rockstar! I have seen people using those but has no clue what it was. DH is THE WORST about bring home a dirty bike from racing then letting it sit for a a few days and he wonders why parts wear out so quick. I want to pick up the bike and hit him on the head with it (while he still has his helmet on naturally). Drives me batty!

I use the mist setting on my garden hose every week on my mountain bike. We rarely ride muddy trails in Texas (except said races) so it is usually just dusty mudd making things squeak. Rock 'n Roll Gold Lube which cleans and lubes every week, full strip down to clean every nook and cranny about twice a year. Sometimes clean the rotors on the brakes to reduce noise.

For the roadie, same thing mist setting then dry with a microfiber towel my in-laws thought we would use for cars. :p I spray Pedro's Bike Lust on a separate towel and wipe the fork, top tube and down tube for extra spiffy shine. Rock n' Roll the chain about once a month, thorough clean including running the chain through the Park Tool Chain cleaner, tooth brush scrubbing the cassette, etc about twice a year.

The biggest key is no high pressure and be careful with things like bottom brackets, seat posts and such where water can creep in. My LBS uses a fine mist to clean bikes, if they think it is okay then I am okay with it.

I always thought Simple Green was a weak acid, but it turns out it's a weak base.

On bicycles and motorcycles, it won't hurt anything that won't wear out from other causes long before any chemical reaction from Simple Green caused any damage. Rinse it off, just as you would with any solvent or detergent.

I can see where you'd be especially careful about what you'd put on aircraft... lots of riveted plates and nooks and crannies, and just generally an enormous surface area that would take an inordinate amount of time to clean individually. AFAIK it's high pressure hose and maybe sponges or scrub brushes with aircraft. Not the toothbrushes and pipe cleaners we use on bicycles...


ETA: I use the Park Tool degreaser as well. It seems to be one of the least toxic ones out there. That's a relative term, though. :(