Bike Cleaning Tips – Guide on How to Clean A Bike

In this article, you will learn bike cleaning tips. Whenever you go out biking, not everything goes as planned.  You return from your biking endeavors, and your trusted two-wheeled companions are all muddied up. This happens due to a variety of reasons that are and aren’t the rider’s fault. An example would be that a rider passes through muddy terrain, or a car passing by splashes mud all over the rider and the bike.

Whatever the reason your bike is dirtied up, you still need to clean it, and even if it hasn’t been dirtied up, it still needs its routine clean for it to stay in top condition. If you have a normal bike, it should be cleaned monthly, while a mountain bike should be cleaned ever more frequently, due to the rough terrain it’s designed for. Hence, learning how to clean a bicycle is must. Read the below guide on how to clean a bike at home.

Guide on How to Clean A Bike – Bike Cleaning Tips

Here is the in depth guide on how to clean a bike by yourself at home. These bike cleaning tips are very useful and easy to implement.

Getting started

To get started, you’re going to need a lot of materials. These materials are cheap and are fairly easy to come by, in any general store. You’ll have an easy time assembling them, and trust us, once you get everything on the list, you’ll have a much easier time cleaning bicycle. You’ll need to collect the following utility items:

1. Cleaning rags or old cotton T-shirts.
2. Scrub brushes.
3. Bottle brushes.
4. A bucket for keeping the water.
5. A square head brush that is exclusive for the wheels.
6. A garden hose with a spray head.
7. A couple of sponges.
8. Any dishwasher formula like dawn ultra.
9. Chain greaser
10. Bike Degreaser

What to look out for?

Be careful of the times you’ll use the sponges. Good sponges last about 3-4 months, and you’ll have to change them after this period.

Another thing to look out for is how you clean bike chain and other parts; you essentially want to go into the hard to reach places. These places include chain rigs, inside of the fenders, cogs, under the frame, and any place that isn’t usually noticed.

In the end, you’ll have to have a positive mentality. Cleaning a bike half-heartedly, won’t make much difference.  Your commitment will shine as a clean bike will ride longer and better than a dirty bike.

What to avoid

An abrasive sponge that will damage the frame. This type of brush leaves scratches and does more harm than good because of the damage it causes. You shouldn’t be mixing all your different items such as tools, rags, and buckets because it causes a mess and disruption in the whole setup.

Necessary arrangements

Here are the necessary arrangements for cycle cleaning:

1. First of all, you’ll have to fill two buckets with water, and add a lot of dish soap in the water. Put your tools in order, such as the rags and brushes.
2. You’ll have to put your bike on a work stand or a regular bike stand. This gives the bike a decent elevation and makes the hard to reach places, an easy chore.
3. This step is skippable but offers a much efficient clean that your bike will thank you for. Get a chain keeper to remove the tension from the drivetrain. This avoids the annoyance of the chain from falling off.

How to wash a Bike

Here are steps of car wash and how to wash a bicycle:

1. Apply the degreaser on the chains and turn the pedal backward so that it spread everywhere evenly. If the chain still isn’t clean, add a bit of dish soap and turn the pedal while you clean the chains with sponges. If chain is completely clean, rinse it.
2. Get the bristled brush and dunk it into the soapy buckets. Use that to clean the chain rigs. Something like the bottle brush will deep clean the small crevices of the chain. Rinse it to remove the soap and dirt.
3. Dip a clean sponge into the second bucket and efficiently clean the frame to get the shiny look. Then rinse it with water once you’re done.
4. The softer brushes are going to do wonder for the wheels. You’ll need to get the valve, wheel, spokes, hub, and the other side of the wheel of a job well done. Do the same for the second wheel.

With all of the stuff done, reattach the chains and wheels to the rest of the bike. Move the pedals to see if everything is moving smoothly. Let it air dry and lube the chain to be on your merry way.

Conclusion

I hope you liked this comprehensive guide on how to clean a bike. If you have any questions regarding bike cleaning tips, you are welcome to ask. If you are a beginner and looking for cycling tips then read this article How to Start Cycling.