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Hello
Hi everyone my names Matt
Just thought i'd introduce myself. I intend to go on one of your rides as i finally got round to getting a decent(by my standards, probably not yours) bike (Trek 6300) and would like to go riding however finding people to go with has always been a problem in my somewhat limited experience.
A bit about myself im 19 and live in Terrey Hills. I attend UNI and work part time.
From what i gather from reading the site i simply turn up on a schedualed event? correct?
Anyway looking forward to haveing a ride soon. Maybe tommorrow, though not sure.
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hey matt,
yeah keep an eye on the calendar or even post a ride yourself. if your going on a ride organised by someone else then click on the star to say your going, look forward to riding with you sometime in the future.
cheers
sam
Welcome!
Yepp just be there and enjoy the ride
Look forward to meet you sometime soon,
Caro
As i've just purchased my new bike and mangaged to get it fairly filthy already. How do you clean your bike? I don't want it to rust up nor do i want it to grind up with all the sand and dirt. Whats the best way?
Thanks.
i just pelt mine with a garden hose (from the water tank of course) then give the chain some well deserved lube.
But don't trust me, my bike maintenance skills are.... astonishingly bad.
Hope to see you on the trails and by the way, its not how big your bike is, its how you use it.
George told me to wash my bike with washing up liquid, a sponge and a paint brush so that is what i do - however! i am sure that is wrong but it does look nice afterwards - obviously i wash it off afterwards with plain water... wait for the chain to dry and then oil it - if Gaz reads this he will laugh!
MEE
FWIW, I don't much care what the rest of the bike looks like so long as the drive train (chain/cassette/rings/derailleurs) are free of sand, dirt, etc. Get yourself a chain cleaner for this. You know, one of the little machines that locks onto the chain with lots of small brushes driven by the chain motion with a tiny bath of some kind of degreaser.
That said, while I'm at it usually get rid of any excess dirt with big sponge/scrubbing/bottle brush. Only takes a couple of mins.
This isn't the best regime, but seems to work here. I guess every now and then you should really take the wheels off, clean/re-lube the hubs, remove and de-grease the cassette (not while it's on the hub or you'll probably bugger the bearings), etc, etc. That sways more towards maintenance than cleaning though.
One other thing to do after every ride is wipe around the seals/stanchions of your suspension to make sure there's no dirt that can get past the seals. Just a quick dust off will do but will save a lot of heartache from replacing suspension from premature wear.
Other than that I'd echo Rob, clean the chain, cassette, chainrings and jockey wheels with a rag and maybe some wax lube or spray, then lube up at least the night before next ride.
Never use the hose on high pressure near your bottom bracket, hubs, bearings in the linkages and fork seals as it will force grit into the bearing/seal and wear it out faster.
I use a dustpan/carwash brush and a toothbrush for the fiddly bits.
John.
"Believe it or not, non-cyclists sometimes think they have something interesting to say!"
Thanks everyone for the help. Will look into the chain cleaner and follow up with the rest.
Hi Aurora,
hello I am a newbie on here too I haven't ridden with the nob crew as yet but will soon, regarding cleaning your bike never use a high pressure hose as others have said the water can get into your bearings and seals, and don't use just house hold washing up liquid as it can cause corrison with some metals.
Treat your bike like a car and wash with a good wax wash with a sponge and brush and towel dry and lube chain and drivetrain.
Squirt a bit of silicon spray on your fork stanchions and every now and then wax your painted parts with a good wax polish.
Regards
JasonB
"brush and towel dry"
you sure your not cleaning your dog?
In that case i should probably change my methods and be a bit nicer to the old steed.
" and don't use just house hold washing up liquid as it can cause corrison with some metals.
Treat your bike like a car and wash with a good wax wash with a sponge and brush and towel dry and lube chain and drivetrain."
DO NOT USE CAR WASH LIQUID!!
Sure, it'll leave your frame nice and shiny, but the wax will corrode the seals on your fork/shock/bearing like there's no tomorrow.
Washing up liquid is ideal. I have never heard of it corriding metals ( think about what it's designed to clean...) and from first hand experience have been using it for years with no problems ( on a number of different bikes/metals).
I have always been told not to use washing up liquid on my cars,boat,motor bike and bicycles as there is something in it which is not good for paint and metals, I could of been told a porkie and maybe you can.
