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Workshop Tips by Andy Verrall: Keep It Clean · 09/07/09

Having already covered the cleaning of the drive chain, I thought I had better cover the rest of the bike.

Like most things to do with cleaning, keep on top of it and it will not take long if carried out regularly. Let it build up and you have a large, messy problem that takes a long time to sort out. Why have a top quality bike and then let it end up covered in dirt and grime – it does not look nice. If your bike is looking clean it looks fast and you will feel faster, fitter and enjoy riding it more!

When away on a race and with up to 8 riders and team bikes, along with the spare bikes and wheels, you can end up with a lot of work on your hands every evening. It is not as bad as it sounds though; I have all the equipment required and a system that works out at 15 minutes per bike to de-grease, wash, dry, check-over and lube ready for the next day.

Of course at home you may not have all the equipment, but as a minimum I would suggest a bucket of soapy water, a hose (a watering can with clean water if no hose), sponge, scrubbing brush, and a wet and dry cloth. Start off by cleaning the drive chain, as covered previously, then move on to the rest of the bike. Everybody has a different way of doing this but the main thing is to clean the areas that you often see forgotten, such as under the saddle, the cables, inside the forks/chain stays, under & behind the brake bridges/brakes, under the bottom bracket & around the shell itself. Basically do not forget to work the sponge or cloth into the areas that are hidden as these become dirt traps. If you have white tape keep it white and just use cif/jif on a scrubbing brush. There’s nothing worse than dirty bar tape!! If you are doing this at home without a work stand there’s no need to remove the wheels every time, but at least every few times take the wheels out and use the scrubbing brush to go around the brake surfaces, then the sponge to work into the tyres and rims, and do not miss the hubs!

Hose off all the soapy water or use the watering can. Do not leave any soapy water on as it can cause problems. Go over everything with a dry cloth then apply lube as required, which leads me onto the next tip which will be lubrication.

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