If you’ve taken your bike out this winter, it will likely have faced many seasonal elements and needed a thorough clean. Mud, water, and potentially much more can leave their mark on your bicycle, ruining its appearance.
Today, we want to tell you how to clean your bike effectively using top-quality products and techniques that are sure to leave your bike in a pristine condition.
Table of Contents
Why is Cleaning a Bike Important?
Nobody wants to ride a bike that looks filthy and in awful condition. Keen cyclists take pride in their vehicle, maintaining its beautiful appearance, but this requires plenty of upkeep from you.
Your bike can last many years with the proper care and attention. Routinely washing your bike so no dirt or marks linger on the frame, chain, or wheels for a long time would be best. Considering how greasy the chains get and if dirt finds its way into them, the bike won’t travel as well and could lead to danger.
If you plan to sell your bike one day, perhaps because you are upgrading to another model, you will want to ensure that it has maintained much of its resale value; this is best done by protecting the bike’s appearance and functionality, partly by washing it regularly.
When the frame of a bike rusts, it will lose some of its structural integrity and risk its overall strength. It’s important to avoid rust as much as possible so you can continue using your bike for a long time.
How to Clean Your Bike
First, hose off your bike entirely, paying attention to the frame, chain, and wheels mostly; this will eliminate the easily removable dirt. Don’t use water pressure that is too high because you don’t want to dislodge any of the delicate parts of the bike, but use water pressure that is powerful enough to remove superficial dirt.
Next, a bike cleaning product should be applied to all surfaces. If you have purchased products that can only be applied to one area, ensure you don’t accidentally use them elsewhere. Spray the cleaning formula on with it and let it sit on the surface for up to five minutes, allowing it to be absorbed by the frame. Using a bike detailing brush, you can motion up and down to brush the formula into the metals before hosing it off again. Then, dry your bike completely with a bike-drying towel.
All this should be performed in a shaded area so your bike can absorb the products you apply to it without the sun’s UV rays harming how they perform. Remember always to use a microfibre wash mitt and drying towel so you don’t damage the surface of your bike with scratches or swirl marks.
