Quantcast

best cleaning solution?

FOXROX

Turbo Monkey
Jun 23, 2007
2,120
0
hambur,nj
what is your favorite cleaining solution for cleaning your bike?

mine would have to be with out a doubt greased lightning!

 

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Simple green.

Full strength: chain, cogs.

Dilluted: rest of bike.

Rinse gently, bounce off excess water, wipe down.

Let dry over night.

Lube next day.
 

Dartman

Old Bastard Mike
Feb 26, 2003
3,911
0
Richmond, VA
what is your favorite cleaining solution for cleaning your bike?

mine would have to be with out a doubt greased lightning!

Don't use original formula Greased Lightning on bare aluminium. It will etch it!

Some citrus degreasers will eat rubber seals too.

I just use Dawn dishwashing liquid and water.

Mike
 

moff_quigley

Why don't you have a seat over there?
Jan 27, 2005
4,402
2
Poseurville
Simple green.

Full strength: chain, cogs.

Dilluted: rest of bike.

Rinse gently, bounce off excess water, wipe down.

Let dry over night.

Lube next day.
:stupid:

Sometimes I'll hit the drivetrain pieces with an "orange" type degreaser.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
Straight simple green for everything!!!! Spray it down, wash it off with a hose, dry the particular areas lube it up and go!!!!!

If I am feeling good, I will giver her a wipe down with some bike lust, kinda helps to keep it from collecting trail dirt quite as fast.
 

maddog17

Turbo Monkey
Jan 20, 2008
2,815
105
Methuen, Mass. U.S.A.
how bout going old school. i remember watching an old TdF video and the euro mechanics were using a combo of diesel and water with a big brush. they'd wash the whole bike down and relube. nice and enviro friendly
 

Arkayne

I come bearing GIFs
May 10, 2005
3,738
15
SoCal
It keeps you from having to stand precariously in a plastic chair to reach the roof. :p
Make that a crispy white plastic chair that has started the "biodegradable" process. Wobbly piece of trash. lol, you would think I learned from the first time. *shakes head*
 

ito

Mr. Schwinn Effing Armstrong
Oct 3, 2003
1,709
0
Avoiding the nine to five
how bout going old school. i remember watching an old TdF video and the euro mechanics were using a combo of diesel and water with a big brush. they'd wash the whole bike down and relube. nice and enviro friendly
I worked briefly at a shop that still had diesel in the solvent tank that they used for cleaning stuff up. Worked awesome, smelled like hell, not sure how old that diesel was.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
Don't soak your chains in simple green. It can form hydrogen inclusions in the steel and cause cracking, or something like that. There was an article about it on Velonews a few years ago.

Edit: Found it.
http://www.velonews.com/article/9216
If you read through the article, its not saying that you shouldnt use simple green on your chain, Its saying not to leave your chain soaking for an extended period of time. But then again, you shouldnt leave your chain soaking in any degreaser for an extended period of time. I use and have been using simple green on my chains for as long as I can remember, But I also dont soak my chain for a week, i use it in my park tools chain scrubber, then I rinse it with water, and relube the next morning, and in over five years, I cannot remember ever breaking a chain. I also must credit this to being diligent about checking my chains on a regular basis.
 

CRoss

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2006
1,329
0
The Ranch
On my personal bike I always use a car wash soap with the wax additive. Makes cleaning the bike next time much easier. Mud also does not build up on the frame as bad. After getting the bike good and clean I will use simple green on the drivetrain and brakes. I am not all that good about lubing my chain though. Guess it can't be that bad my last chain was 2+ seasons old when I finally replaced it:twitch:. I am getting better about lubing the chain before every ride.

As a mechanic I just used bike lust or whatever the pink bike cleaner is. I loved when I was doing full cable replacement because I would just take the drivetrain off and put it in the ultrasonic tank then put it all back on sparkling clean. The cleaner the the customer brought the bike in the cleaner it left.