Bike Wash: Get Your Bike Ready for Riding Season

Getting your bike ready for riding season: The bike wash.

If you've been riding your bike outside through the winter, you've probably been riding in some less-than-enjoyable weather conditions (for both you and your bike). If you've been doing your winter training inside on a trainer, you've quite likely picked up a bit of dust, maybe some dog hair, and even a bit of sweat just to make your bike a bit more icky. Okay, so maybe this is really just a glimpse into my world.

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In either case, your bike is probably in need of some maintenance love. Maybe a lot of love. Maybe a prayer or two. Hopefully things aren't that bad.

Everything starts with a clean bike

Before you can assess what maintenance your bike truly needs, you need to give it a wash... a good and thorough cleaning. Regardless of whether you plan to drop your bike off at the local bike shop for a full pre-season tune-up, or if you plan on doing some of the easier maintenance tasks yourself, you still need to get a good idea of exactly what state your bike is in. Whether you are the mechanic, or you are leaving that work to your LBS mechanic, you should not go into any maintenance blindly. You should have an idea of where your problem areas are... what issues you already have... and which components are just plain worn out,

But first things first... get yourself a bike wash!

You may have heard or read the saying "a clean bike is a fast bike". And yes, that is quite likely true, especially if you ask The Mythbusters. Okay, let's just put that reason aside, along with any (imaginary) cool factor points you might believe it gains you. We all know that the real purpose of a bike wash is to clean dirt, grime, and any other contaminants from your bike's frame, components, and drivetrain. The bike wash is all about preserving, and prolonging... its about the performance and longevity of your frame and mechanical components. But then again, so is the maintenance. And how can you really assess your bike if you're looking at everything when it is covered in dirt, grease, and grime? Can you really see if your frame has any cracks?

You really do need a bike wash

We've all experienced how that gritty chain feels (and sounds). We've had those times when our brakes let out that embarrassing squeal or screech as you roll to a stop with your group ride. You just know that whatever grit, whatever dirt is causing these sounds is also slowly chewing up your chainring, disc rotor, brake pads, cassette, or chain. It just hurts on multiple levels. So yeah, a bike wash for sure has its value.

But let me add one additional reason why we always recommend a bike wash before any major maintenance...

A bike wash is one of the best ways to get to know... we mean really know... your bike.

It is the time when you are literally getting your hands on pretty much every part of your bike. It is the time when you are looking at your frame, feeling the tubing, and noticing pocks or imperfections in your frame. You are looking at, and listening to, your brakes. You are observing the smoothness of your drivetrain, or lack thereof. It is when you are looking objectively at your components and making mental notes... noting the shape of the teeth on your chainring and cassette. Noting that your front wheel has a slight wobble. Yes, you are effectively doing an impromptu inspection on your bike. We always think of the bike wash as our pre-inspection time. It really is the natural progression into the next phase of "Get Your Bike Ready for Riding Season", the bike inspection.

Just a little article foreshadowing,

Our Choice: The Park Tool Bike Wash

Pound for pound, you just can't beat the online documentation and videos provided by Park Tool. While we do find that our toolbox and workstation wall racks contain many different tools from many different brands, we do always seem to gravitate to the offerings that Park Tools has... at least as our starting point. While not wed exclusively to one brand or another, our early mechanic training tends to have been most heavily influence by Park Tools, so we have that natural affinity to look to them. And yes, Park Tool does have its own version of the bike wash video (and article) available. It certainly doesn't hurt that their video is as thorough and as easy a process to follow as any bike wash process out there. And they do it without using a myriad of chemicals. So for our money, we recommend the Park Tool "How to Wash a Bike" bike wash process as a great place to start. It's super close to the wash process we've used for years here, so why wouldn't we recommend it? They have the reputation, and they have the videos... makes it an easy choice for us.

The Park Tool Bike Wash (plus frame inspection)

It is always nice to know ahead of time exactly what supplies and tools you will need to complete any type of repair process. It goes a long way in helping to gauge how simple or complex a given process might be. Ultimately, it is the complexity and the tools required that will tell you if this process is, or isn't, the right one for you. The simpler, the better. And in our opinion, the Park Tool Bike Wash is just that. It doesn't require any (low pressure) power washer; it doesn't require an air compressor; and it doesn't require any added polishes or long list of chemicals. Though having access to a power washer or air compression certainly won't hurt. All things considered, this bike wash doesn't require any monumental expenditure to get you into the process. It is basic... it is simple... and it is easily repeatable. But for sure, it gets the job done. And that is what it is really all about.

Before you jump into this bike wash, we suggest you take a skim through the tools and supplies list we've provided below just to get an idea of what inventory it requires. Then, we recommend you watch the video (or read the digital copy, if you are so inclined) at least once in its entirety... just to get an idea of the overall workflow. This should give you enough of an idea as to whether this bike wash is right for you. And we hope that it does work for you. At this point, you are ready to jump in. But we first suggest you come back here to this article to review the Tools and Supplies list more thoroughly. Determine what you have, what you need, and feel free to click any of the associated links to order the needed tools that will fill out your inventory. The nice thing is that aside from the solvent, and maybe clean cloths, you won't have to stock up your inventory every year. So yeah, you are setting yourself up to make bike washing incredibly easy.

