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Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 5:16pm
by slowster
Paradiddle wrote: ↑13 May 2021, 4:36pm
What lube do you use? I feel like the wet lube I use lasts a while in the rain but on dry days attracts dust and dirt like nothing else. It's fine to ride but after a few months it would gum up and actually affect the drivetrain.
A very old bottle of White Lightning wax lubricant, but you are missing the point if you think it's the lubricant that matters.
When I first built the bike, I went out for what I intended would be a fairly short test ride on the road, before fitting the Chainglider. Instead I could not resist venturing off road for a couple of hours. By the time I got back, as I pedalled I could feel the coating of fine grit and dust on the chain. Lesson learned. I degreased the chain to remove the grit and dust, fitted the Chainglider and have kept it on ever since.
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 5:27pm
by simonhill
Everybody seems to have missed the obvious. Get someone else to do it for you.
In Korea I saw students earning a few won by cleaning people's bikes.
A couple of times in Vietnam and Cambodia, I have availed myself of the motorcycle cleaning stations. Lots of suds, rags, brushes and a jet wash (I directed proceedings so as to avoid bearings etc).
No effort, job done.
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 5:44pm
by Stevek76
Yes, definitely consider how much you value your own time and if you'd rather just pay someone else to do it! Needs a decent lbs near you though.
On the rare occasions I do my commuter I'll usually take the whole drive chain off. It's fair easier to just lob the cassette in some degreaser than try to deal with it on the bike.
You can also take the rear derailleur cage apart and get all the gunk from inside of that out.
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 5:50pm
by Psamathe
In my (limited personal) experience I probably don't clean the chain often enough but when I do the cassette and chainring also need a good clean. Taking the chain off and cleaning it (the way I clean it) is not much work, cassette and chainring a bit more work (but all still a fairly small task).
Ian
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 6:18pm
by Mick F
Jupestar wrote: ↑13 May 2021, 5:06pm
Mick F wrote: ↑13 May 2021, 3:45pm
1. The Parktool Cyclone clamp-on chain cleaner is absolutely brilliant ............ but you
must use Screwfix degreaser mixed 50/50 with water.
Read my posts on the subject, and I'm a Chain Cleaner Expert.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=129294
You need to read all of it, but the telling page is Page 7.
I read this, i brought this. Brilliant.
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 6:24pm
by jo' bo
on6702 wrote: ↑13 May 2021, 12:07pm
Ok, a confession first..... given its commuting activities all year round my bike gets pretty filthy despite having mudguards and a long chain-ring guard. I know that I should clean it more often but given the mess and inconvenience, it's not happening as often as it should !
At present I don't have any specific tools (although I do have a repair stand) and it's a case of old toothbrushes, rags and hot soapy water and a bit of white spirit or bio degreaser. The thing I struggle with most is cleaning the drive train as it's such a fiddle. Hence, I'm trying to find ways of making it a bit easier and quicker and thought I'd tap into the collective wisdom of the forum.
Present approach: wait until I can't bear it any longer and then remove chain (via a quick link) and place it an old plastic milk bottle with a little bit of white spirit or degreaser and shake vigorously, then dry and relubricate. Clean up cassette, chain rings and FD and RD with a tooth brush and degreaser or soapy water.
Questions for forum :
1) any these clamp on plastic chain cleaner contraptions with rotating brushes any good i.e. are they quick, effective and convenient or are they a waste of money ?
2) what's the verdict on ultrasonic cleaners? If they work amazingly well for chains and cassettes I might consider one given the lack of mess but I'm a bit doubtful about their abilities and of course everything has to get taken off the bike and they are quite expensive.
3) any convenient tricks that people have discovered for cleaning ?
Thanks in advance
Oliver
The most time efficient way is to only clean your bike once a year, this will l save you countless hours over say cleaning it once a week and have the,added benifit of making it less stealable, theives presented with the requirment tO clean and polish your bike before listing it on gum tree will look else where .
This is my preferred method of both time saving and theft proofing,
If preserving the finish of your bike is a consideration, then coat all but the cross bar seat and bar ends in wax oil, though slightly more trouble to start of with, it has the added benifit that you dont have to clean it all till just before you sell it, at which point it will be immaculate
If for some reason you want your bike to look smart, then use car wax on it, a few coats of good wax with protect it from scratching and mean the dirt falls off with only a modest effort
.for all cleaning I use a,sugar soap spray, ready to mix it cost about 2 p per litre in use, if its particularly grubby, I out a,squirt of bleach in it
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 8:12pm
by PT1029
1. I suppose the ultimate lazy way to keep your bike clean is to not ride it(!).
2. Having a proper (usually DIY) front mud flap that almost trails on the ground keeps your chain a lot cleaner - standard mud guard flaps are just not long enough.