I have been using car style wash on all my bikes for years and never had any dramas with corroding seals even silicon spray on the stanchion haven't corroded the seals.
If car wax wash was bad for seals on forks and shocks then how come when you wash your car or motor bike there rubber seals otr parts aren't corroding?????
Have a look at some of the high end car washes that are not detergent based & have no wax added. Meguires make a product called soft wash gel which I have found to be excellent.
I was always told the only reason the cheaper car washes had wax in them was to replace the wax they had striped of your car from be too harsh.
household detergent on the car was because it doesn't have any rust inhibitors in it that many of the off the self car wash products do. Maybe I'm just showing my age.
Why you would bother with fancy stuff for cleaning when you're going to get covered in crap is beyond me! Mind you you should see the state of my car before it has it's six monthly bath...
More time cleaning is less time riding...
Spend the car-wash money on Bling ;-}
yeh i would recommend not using car wash detergent stuff, i was using it for a bit, and i think it left some sort of film on my brake pads rendering them slippy and sqeaky.. i use a tiny bit of dishwashing liquid in hot water to clean it now, seems fine...
Bike Cleaning!
practical cleaning for the lazy MTBer
most weeks - the bike gets a hose down. Get a scrubbing brush and scrub the chain / metal bits on the drive train. Let dry, then re-oil the chain. Not too much oil - wipe off the excess. Too much oil just attracts dirt. Let dry in the sun.
Once a month - I use car wash, give it an all over sparkle. Also use a de-greaser like white lightning to completely degrease the drivetrain. After re-oiling, spray the degreaser on the disk brake pads and brake a few times - gets rid of 99% of squeal.
Nothing high pressure - hose should just be a trickle, if you are not using a bucket (much more enviro), even better a bucket of grey water from the washing machine.
Isn't White Lightning a lube rather than a degreaser? Unless I'm off the mark and they make degreasers as well as lubes.
In any case White Lightning lube (does exactly what it says on the tin) cleans and lubes the chain in one go, so no need for a degreaser or wet lube/oil. Rock'n'Roll does the same. I used to degrease my chain by taking it off (using a connecting link) and soaking it in a bucket with a bit of citrus type degreaser and water, petrol is also rumoured to work well for this. However the White Lightning / Rock'n'Roll did such a good job that became unnecessary.
I wouldn't recommend an oil/wet lube in current/aussie conditions, way too much sticky dirt attraction which'll wear out the drive-train double quick.
I'd also be very (very) careful about spraying anything onto disc pads, they may not squeal but then they may not work again either! Contamination of the disc pads by any kind of oil/lube (ie. White Lightning) will degrade performance, you can get sprays that are suitable for cleaning rotors I think but I've never heard of spraying pads... If the action of the rotor can't clean your pads then nothing will.
This may be BS but I've heard squeaking brakes can be cured with a little sanding of the pads/rotors but that's not first hand info.
Ta,
Matt.
Hell yeah!
Sorry Matt, White Lightning make both lube and de-greaser. I'm off their lube, but the de-greaser is pretty good (smells great too!)
White lightning make degreasers, lubes and an aerosol cleaner especially for discs (which I suspect is over priced isopropyl alcohol).
Cheers for the correction. And anyone reading my post above ignore the bits about White Lightning not being a degreaser, just be careful which version you're using where...
And I agree on lots of this stuff being overpriced and unnecessary!
Ta,
Matt.
$2.oo degreaser spray from k-mart lasts about 10 cleans or when that runs out good old mineral turps and an old tooth brush gets the chain shiny as
then finnish off with "finish line" wet lube apply and wipe off one bottle has lasted me a year.
I will not vouch for what it does long term to your bike.
I have been using it since I got my first bike and have had no troubles long term. I only use it on the chain though, always rub down with a rag straight after and then let it dry well before applying any lube. Best thing is even at $1.40 a litre it is still cheaper than even the citrus cleaners available from bulk hardware outlets (atleast it was last time I looked)
Yeah its good to clean your chain but concern about damaging it is a no brainer as if you keep that chain too long you end up having to buy a new cassette as well xtra $$$$$$$ check your chain stretch and throw it away when it shows ware don't be tempted to keep it going as I have found out by being a cheap ar$e = chain + cassette douh!!!!! = happy LBS =UNHAPPY CHEAP AR$E