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How often does everyone clean there bikes? I, for one, leave it much too long but have just cleaned my fixed-gear there and I think I'm going to clean it a little more often in the winter because the salt on the roads is threatening to eat up my chainring.
I am a bit anal, but i clean mine everyday, while the kettle is boiling, after coming in from a commute, nothing major, just a dry down, shit off, once every two weeks strip it down and clean the whole lot out.
sad as it seems i find it quite therapeutic cleaning my bike, the only thing that pisses me off is the fact i pretty much clean it every 2 or 3 days in this weather. Like to keep it lookin good.
Any one got any tips on cleaning your chain? oil it quite regularly but it still full of shit
Tp:Any one got any tips on cleaning your chain? oil it quite regularly but it still full of shit
Surely all the shit gets stuck in the oil? You could try a dry lube with teflon in it.
cleaning a chain, i use paraffin a lot, then after cleaning with that, some chain saw oil, then a teflon based lubricant
chain cleaning.
white spirits in a bowl.....shoogle.....repeat (if necessary)......fairy liquid.....rub......rinse........dry......lube (using the Jap kitchen roll round chainring and sprocket trick)
works for me.
I've got a pretty good chain cleaning technique.
First you break the chain and take it off the bike. Then put it in a little Tupperware box with some white spirit, slosh about, then discard. Repeat this once. Then get the chain in the sink and put in some fairy liquid and hot water. Shoogle the chain about and then get rid of the water. Then the real cleaning starts. Get a bit of the chain in your hand and pour over some fairy liquid. Scrub it with your hands all over and then move along the chain and repeat. This uses a lot of fairy liquid. Once you're done, rinse it and dry it off with a rag. Then use the rag to go through each hole in the chain to get the crap out of the inside. Then hang it on a meat hook to dry. Put it back on the bike once it's dry (after cleaning the chainring and cog off the bike) and put a dab of lube the top of each roller the bottom run of chain. Turn the chain until you've done every roller and then spin spin spin. After a few spins use a rag to wipe off the excess lube. Leave the bike overnight and give the chain another wipe.
Job done. You'll still get a bit of snap, crackle and pop for the first few miles but once that's gone you're a ninja.
Here's how to clean a chain properly http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html.
And to answer the OP, about once a year. My summer bike is sitting in the garage covered in mud, I should really give it it's annual clean while it's out of commission.
when I start to hear bad noises
Getafix:Here's how to clean a chain properly http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html.
^^^ That was a belter of an april fool, not an actual guide to cleaning your chain. If you half removed every pin in your chain you'd never get it back together.
on a Sunday evening when the Missus starts to watch shit like x factor, the hills.. Iusually give it a once over.
Proper anal strip downs only happen every month or so. I use rustys chain cleaning technique, pretty good and worth it if you dump cash on a decent izumi chain or something.
Saw this a while back, I am tempted to try it over winter.
You could buy that stuff in the early '80s specificaly for that purpose. I had it on my BMX.
makes sense for stopping you getting oil on things that touch your chain but I can't see any maintenance benefit. And you'd look like a total tool.
velonoir:makes sense for stopping you getting oil on things that touch your chain but I can't see any maintenance benefit. And you'd look like a total tool.
+1
That indeed would make you look like a complete tadger. Could just get some latex gloves for working on your bike instead.
aye but then the oil from yer gloves would go on yer bike. I imagine it's bad for trapping water inside and killing the chain though.
I think it'd be alright for dusty climates. It'll stop quite a bit of dust getting to the chain in the dry. In the wet, I'd imagine it'd be shit. It does also look wank.
i clean mine when i can be arsed, i.e. not enough.
i use degreaser stuff, spray it around my room with a nail/washing up brush and fail to stop grey liquid seeping into the floorboards despite putting binbags down, and end up with it still quite manky cos i don't take the chain off to clean it thoroughly.
I used to clean the chain every weekend. Now I'm using that Demond Tech Lite stuff you aren't meant to clean the chain. Just wipe off the dirt and then reapply the lube.
Bike gets a thorough clean every weekend or when it is really dirty. I clean the braking surface every day.
euan:I clean the braking surface every day.
With one of those rubbers? I've noticed that my braking surface and swissstop pads are wearing like mad right now. It's the wet weather that's doing it but It'll still be cheaper to ride in than to take the subway. Maybe a new wheelset will come in spring.
Nah, I just use a tissue.
any way to get your rims back to shiny new?
trailstar:any way to get your rims back to shiny new?
Here's a way to get your rims shiny new again.
I use the KMC 510 chains which are cheap enough and good enough that i never clean them, just replace it.
My fixed isn't getting much use just now anyway, trying to use my Trek anytime it's likely to get wet and there's bugger all maintenance to be done on it. The belt doesn't get lubed or anything and it's got full mudguards which really make a difference to how dirty it gets.
Yeah, I think I'll start using KMCs some time. They're less than £5 from ribble which is nice.
Very proud, cleaned my bike yesterday for the first time in around 3 months. Used half a bottle of finish line. It looks splendid again! It's to pish it down later in the week so it will be stinken by Friday.
tctrio:Very proud, cleaned my bike yesterday for the first time in around 3 months. Used half a bottle of finish line. It looks splendid again! It's to pish it down later in the week so it will be stinken by Friday.
But it'll be blingin' today. Apparently there's going to be sleet tomorrow. That'll mess up the cleaning job.
Yeh, the sun shining off the bike this morning was awe inspiring. What a way to start the day. I even found some smooth tarmac on the way in.
The bike is now nice and clean, with a new chain. Delicious.
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