Published September 9, 2008 10:41AM
After our big day out in the rain yesterday we all have to deal with a mess on our hands – filthy bikes! How to clean it? Well if you’re like me and don’t have access to a firehose you have a bit of work to do. What I find easiest to do is to let the bike dry overnight and give it a wipedown with a dry rag. The key is to keep it dry so that all the gunk on the frame just flakes off. Now, go an buy yourself some babywipes. Some of you new moms or dads out there may already have an ample supply. I find Curash to be the best. Now, take a couple of those babywipes and clean your chain off. Then use some more babywipes and clean the rest of your drivetrain. Then use a few more babywipes and clean your frame, tires, handlebars, wheels etc. Take one last babywipe and clean your hands, and voila. In 10mins time you’ll have a bike that looks brand new again.
After every ride, no matter how clean it is, I’ll take a babywipe and wipe my frame down and my chain. Takes about 1 minute and the bike is always spotless and never really needs a big clean job. It adds thousands of km’s to your drivetrain as well since it’s always clean and won’t wear nearly as quickly.
I don’t know what they put in these things, but they’ll clean everything from a baby’s bottom to the worst bike grease known to man. I even shine my dress shoes with these things.