Getting motivated to do bike chores

[kajero]

How do you get motivated to clean the chain and wash the bike? Everytime I am going to do that, I wind up taking the bike for a ride!

[pll]

I only wipe the chain and put a bit of lube after a ride, wipe some parts of the bike with a moist paper towel. Deep cleaning is done at the bike shop, once per season. Maybe I will get the drive train cleaned an additional time during the summer.

[jessmarimba]

I go to clean the house.

Who wants to vacuum when suddenly the bike looks so forlorn? Maybe I'll just clean the bike, THEN vacuum...

[westtexas]

Here's what now motivates me - spent about $300 at the shop today getting a new cassette (dang those things are expensive!), new chain, new cables and the bike deconstructed, clean and reconstructed again. All things I could have done myself (except for the lack of parts on hand). I regularly clean my chain (every 100 miles), cassette and frame and it got me 3000+ miles on those parts. Gotta keep them in great shape now to get another 3000 miles!!

[bluejellybean]

Me too!!
(And yes, I end up just takin' her out for a ride!)

Here's what now motivates me - spent about $300 at the shop today getting a new cassette (dang those things are expensive!), new chain, new cables and the bike deconstructed, clean and reconstructed again. All things I could have done myself (except for the lack of parts on hand). I regularly clean my chain (every 100 miles), cassette and frame and it got me 3000+ miles on those parts. Gotta keep them in great shape now to get another 3000 miles!!

[marni]

after each ride, I inspect the tires, wipe down the brake pads, remove the surface grime, wipe off the chain and jockey gears. Every three hundred miles, or after each wet ride (and this counts riding through sprinkler puddles and or construction dirt from trucks on the road) I wipe the chain down and re lube it. If it's 300 miles, I floss the gears, bathe the bike, clean and relube the chain and lube the points.

I have been following this routine for over 5 years, so now it's an automatice sequence that kicks in and I have found that I enjoy the five minutes or so the after ride care takes. It gives a chance to rethink the ride, fiinish my water or electrolyte and start cooling down.