With the summer's dry and dusty trails long behind us and a winter of wet, slippery, mud filled riding to look forward to, it's even more important to give your bike a good clean after a ride. Keeping your bike clean means, it's going to work better, break down less and last longer. Simple!
There are loads of hints, tips and advice about wet and filthy riding, you could absolutely spend a fortune on your winter riding wardrobe and of course getting that winter hardtail (remember, hardtails are for life not just for Christmas) and any number of other bits and bobs to ease yourself off your snugly sofa, away from looking longingly at your summer riding pics and out the front door. Lots of that advice is thoroughly valid and we'll cover it at another time.
My first piece of advice is simply, wrap up and get out riding. I promise that you'll feel better tired, wet and covered in mud with washing to do and a bike to clean, than you would if you just stayed at home!
Second, and more keep it clean related rather than point 1 which almost certainly results in the opposite, is clean your bike straight away. Don't wait until the morning or after lunch or even after a shower. Get it done straight away before the mud gets a chance to dry. The wet mud will just slide off with the hose leaving your bike good as new! Well, not exactly but most of will come off far more easily than if you let it dry on. Give it a rinse with the hose and then a spray with a bike cleaner then give it a good scrub with a brush. A set of bike cleaning brushes are a good investment as your car cleaning sponge will very quickly end up in bits.
As a general rule, don't mix your brushes up. If you clean your greasy, oily drive train with a brush, don't use that brush for general muddy frame cleaning. You'll end up with oil spears where you don't want them. Old toothbrushes are a good way to save a few quid on brushes and make a pretty good job of getting hard-to-reach places.
Cleaning your drive train is a must. It will make it last considerably longer and keep it all working well. But, before you start cleaning your chain and cassette, spare a little thought for your rear brake. As you scrub away the oily mud it tends to flick all over the place and inevitably some of it will end up on your disc rotor or pads. This can be a disaster a seriously affect your brake's performance. There are very useful covers that you can buy to put over your brakes whilst you are cleaning them, but you can also use a bit of cardboard or some plastic packaging to fashion your own.
As well as a bike cleaning spray, a drive train degreaser is a good buy. Use chain cleaner, a brush and degreaser to give your chain, cassette, chain set and rear mech a good clean.
Use a little flat head screwdriver to scrape any mud from the jockey wheels on your rear mech.
Once your drive train is nice and shiny again, check the rest of your bike is clean and give it a few minutes to drip dry.
Next up give everything a good wipe down with a cloth (old t-shirts work a treat for this) and use this opportunity to give your bike a once over, making sure everything is as it should be. Bolts checked and everything clean it's time to lube your chain and rear mech. Ride up and down the street and check everything is still working, wipe off any excess oil from the chain and pop your bike away ready for your next ride.
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