Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
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Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby AndrewBurns » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:37 pm
When I only had the road bike I'd obsessively clean it after every ride (wipe all dust and dirt off the frame, clean brake tracks and brakes, clean drive train etc) and make it look like new. When I got my commuter bike however I started to wonder why I would spend so much time cleaning something that was really just to get me from A to B and back. So these days I still obsessively clean my road bike but my commuter gets a wipe-down of the drive-train after every ride but that's it, I don't really bother cleaning dust or dirt off the frame or wheels and I've heard the best things you can do with disk brake rotors is leave them alone so that's what I've been doing also. The way I see it my road bike is the fancy sports car I take out when I want some fun and the commuter bike is the dinged up but functional ute I use for work.
So what's your opinion? Do you take to your commuter with the bleach every time you ride it or are you letting it slowly fossilise inside a thick crust of dry mud?
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby clackers » Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:34 pm
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Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby gabrielle260 » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:08 pm
Andrew
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby trailgumby » Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:24 pm
Was embarassed when familyguy dropped round to get photos for an upcoming review - my drive train was filthy Took ages to clean the cassette, and had to put a clean chain on. The one that was on the bike is still soaking in kero - one rinse and wipe cycle hardly touched it
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby Mulger bill » Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:15 pm
London Boy 29/12/2011
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby AndrewBurns » Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:21 pm
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby Blackrock » Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:52 pm
Find me on youtube and FB page; Merida Test Rider-Commuter Bikes.
http://www.merida.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby il padrone » Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:28 pm
What a Rohloff IGH bike does to you
"An unjustified and unethical imposition on a healthy activity."
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby il padrone » Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:34 pm
You've got to be kidding, huh? I've been rotating three KMC chains the past 15 months and they've been great. The factory lube has lasted really well and stayed very clean for the first 600-800kms.AndrewBurns wrote:The KMC chain on the other hand is a huge dirt magnet, even after one ride it was more filthy than the campy chain after 1000km and try as I might I just couldn't wipe the dirt off it kept coming and coming.
KMC chain after 530kms of mixed road and gravel riding. No relube, no cleaning.
"An unjustified and unethical imposition on a healthy activity."
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby DavidS » Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:50 pm
DS
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby toolonglegs » Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:12 am
My TT bike is pretty much the same.
But little farm roads are so quiet and pleasant especially in bad weather...
Down side is the amount of mud tractors drag onto the road...in a bunch you want to do the work on the front to stop swallowing crap.
Upside is the amount of tractors on the road... nothing is better than slipstreaming a 6 foot off the ground tractor that can sit on 50-60km per hour into a head wind.
My moral is "love it but use it...all the time".
BUT (there's always one right) ...in winter I ride a dedicated REALLY filthy utilitarian workhorse... salted roads really SUCK!.
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby gretaboy » Thu Apr 26, 2012 8:36 am
One sprinkle of rain and you can add 2 kilos of crap to my bike immediately due to the amount of crud on the roads I ride. I have now got mudguards on the bike and am hoping this will keep the dirt/crap down somewhat on all parts of the bike.
It is disheartening to spend hours cleaning your bike and then the next day see it filthy again due to some rain after just one ride.
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby familyguy » Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:49 am
Currently my roadie is grimy, having had a few wet weekends and weekday commutes. As long as you've got grease in the headset/BB/hubs and some chainlube, a dirty bike is ok. I dont fastidiously wipe mine down every ride. If you've got enough sand or grit on the chain for it to make noise, then definitely clean it. Nothing like grit to kill chain/rings/cassette. Or just be prepared to change your chain/rings/cassette a little earlier.
Oddly, the bike I bought specifically as a 'commuter' is clean, having not been used in anger yet.
Jim
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby westab » Thu Apr 26, 2012 12:55 pm
The parts that are cleaned regularly are the brake surfaces, the brakes themselves, the chain, chainrings, freewheel/ cassettes, and jockey wheels / RD.
I do try to make sure that my bikes look shocking on Wednesday afternoon when I chain one of them up at swimming so as to add another safety feature (not worth stealing) to the two chains, watchful eye of the swim school staff, CCT above the rack. They may not be worth much to sell but they are worth heaps to me.
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby lethoso » Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:04 pm
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby queequeg » Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:54 pm
I bought a CX commuter bike with a Ti frame, specifically because it does not rust or corrode. The bike gets washed whenever it rains on the way to or from workAndrewBurns wrote: So what's your opinion? Do you take to your commuter with the bleach every time you ride it or are you letting it slowly fossilise inside a thick crust of dry mud?
Seriously, I'll give it a good service when it looks like it needs it. Most of the time I just give the chain a good wipe to get all the muck off, then lubricate it. Maybe once a month I'll give the whole bike a good wash. This usually ensures that the following day will bring torrential rain and mud!
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby brokenbus » Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:15 pm
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby Lizzy » Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:38 pm
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Re: Commuter bike, clean or dirty?
Postby Comedian » Tue May 01, 2012 8:59 pm
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