Its a good idea to get into
a habit of cleaning your bike after every ride. Dirt, grime and grit is the one
thing that wears away your bike the most, especially around the transmission and
gear area. Bearings are venerable too.
Do not regularly use powered jetspray hoses to clean your bike. Doing so will
force water into wheel and suspension bearings, requiring a comprehensive strip
down to regrease the bearings.
Warm water and a sponge or bicycle specific
brushes (from the likes of Muc-off) are perfectly adequate for removing the mud.
Another good idea is to use a pressurised garden sprayer - useful to put into
the boot of the car to clean the mud off the bike while it is still wet. The
water spray from this is not powerful enough to cause water to enter any
bearings, but good enough to rinse mud off the bike. In addition to this,
special bike cleaners are available, such as ‘X-Lite’s Muc-Off’ - Simply spray
over the dirt, leave for 30 seconds, then rinse off, although special care
should be taken to ensure this is not allowed to enter any greased areas such as
suspension and bearings.
‘Muc-Off’ and similar companies also produce a bike spray aerosol; a water
dispersant that removes water from venerable areas such as gear mechs and leaves
a non-tacky protective layer. Use this after washing your bike.
Muc-off has to be our favourite brand of cleaning products, they do a
range of specific cleaning brushes, cleaning fluids and degreasers.
Special attention should be paid to the following areas:
CHAIN
DISC BRAKE ROTORS
SUSPENSION
Chain: clean using ‘Muc-Off’
or a similar specific chain degreaser in a chain bath. See our chain tech tips
page –
CLICK
HERE.
Disc Brake Rotors: - can be cleaned with the rest of the bike. Particularly
grimy rotors can be cleaned with a bike-specific disc brake cleaner. It is also
important to remember that lubricants must not be allowed to come in contact
with the rotors as a dramatic loss of braking power will be a result.
Suspension: this can be cleaned along with the rest of the bike, taking care not
to apply any degreaser or cleaning fluid to the suspension seals or stanchions.
Use a wet sponge to remove dirt from the forks and seals (dry and relube if
needed). Suspension forks and rear shocks usually require a specific oil or
lubricant. Check the owner’s manual or your ocal bike shop for further
instructions.
You have probably paid a lot of money for your bike, it pays to look after it!