Is Your Bike Too Dirty?

Fully Rigid, 5/16/23

Can you believe there are things you can buy to wrap your bike in a protective layer/coating so that you don’t scratch the paint job and it keeps actual mountain particles from touching the paint? Of course, you can. Some of you have done it.

Great! Good for you. On the flip side, some of us could not give a flying burrito if the bike(s) we ride in the mountains get dirty and scratched up. No bike I’ve owned/ridden hasn’t lasted long enough to make it to the next bike purchase because it got too dirty.

Now, I know, you’re going to tell me about longevity and moving parts and making things better for my next ride. Something about proper care and maintenance will help get your money’s worth, you say, as well. I hear you.

I might be tone deaf though.

I hadn’t washed the fat one in many, many months. I’m talking Sierra to desert to local mountains, it’s all in the drivetrain, including melted snow. Did I brush it a few times? Less than the five fingers on one hand worth. Squeeze some lube on the chain and go.

Lazy? Probably.

Here’s a fun fact: I run the same drivetrains for years. When you got a bunch of gears, who cares if every one works every time?! Pedal what you got is more than a saying.

In the spirit of spring cleaning, though, I got out the hose. Sometimes, when I rarely wash my car, I put my bikes on the rack and take ‘em along. Yep, I use the power washer at the car wash and send all of the grit deep into the nooks and crannies of my bike.

Back to the home hose. Spray it down. Then with a bucket of soapy water, I rub down the bike with old rags that haven’t been cleaned of late. After that, I do get out the brushes and clean up the drivetrain. Then it’s more hose time.

How many times a year? Once maybe twice.

so clean

I even got out the saddle juice.

The one gear got a bath, too. Less work to do, which I like. That chain has been on there for too long to remember. With an EBB, you can tighten it as it stretches out!

The rear brake pads were getting low. I finally swapped those out. Metal on metal, but those rotors were/are fine.

At this point in my annual bike maintenance day, I admit that I was feeling moved by how pretty my clean bikes looked and decided to have a beer.

One bike to go. I’ve had it for 4 years and all the “new” stuff is old but it still works good enough for me. Maybe I’ll consider a new drivetrain for its 5th birthday.

I did this a while ago, but since the pedal has two sides, who cares?!

Is it okay that I sat the bikes out in the sun to dry? I did bounce them a few times each to knock some of the water off. After having a second beer, one that I’ve featured here on MTBeer as being reputed by beer aficionados, of which I am not, as being the best beer in the world, I went back and lubed the moving parts.

best beer in the world? now available in friendlier smaller bottles

Exhausting. Who has the time and energy and the actual “I really want a clean bike/ride every single time” mindset to go through all of that?! Again, I’ve heard it many times: a clean bike will perform better and last longer, etc.

Baloney, or bologna. You know what performs better? Better riders. Get out and ride your bike, dirty or not, more often and you’ll find that your bike “performs” better when you do … and you’ll only get better when you work at it.