Quick unclog of mudguards?

[Mick F]

Hosepipe.

Unlike a hosepipe, a tyre lever also works when you get off that muddy bridleway back on to the road, and realise your wheels aren't going round as freely as they ought to.

I was up on Dartmoor some years ago and Mercian was caked in mud.
I found a few puddles on the roads home to ride through.

Had a thread about it back in 2008.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18562&start=0

[The utility cyclist]

I'm fairly lucky, the mudguards on the audax winter racer & commuter bike can get much woder tyre under them than that fitted so clogging is never an issue, i don't ride off road on them much so it's usually just a finger inside the first inch or so of the front to dislodge any hangers on or accumulated mud, I'll give it a wipe with a wet cloth from time to time on the outer but underside doesn't get cleaned at all as normal rain tends to keep it clear I find.

My gravel bike doesn't have any guards as yet but then I'm not a muddy rider as such so not really needing them tbh, it gets a fine spray from a bottle of warm water to clean it and as its carbon fibre it's pretty easy to clean.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Step 1 clogged mudguards.

Step 2 hospitalisation ( or worse ) due to clogged mudguards, causing a big ‘off’.

Take them off, whilst you still can, throw them away, fit an ass saver.

[Debs]

I'm thinking of buying one of these for the use of giving the filthy bike a quick once over after getting home from a dirty ride

Twice this week i've been passed and showered by a council rock-salt truck, i'm lucky like that...



Hand pump so no need for electric, no need for outdoor tap,
Very handy to grab and use for a quick 5 minute clean-up. Just leave ready for when you return home.

At £20 it seems a bit cheap tho', i wonder about quality and if they last (?)

[Des49]

I'm thinking of buying one of these.......

At £20 it seems a bit cheap tho', i wonder about quality and if they last (?)

A relative is a geologist and he mentioned to me recently that people in his interest group find it great that there are cheap secondhand portable pressure washers sold by cyclists who find them inadequate. Apparently ideal for cleaning rock samples out in the field, but not bikes.

Maybe get some good first hand advice before you waste your time and cash.

I decided a long time ago that there were no shortcuts to cleaning a bike.

[Debs]

I'm thinking of buying one of these.......

At £20 it seems a bit cheap tho', i wonder about quality and if they last (?)

A relative is a geologist and he mentioned to me recently that people in his interest group find it great that there are cheap secondhand portable pressure washers sold by cyclists who find them inadequate. Apparently ideal for cleaning rock samples out in the field, but not bikes.

Maybe get some good first hand advice before you waste your time and cash.

I decided a long time ago that there were no shortcuts to cleaning a bike.

This is about quickly washing away very recent road salt deposits from a wet bike after each and every ride = to take less than 5 minutes.
it's not about the weekly routine maintenance of thoroughly cleaning the bike, wheels out, degrease and re-lube chain = well over an hour.

I don't like the idea of proper powerful pressure washers, bicycle bearings being like they are

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
When I did the The Westcountry Way (off road version) on the tourer it was dry, but off road went through some puddles and streams and picked up the dry leaves.
I had to unbung the rear as it was stopping the wheel, a angled twig a bit of prodding whist pushing the bike to get the twig up under the brake where clearance as a bit close soon cleared it.

All other its a hose pipe.

[NickJP]

Sometimes it's impossible. Riding through melting snow on fire trails in the Brindabella Mountains:

[rjb]

I've got one of those garden sprayers. The safety valve broke so I removed it and replaced it with a valve from a failed inner tube. It enables me to pump it up to a descent pressure with a track pump in seconds. (50psi) It's much more effective in use now but do this at your peril. it's ok for a quick wash down but won't clean like a pressure washer.

[bgnukem]

I use a small handheld garden sprayer, but it does tend to get (dirty) water on the chain, bottom bracket, ends of hubs etc where water might get into bearings.

Better to use a long stick of screwdriver to push out the muck I reckon, if you have enough crud stuck in there to push it out. Maybe move the mudguards up a bit to get more clearance between 'guards and tyres, if you can. Makes it easier to clean them out and jamming less likely.

[NUKe]

Mobi pressure washer
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mob ... -prod34761
I know you said No pressure washer but this has its own power and water supply. I haven't purchased yet but it is on my wish list. Actually I would go for the Bigger size. But this is self contained Karcher do one as well .

[fausto99]

Step 1 clogged mudguards.

Step 2 hospitalisation ( or worse ) due to clogged mudguards, causing a big ‘off’.

Take them off, whilst you still can, throw them away, fit an ass saver.

No, no, no unless you only ride solo!

[Debs]

I've had a trial test of using a hose pipe, and with one of these:


Hozelock Car Wheel Brush: Amazon £11 plus free UK delivery

and the result is impressive, a clean bike...
not spotless but just a couple of minutes of hosing it down to get the worse off after getting home from a wet and yucky ride.

The only problem was holding the bike with one hand and only having the other hand free to hose and scrub the wheels clean,
i could do with something simply to keep the bike up and steady while i work on it, perhaps a simple concrete slab with a wheel slot sort of thing (?)
Don't want to faff about rigging up a proper bike stand, too much time and trouble for a quick wash n' brush-up.

My mudguards were not really muddy so no issue there, but if they were the wheels would really need to come off with the brush, however it may be possible to blast mud out from the mudguards with wheels fitting by using a Hozelock nozzle, i have one which jets the water out fairly quick but not with pressure harmful to wheel bearings, so perhaps muddy wheels that's the way to do it. Would probably need a designated area to do it so the mess of flying mud wouldn't be a problem

The bristles of the brush are IMO just a bit stiff, brilliant for scrubbing the tyres clean, but rest of bike need light strokes on only the dirtiest areas - but this seem to work okay in practise


Hozelock nozzle

[Brucey]

there are various stands which are compact, yet hold the rear wheel off the ground for display/cleaning etc

for example


http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=17443

this is another



this one hooks onto the down tube and cradles the bottom bracket

cheers

[reohn2]

I'm thinking of buying one of these for the use of giving the filthy bike a quick once over after getting home from a dirty ride

Twice this week i've been passed and showered by a council rock-salt truck, i'm lucky like that...



Hand pump so no need for electric, no need for outdoor tap,
Very handy to grab and use for a quick 5 minute clean-up. Just leave ready for when you return home.

At £20 it seems a bit cheap tho', i wonder about quality and if they last (?)

I don't think that's cheapo nasty cheap,by comparison I paid only £48 for a Karcher pressure washer,which TBH I thought was a bargain ATT.