One winter my long front mud flap came off and it was ages before I got round to replacing it, crud on my chain was much worse that winter.
3. Chain cleaner with rotation brushes, I quite like them as they are easy to use (previously it was a tooth brush and a fray bentos tin which was longer and muckier).
I find it best to either clean the chain fairly regularly, or not really bother. Many times in the past I have (finally) got round to clean the chain, only to wash the much out of the pivots and find in fact it was very worn out.
For simplicity/cheapness, I use a single fixed about town/for commuting.
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 8:27pm
by RickH
Mick F wrote: ↑13 May 2021, 3:45pmbut you
must use Screwfix degreaser mixed 50/50 with water.
What's wrong with using the Screwfix degreaser neat? That's what I've been doing.
I used to take the chain off but these days I use the Muc-off cleaner. It is, I think, similar to the Park in that it uses a straight chain route (useful for IGH/ singlespeed/ tandem setups). It also has a top reservoir that drops the degreaser onto the chain.
For lubricant I'm finding Muc-off wet lube doesn't wash off in the wet, but doesn't attract the dirt too much (on a bike that sees plenty of off-road use). I don't know if there's any left but it was being sold fairly cheap in Aldi recently.
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 8:43pm
by prestavalve
on6702 wrote:
Questions for forum :
1) any these clamp on plastic chain cleaner contraptions with rotating brushes any good i.e. are they quick, effective and convenient or are they a waste of money ?
2) what's the verdict on ultrasonic cleaners? If they work amazingly well for chains and cassettes I might consider one given the lack of mess but I'm a bit doubtful about their abilities and of course everything has to get taken off the bike and they are quite expensive.
3) any convenient tricks that people have discovered for cleaning ?
1: Don't know, see 3 for why.
2: I have tried shouting at my bike, doesn't work.
3: Have 3 chains in rotation: ride one for a couple of weeks, take it off and pop it in a bath of cleaner, let it dry and then drop it in a wee bag of lube. While that's happening, pop a new chain on and [loop [loop until nchain = 3 then return to nchain = 1] until cassette = slippage].
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 10:53pm
by MartinC
IIRC the only correct way to clean a chain is this
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html AASHTA,
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 13 May 2021, 11:14pm
by scottg
Prepare a spray bottle of washing up liquid, put bike in a location open to the sky,
await the rain, at first drops of rain, spray washing up liquid all over bike.
Voila, mostly clean bike.
Or the old classique....
http://belgiumkneewarmers.blogspot.com/ ... -wash.html
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 14 May 2021, 7:27am
by TheBomber
Another lover of the Park chain scrubber here. However, I clean my bike and chain frequently so maybe it’s not such a good solution if the drive train has been neglected?
Nobody seems to have commented on the tooth brushes - not particularly useful unless you’re cleaning something that has been disassembled. More use is an old paint brush - around a 1” size. Just don’t try glossing any doors with it afterwards.
mig wrote: ↑13 May 2021, 1:54pm
cleaning a bike often gives opportunity to spot things going wrong before they become a problem on the road - worn blocks, splitting rims, foreign bodies working into tyres, chain links going awry, cables fraying.
This fits with my experience - it’s the riders on the dirty bikes who experience the most mechanicals on a club run. Not because a clean bike prevents the problems, but because the rider sees the issues developing.
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 14 May 2021, 8:32am
by ClappedOut
Citrus cleaner works well and cheap from local bargains store solvent free so safe on paint
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 14 May 2021, 8:43am
by Jdsk
ClappedOut wrote: ↑14 May 2021, 8:32am
Citrus cleaner works well and cheap from local bargains store solvent free so safe on paint
Some "citrus cleaner"/ "citrus degreaser" products contain solvents, others don't.
eg:
https://hughcrane.co.uk/media/product/d ... CDG500.pdf
contains petrol-like stuff and alcohols.
But Bikehut Cycle Citrus Degreaser:
https://ulmysds.com/Admin/ViewDocument. ... ReportId=0
doesn't.
Jonathan
Re: bike cleaning -- most efficient method for a lazy person
Posted: 14 May 2021, 8:47am
by ClappedOut
Solvent free-On the bottle I have