Cycling UK Forum

Just watching this GCN video about cleaning your bike https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvzVRxlIUL0

It seems to go against everything we're normally taught.

His method seems to boil down to -

Degrease the drivechain with WD40
Clean the bike with a sponge and a bucket of water with washing up liquid
Clean the drivechain with the sponge and the WD40 will have loosened the grease
Hose down
Lube the drainchain with WD40

I wonder what the assembled panel as to say about this?!

For reference my preferred method after every ride goes as far as I can without having to touch any dirt, namely:
Hose down
Cover bike with Muc-off
Use spray on degreaser on the chain
(Wait / Pump up tyres)
Hose down
Oil chain with wet lube

People do not like WD40 as they say it is not a lubricant, it is and I have been using it for years on my bike more so on the chain, how many of you can get 6500 miles out of a chain, not many I bet.

I use WD40 to clean my cogs and rings, plus usually use it to clean just about anything bike-wise.
Good stuff I reckon, but it's useless as a lubricant on a bike.

When the bike is clean spraying some parts of the bike, such as around the bottom bracket etc which can become very wet and dirty, with WD40 or my preference GT85 means that you can easily brush and rinse off the muck. In summer I just use a soft brush and maybe a toothbrush without water as this is usually sufficient (for me anyway ) as it's mainly dust or dry dirt. That way you don't contribute any more water to get into places it shouldn't.

yakdiver wrote: how many of you can get 6500 miles out of a chain, not many I bet.

Good going, but I should think it depends very much on where and when you ride.

I find WD40 to be a 'dirty' spray GT85 is much cleaner ie; I've just come back from a ride and the bike was mucky(wetish gravel roads) I hosed it down lightly to get the muck off,then sprayed both mechs both sides of the BB(S/T) on the bearings,on any adjusters and pivot points,then towelled the bike off.It took less than 10minutes the bike's clean and the GT85 won't attract dirt next time out.
GT85 is great,it also smells nice too,EEK! fetish alert

MikeF wrote:

yakdiver wrote: how many of you can get 6500 miles out of a chain, not many I bet.

Good going, but I should think it depends very much on where and when you ride.

Muddy with cow download on the country lanes.

I use it to clean my rims. It has the complete opposite effect to what you think it would.
Also polish the frame and components with it as it makes cleaning easier.

Vantage wrote:I use it to clean my rims. It has the complete opposite effect to what you think it would.
Also polish the frame and components with it as it makes cleaning easier.

What do I think it would? I'm confused.

Is GT85 functionally the same as WD40?

I use WD for cleaning, degreasing and light lubrication.
It is fine on the chain but I find it dries out fairly quickly so I generally use other products.
There is now WD specific cycle products but I haven't seen any in the shops yet:-
http://www.wd40bike.com/products/

I don't take lessons from kids on how to clean their bikes in GCN videos. You don't need to clean with WD40 if you are using one of the modern generation biodegradable drivetrain lubricants - they are easily removed using biodegradable citrus cleaner.

yakdiver wrote:Muddy with cow download on the country lanes.

The new must-have chain lube?

I clean my bike with water only and lube the chain with chain lube. Never felt the need to spray other stuff on it really. Maybe I'm a philistine, but my kit goes on and on. Edit, do have one of those chain cleaning machines that I use with citrus degreaser about twice a year.

Mark1978 wrote:Is GT85 functionally the same as WD40?

It displaces water and leaves a Teflon coating when it dries.
It's great for cleaning,leaving a nice shine on paintwork.