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Pressure washing bike; any concerns??

JustMtnB44

Monkey
Sep 13, 2006
840
113
Pittsburgh, PA
Pressure washing a bike is usually a bad idea as the water can get forced into the bearings and pivots. A garden hose and a soapy sponge/rag is all that is needed to clean a bike.
 

ultraNoob

Yoshinoya Destroyer
Jan 20, 2007
4,504
1
Hills of Paradise
You can safely pressure wash a bike, just don't point the nozzle closer than 24" to any of the pivots/bearings/headset/suspension pieces. I pressure wash mine once in a while cuz it's faster at getting crudded mud off.
 

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
I don't advise using a pressure washer. Your bearings are not designed to keep that kind of water pressure out.

If you really want to get it clean, take off your crankset and back wheel.

You will have access to all the tough spots to clean, and you can scrub the chainrings (which is the hardest to clean but probably the most important after the chain).
 

aphex2k

Chimp
Sep 7, 2008
19
0
Of course you can use a pressure washer, just don't directly spray the hubs, headset, pedals or bottom bracket.

Personally, I just use a bucket, a soft brush, hot water and some washing up liquid. I don't buy in to all this "bike cleaning" product.
 

daisycutter

Turbo Monkey
Apr 8, 2006
1,651
124
New York City
like myself. I use a garden hose to wet the bike down. I then use simple green 1 ounce/water 15 ounce soluttion in a spray bottle. Spray the bike down have a beer and read dirt rag for ten minutes and then rinse the bike. leave in the sun or dry with rags if its winter time.
 

dfreem

Chimp
Sep 8, 2008
8
0
Rocky Top, TN 37996
The bike is clean! Unfortunately, I could never get the crankset removed :( I need to tighten the gizmo that seems to be attached between the crankset and lower guts :(
Does the crankset usually require a wheel puller??
THANKS!
dan
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
Of course you can use a pressure washer, just don't directly spray the hubs, headset, pedals or bottom bracket.
Or any other part of the bike for that matter.

Even if your frame isn't full suspension, all frames have small holes drilled in them to compensate for thermal expansion of gases during welding (or brazing if you have a lugged frame). Using a pressure washer will force water in there and cause premature degradation (even a garden hose has enough pressure to do this if you're not careful) of the frame from the inside.

Long and short of it, best way to clean your bike: bucket and sponge/rag. The only time you should use a hose is to fill the bucket.
 

aphex2k

Chimp
Sep 7, 2008
19
0
Or any other part of the bike for that matter.

Even if your frame isn't full suspension, all frames have small holes drilled in them to compensate for thermal expansion of gases during welding (or brazing if you have a lugged frame). Using a pressure washer will force water in there and cause premature degradation (even a garden hose has enough pressure to do this if you're not careful) of the frame from the inside.

Long and short of it, best way to clean your bike: bucket and sponge/rag. The only time you should use a hose is to fill the bucket.
lol.... Riding in England is somewhat, moist, shall we say. We quite often have to drain our bikes through the weld air holes. It's not uncommon.

I'm with you on the rag and hot water method, 100%. But you can use a jet wash if you use common sense.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,573
24,191
media blackout
you can use a jet wash if you use common sense.
And there's the problem... Pressure washers are far easier to come by :rofl:


Just FWIW, having water in your frame is more than just an annoyance. If its inside your frame and you ride in cold (sub-freezing) conditions, the water can get inside the tiny crevaces, freeze and hence expand. eventually this will cause the welds to fail. If you have a steel bike it will rust the sh*t out of it.


Also it can get from your seat tube and chainstays into your BB (depending on how your frame was constructured) and prematurely ruin your BB.
 
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sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
The bike is clean! Unfortunately, I could never get the crankset removed :( I need to tighten the gizmo that seems to be attached between the crankset and lower guts :(
Does the crankset usually require a wheel puller??
THANKS!
dan
Until recently, cranksets required two tools, a thin walled 15mm wrench or an 8mm allen wrench to remove the crank bolt, and a crank puller, which screws into the dust cap threads on the arm.

Crank Wrench (15mm)


Crank puller:


One thing to note about the crank puller is there is two types, one for Octalink and Isis spindles (the picture I used is this model) and one for square tapered spindles. If you are not sure, go to the LBS and ask them to identify your BB.

More modern cranks/bbs have several styles of clamping crankarms to spindles. Shimano uses two pinch bolts and a plastic dust cap. Others use this method, 8mm crank bolts, 10mm dust caps, etc. I can figure it out if I look at it, but you might to double check with the LBS first.