Washed my bike today

[DebW]

Good for you, Lisa. I recently found some squished worms wrapped around a couple of my spokes.

[SadieKate]

I'm pretty meticulous when it comes to my mountain bikes but I just go merrily along with my road bikes because the pavement is so much cleaner. Right? Eww. Do not look at your bottom bracket without preparation.

[mimitabby]

Worms???!?! eyewwww gross!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yes Mimi, worms. Lots of them.
Seems worms love to cross the paved roads during rainy seasons. Some stretches of road I see hundreds of little wromy smudges on the road - that USED to be worms.
The live worms I try to avoid hitting (last month it was wollie bear caterpillers in droves on the road), I zigzag around considerately dodging the nightcrawlers.
But I thin k some of the already squashed ones wind up on my tires and get flung over my bike as i ride. I agree...GROSS!
It's not like every day, mind you, but I'm putting in about 100 miles a week these days, and worms happen. Then they dry up on my brakes or my bottom bracet or under my downtube where I don't normally look every day. Like like strings of beef jerky spaghetti.

EEEEWW!!!!!

But my bike is now sparkling CLEAN (for the moment).

[Triskeliongirl]

That's great! Now that you know its not so hard, you can start to do it more often. I wash our bikes 1-2X per month. It will make your drivetrain last longer and perform better. I like to start with the heavy degreasing first, followed by the type of cleaning you describe, since the degreasing will leave drips that need to cleaned off. I don't take the chain off, just use one of those devises you fill with degreaser and roll your chain through. Enjoy riding your clean bike!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

It's dirty again.
I rode in the drizzle today and lots of dirty water got splattered on my bike. But at least it's NEW dirt! And no worms yet.

[7rider]

Cleaning worms off a bike is better than cleaning chewing gum.
Blech!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I like to start with the heavy degreasing first, followed by the type of cleaning you describe, since the degreasing will leave drips that need to cleaned off. I don't take the chain off, just use one of those devises you fill with degreaser and roll your chain through.

Hey Tri,
The degreaser (with citrus oil) claims it will come off completely with just a thorough gentle hosing of water. Do you think I need to suds it all up as well after degreasing?
Do you mean this sequence?:
Degreaser&brushing///hose rinse///sudsing with Simplegreen///hose rinsing///dry-overnight///lubing

[Triskeliongirl]

This is how I do it. I first spray simple green on all the the greasy parts of the drivetrain. Then I put citrus degreaser in my roll a ma jig and clean the chain. I pour out the citrus degreaser on a rag, and use it to manually clean the roller things the chain goes around on the rear derailleur. Then I take a bucket of soapy water and a rag and wipe down everything else good, and finally I rinse all with clear water. Then I let it dry, and then I re-lube my chain. I also squirt some thinner lube at pivot points on the deraileurs and brakes (but NOT brake pads). I also protect rims from oil when oiling chain to avoid squeaks later. I also relube my pedals (frogs) but not all pedals require this.