How to clean your bike

The bad news regarding winter bike maintenance is that you should ideally be giving your bike a wash after every ride. The main reason for this is that the salt and grit that’s liberally sprinkled on the road is a deadly corrosive mix for your bike and its components. Left on your bike for just 24 hours and you’ll be confronted with a rusty, orange horror!

So how do you clean your bike? We’ve put together a step-by-step guide on how to give your bike a thorough clean, covering everything from muddy bike frames to greasy drivetrains.

We’ve also put together our selection of the best bike cleaners, which have been selected based on industry knowledge and user reviews.

• How do you look after your bike chain?

What you need to clean your bike

The good news is that, by getting into a regular cleaning routine, it only needs to be a five-minute job and will ensure your bike keeps running smoothly and the life of your components is maximised. For a basic five-minute bike wash, you’ll need:

• A bucket of hot and soapy water
• Hose or bucket of plain water
• Sponge or soft bristled brush
• Chain-cleaning tool
• Spray-on degreaser
• Liquid degreaser
• Stiff bristled brush
• Water dispersant, e.g. GT85
• Wet chain lube
• Rag

How to clean your bike in eight steps

1. Spray degreaser onto your drivetrain, working it into the cassette and chainrings with the stiff brush.
2. Run the chain through liquid degreaser using the chain-cleaning device.
3. Give the rest of the bike a good going over with the soft brush or sponge and hot soapy water. Avoid the drivetrain as the degreaser is working its magic.
4. Rinse the whole bike, paying particular attention to the drivetrain, with clean water or a hose.
5. Dry the frame with the rag.
6. Spray water dispersant on the drivetrain and run the chain through the rag to remove excess.
7. Apply lube to the chain, turn the pedals backwards for a few rotations so that it’s evenly dispersed and penetrates the links. Run the chain through the rag again to remove excess.

Top image: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images

Nik Cook Freelance bike writer

About

Nikalas Cook is a writer, author, coach and athlete based in the Peak District. He specialises in health, fitness, endurance and adventure sports. Having studied a postgraduate degree in Health and Exercise Science, he worked for eight years as a top personal trainer in London. He was the editor of Totally Active magazine and writes for numerous specialist magazines and websites including 220 Triathlon, Outdoors Magic, Trail Running and Trek and Mountain. He has also edited the British Cycling member’s website, the Insight Zone. He’s written for national newspapers and magazines including The Times, The Financial Times, The Daily Mail, GQ, Men’s Fitness and Red Magazine. But he’s probably most proud of being Derbyshire Life’s beer correspondent. Nik has written two books (Marathon Training: Get to the Start Line Strong and Injury-free; Peak District Trail Running: 22 off-Road Routes for Trail & Fell Runners) and his third, entitled The Road Cycling Performance Manual, was published by Bloomsbury in June 2018. He has also worked with Nigel Mitchell on his book, Fuelling the Cycling Revolution, and with Martin Evans and Phil Burt on their book, Strength and Conditioning for Cyclists. He’s completed numerous cycling challenges including the Trans-Wales MTB stage race, the Fred Whitton, the Raid Pyrenees and both the Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders sportives. Competitively, he likes to combine his cycling with running and has previously won gold in his age-group at the ITU World Long Course Duathlon Championships at Powerman Zofingen.