So once you have all the tools and all the supplies in hand... you're ready for that bike wash. Go ahead... jump in!

The Bike Wash Tools and Supplies:  

We've done the leg work for you. Since this is our go-to bike wash process, we already know exactly what type of inventory is needed to follow this plan. We've gone back to the video (was a good refresher for us) to make sure we captured all of the tools and supplies that Calvin mentions in the video. Don't be intimidated, it really isn't that big a list. And loosely speaking, the cost of the minimum required list of tools, at least at the time this article was written, was roughly $116.00 USD before taxes. The supplies might add a few more dollars, but their also things you might already have around the house.

Note: This price estimate excludes the cost of a bike repair stand. We recommend purchasing an inexpensive stand that you can dedicate for bike washes... something that you don't mind if the legs/bolts get a little rusty from water. You certainly don't want to rust your normal workshop repair stand.

Tools:

• Bike stand or Place to lean bike.

• Brushes BCB-4.2 Bike Cleaning Brush Set contains: Competitive Cyclist  | Amazon  

  • includes: 1 large soft brush, 1 bottle brush, 1 bristle/sponge brush, 1 gear brush

• CG-2.4 Chain Gang Chain Cleaning System: Competitive Cyclist  | Amazon 

  • includes: CM-5.3 chain scrubber, cleaner, 1 gear brush

  • CM-5.3 Cyclone Chain Scrubber only: Competitive Cyclist  | Amazon

• Solvent/Degreaser CB-4 Bio ChainBrite: Competitive Cyclist | Amazon

• CL-1 Synthetic Blend Chain Lube Bottle (4 oz): Competitive Cyclist | Amazon

• DH-1 Dummy hub: Competitive Cyclist | Amazon

Supplies:

• Rags (old towels or t-shirts)

• Holder for solvent (old coffee can or Tupperware container)

• Small dish sponge

• Large sponge

• Soap (Dawn dish soap)

• Buckets (2)

  • 1 Hot water wash bucket

  • 1 Hot water rinse bucket

• Rinse water for light spray (your choice)

  • Hose with nozzle

  • Spray bottle (or simple exercise water bottle)

Optional:

• Hand protection/gloves

• GSC-4 Cassette Cleaning Brush: Competitive Cyclist  | Amazon  |

• PB-1 Portable Workbench: Competitive Cyclist | Amazon

The Bike Wash Process

Here you go... the video version and the digital text version of the Park Tool bike wash process:

Video version: (16m40s) Park Tool "How to Wash a Bike"  

Text article version: Park Tool "How to Wash a Bicycle" 

Whether you use the video or the text version, we just want to make a few call-outs from the video... nothing major, just a few things we recommend that you take note of.

If you've already watched the video through once, then you know that Calvin does a great job of mentioning when he's switching between different brushes. We recommend that you do pay particular attention to Calvin when he does mention changing brushes. Remember, take care to not mix the use of your brushes, especially when cleaning the greased components. Each should have its dedicated tasks. This will save you from inadvertently contaminating or scratching up your frame. Just to make things a bit clearer, here is how each of the brushes is actually used in the bike wash process:

Large soft bristle brush:

- use for frame, derailleurs, chainring, chainstay, seatstay, chainring, cranks, pedals, calipers.

- use on bottom bracket area, - use to clean rims, to clean tire treads, and sidewalls.

Bottle brush:

- use to get into smaller areas like under seatstay, seat, and seat rails.

- use to clean the hub, and between brake disk/pads.

Dual bristle/sponge brush:

- use to scrub any metal that needs extra cleaning effort.

- use to scrub cassette, only to remove solvent.

Gear brush:

- does NOT go into buckets - stays in solvent holder.

- use with solvent for pulley wheels, derailleur and chainrings.

- use to scrub cassette cogs

Big sponge and Small dish sponge:

- use on top tube, down tube, chainstays, seatstays, seat tube, forks, and all parts of frame.

- use small dish sponge to clean rim between nipples if extremely dirty.

Additionally, you should pay attention to the actual manner in which Calvin scrubs certain areas of the bike. It is subtle, but he does a fantastic job of changing up the scrubbing angles to prevent solvent from ever having a chance to seep into your bearings. Don't underestimate how solvent can, and will, shorten the lifespan of your bearings.

And last but not least, don't skip the moments during your bike wash when you have the opportunity to do some frame and component inspection. It might be quick, and you might just be making mental notes, but taking the time for these impromptu inspections does segway perfectly into the next part of your pre-season maintenance... the bike inspection.

Remember, a bike wash is all about preserving and prolonging the lifespan of your bike and its components. It is also your best weapon for identifying problems early before they cost you many dollars in repairs. Let's face it, replacing a $25.00 chain regularly is a far better proposition than having to replace a chainring, cranks, cassette, and chain.

So that is it. Time for you to jump in and get your bike wash on. Take your time and enjoy the process.

Up next... "Getting Your Bike Ready for Riding Season: The Bike Inspection".

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