Washing My Bike

I just finished washing my bike.

I try to do it a couple of times a month in the winter.  It's not just to make it look nice, although it does look nice now, sparkling out on the balcony in the sun.  There are three more important reasons for washing my bike.  First, it rides better; i'll get back to that.  Second, i get a chance to look at all the parts of the bike, and notice if anything is amiss: spokes or bolts loose or missing, anything like that.  Third, it makes it possible to touch it, to make repairs or adjustments.

I ride in the rain a lot in the winter.  I love rain and i really enjoy riding in the rain.  One evening last week i took a couple of cyclists from Portland up through the little car-free urban rainforest of Interlaken Park, and up the back side of Capitol Hill on Interlake Drive in the pouring rain.  It was a glorious ride, very joyful.

The only drawback of riding in the rain is that a lot gets kicked up and stuck to my bike:  mud and leaves of course, but the worst is this thick black mudlike substance which is what happens when the sandy black grit that sheds off car tires mixes with water.   This nasty car offal can cover much of the bike, and all of the wheels.  The braking surfaces on my rims get a thick layer of this sludge covering them and that can really effect my braking ability and can even damage the rims.  The reflective strips on my tires get covered with with this slurry cutting their effectiveness.  This slime is so extensive and so nasty that any time i touch the lower part of the bike, i get this black grease on my hands.  And it won't wash off of my fingers very easily.  Some people think it is chain grease or oil, but it's not, it's little grains of car tire.

When i want to work on my bike, when something needs fixing, or if i'm going to take my bike to the shop, i always wash this crap off before i do.  Yesterday riding home i heard some rattles that i want to check out.  Today i am going to take a look at the bike, tighten some bolts, fix a few small things, make sure everything is tight and well adjusted so this was the time to wash it.

I fill a small bucket with natural dish soap and hot water.  I take the bike out into the carport and spray it down with the hose.  I use a wide setting on the nozzle and avoid aiming at the bearings in the wheels, bottom bracket and headset.  The bike doesn't get any wetter than when i'm riding in the rain, so nothing can be damaged.   We've all heard horror stories of cyclists who used a pressure washer on their bike, forcing all the grease out of the bearings. I'm careful to avoid anything like that.  Then i take a sponge and scrub down the frame, and components. 

The main part of it is scrubbing the wheels, the rims and the tires, but also the spokes.  It's very satisfying work!  The rims start off looking all nasty and covered with the black slime, and i just scrub it off.  It doesn't take very long.  I pay particular attention to the braking surfaces on the rim and the surface of the brake pads themselves (that alone makes a huge difference!).   Then i rinse it off.   I do each side of each wheel at a time, so i rinse four times.  It only takes 10 or 15 minutes, even when it's really bad.  Sometimes i will scrub the chain and cogs with a toothbrush and degreaser, but usually not.

Now my bike is really clean and i can work on it.  Everything will last a little longer, and when i pedal out the driveway tomorrow, it will ride smoother, shift better and brake more crisply.  And it looks pretty sharp too!