Originally Posted by
Dee Hubbs
I was going to answer until I saw this comment. So no photos will be posted of my wash setup. :fm:
I'm a big proponent for tools and water for "dirty parts", and a separate bucket and tools for "pretty parts"
-Orange bucket from home depot of with tools for "dirty parts". Brushes with a red handle marking them as dirty. These are a mix of kitchen scrubbers, toilet bowl brushes, and the odd bike specific chainring brush. The bucket has some warm water and some dish soap. This is not necessarily for the washing aspect, but more to clean the contaminates off of the brushes.
-White Ace Hardware bucket for "pretty part" brushes and sponge, again with some water and dish soap to clean off the brushes. I have the MucOff brush set, but only because I was buying the for others, along with some kitchen type sponges.
Dirty parts are anything the collects heavy built up dirt, or grease: under saddle, under BB, chainstay, tires/wheels, cassette, chainring, chain. They all get washed with the dirty tools with Muckoff bike wash, and occasionally MucOff degreaser on the drivetrain. I find bike specific bushes and tools too weak, bristles are not stiff enough, thats why I use a kitchen or bathroom specific brushes.
Top of bike gets a light spray with the hose, and then spayed with MucOff bike wash, and the soft brushes go to work. I like the Mukoff soft brush for all the painted parts, and their split scrubber (looks like a lobster claw) for getting around hubs and chainstays close to the wheels. Most of the dirty parts (except the drivetrain) get washed again with the clean brushes.
I'm in the camp of less is more. Less washing is better in the long run. I'll let my bikes get dirty and dusty and not wash them until really needed. If you're washing your bike every time you ride you're just going to be replacing bearings sooner than necessary.
I dry off my bike with a microfibre towel, bounce it on the rear wheel to get water out of nook and crannies, and then use SC1 to polish it. This makes a wash last way longer, it prevents dirt and dust from sticking to the bike. Pledge furniture polish is the the same product as SC1, just without the bike part markup tax. I prefer lemon pledge, but the cotton candy smell of SC1 is worth the extra price.
Chain waxing is only on my road bikes, MTB get the old fashion lube. I lube after rides, wipe until rags are clean (to the point i can rub my finger on the chain and not leave a streak on my finger), so the drivetrain is fairly clean most of time, and ready to ride at a moments notice. The drivetrain usually dosent need much special attention on wash day. I lube pivots on derailleur with triflow, pivots on dropper levers, pivots on SPDs, file off rock strike sharps on pedals. Most suspension linkages are bearing based, so I stay away from them with the triflow. Nothing special to suspension sanctions.
I pedal the bike and mimic a brake bed in procedure, that way I burn off any contaminates that may have gotten on the rotors or pads, this prevents brake squeal on the ride after a wash.
Again, it's not a show piece, and in my opinion washing it less is better. The SC1 is a invaluable product, it keeps the bike clean for a long time. Last night at the local race series some commented on me washing my bike to look good just for the race series, and it had actually been 8-10 rides since it had been washed, but the SC1 has it looking new, it actually says "New Bike In A Can" on the label.
Edit: I'm in a dry dusty Colorado eviroment, so its never a mud caked bike, just dust. (gawd forbid we ride when its wet here)
When I lived in the PNW we rode in Whistler/Squamish/Pemberton in every condition, poring rain just meant traction and brown pow face shots.
There I was a fan of letting the dirt dry, clean the stanchions and pivots with a clean rag, and then brush the loose dried dirt off with a medium bristled brush. No water, no hose, just brush off the dirt between wash days.