Bike Cleaning Mistakes That Ruin Your Bike!

How clean do you keep your bike? 🧽 👇

That little bird at 6:20 put a huge smile on my face. What a cute moment haha

Cheap shower hats work great for covering the brakes when cleaning

One of my favorite quote when I used to work in a bike shop, a customer came in complaining that his brakes didn't work. It was quite obvious he'd sprayed somethong oily on them so I asked if he'd used WD40 on them. He answered quite angrily "No! It was GT85!"

I've definitely done the accidental brake contamination. But I've also contaminated my brakes while spraying mosquito repellent on my legs while standing too close to the bike.

When 'lubing' your chain, you should always wipe it clean afterwards, otherwisw you'll just collect even more 'gunk' to the chain..

Too much bike washing does more damage then good. There is no way you are keeping out all that dirt no matter how much time you spend cleaning unless you take the whole thing apart and clean each piece in a parts cleaner bath. I owned a company that sold lubricants for large equipment. Lubricant is designed to keep dirt in suspension. The most important thing you can do is keep lube on your chain and gears and basically keep water away from the sealed areas. Granted it has its limits so knock off the big chunks of dirt and then make sure you have lots of lube. You can't really have too much lube either. I use an inexpensive chain oil/grease. What isn't being used will not get in the way and it will help keep out dirt. Each time you clean your bike chances are you just push more dirt into the moving joints. So don't be afraid to ride with a little dirt. Also, it saves you time. I have been biking for over 30 years. Wear from dirt is the least of the problems with my mountain bikes. Crashing and flying sticks is where the damage comes from 😆. Also, I wonder if these guys are trying to sell specific bike items that don't need to be specific to bikes. Also, the reason they make mountain bikes with a finish that is a different color than the underlying metal is so they can sell more bikes. Unless your rides are very boring mountain bikes are going to get scratched. So finish paint should match the undercoat and/or the metal it is made of. Bikes would look good much longer if they just had some kind of clear coat over the metal.

To clean disk brake rotors use isopropyl alcohol. You can also make your own chain degreaser cheaply, most specific bike cleaning stuff is very expensive and a bit of a con.

I only concentrate on drivetrain and suspension by now. No point in cleaning the frame after every ride just for it to get dirty with the next. I've got a ptotective layer of dirt now.

I've been mountain biking now for over 20 years and I've never done the water displacing spray on any of my bikes... I've owned each of my bikes for 5+ years and I'm probably the worst at lubing and cleaning them. Yet, I've never had any major issues as a result. All of my bikes looked amazing when I sold them and we're in excellent shape mechanically. I really don't like the idea of dousing the bike with a WD spray to attract more dirt and dust.

Brake cleaners don't leave a preventive "barrier", they evaporate immediately leaving no residue, it's the whole point! At least the automotive ones I use.

When I want to really clean my chain I take it off and have in a ultrasound bath filled with degreaser/cleaner. It's so zen to see the clouds of fine dirt appear out of each link.

3:20 Acetone and/or alcohol cleans rotors very well. Bed them in after to burn off the residue, and good as new usually.

One may has to replace the pads after a mistake with an oily substance, but NEVER the Rotors. Since they are solid (and not tempered, like the pads that soak up substances) it's possible to totally free them again from any friction-reducing substance.

Seen Gee On his dream build series doing the whole spray the whole bike down with polish! Commented several times he still does it! gets right on my nerves he might have specific spray that doesn’t contaminate brakes but how many people must copy him and wreck brand new pads and rotors!

This whole video is a muc off ad and anyone who thinks it isn’t is stupid. Doddy is a master at product pushing!

Bonus cleaning tip... If you have a chance, wipe your dropper post before dropping it (Obviously during a major run you may not have a chance, but if your just enjoying yourself and have a sec (I can get away with a wipe with my glove while still riding) it will help keep dust/muck from getting inside that dropper. As for general cleaning... I found truck wash (CT18 personally) at about 30-1 mix BEFORE you ride, then wash of, and re-apply at the bottom of a particularly muddy park, then wash at home... and my bike looks like it's been cleaned with a brush even tho nothing but water has yet touched it. (The pre application sits UNDER the mud and makes removal easy). I have not had any issues with truck wash on any parts and I have used it for years on my motorbikes with alloy radiators etc... Hint.. Anything involving trucks HAS to be good... would YOU want to anger truck drivers... Bonus hint.. want value for $ meals... Try Truck stops... Same reason... (ok real food, not painted plate food... Dad always hated food where it looked like the chef just signed his name in sauce on an empty plate) You can use a power washer (Water Blaster) on a bike. Just keep clear of the pivot points, steering head and crank... I power wash my chain, but I make sure I let it dry and re-lube the joints well... (Actually the best way is remove, complete clean, then soak in hot chain lube to dispel all air/moisture, then clean off all lube from the exterior of the chain as only lube inside the joints/rollers and between the outer and inner plates .. but who's got time for that Best chain lube is dry wax type if you can apply it correctly, as it tends not to pick up dirt/dust like wet lube does. (Having said that I have free HSS2000 so meh..) Brake pads and oil is NOT game over... but you have to do a PROPER job of cleaning. Remove the pads, Brake clean the caliper and disk. Brake clean the pads, dry with paper towel, rinse/repeat... Put the pads in a tiny jar with meths, shake, Brake clean again etc... Once the pads are back to the powdery clean colour they were when new, away you go... I started my channel when I got a 2nd hand bike with soaked pads (They were black and oily to the touch, and squealed like a supporting role in Deliverance (fitting as that's the name of the track I run it on in one of the 1st videos... )) I cleaned them as above, and near 3 years later, still 1 finger breaking on the same 2nd hand pads (replaced the rotor once with... a 2nd hand one... :-) (Note, I have been cleaning brake pads on my motor Trail bikes (YZ250 etc) for near 30 years... It's what its made for... and SOOOOOO MUCH MORE... Better than degreaser etc.! (I'm also a maintenance engineer). Uhhh disk brake cleaner does NOT leave a barrier... it removes EVERYTHING including itself (a bit like Isopropyl... which is hygroscopic so be careful to dry brake internals if cleaning them in a service... as Isopropyl attracts water as it evaporates) At least throw a rag over your disk/caliper while spray lubing nearby. Clean your rotor/caliper on the bike after any chain/derailleur lubing and you'll b good. I give my disks a brake clean spray after any wash just for the hellovit.

Thanks, going to try cleaning my bike for the first time. Glad I saw the part about destroying the breaks , cause I had no clue that was a thing!!!

Be careful using power washers or car washers on the bike, especially around bearings. They can remove grease and contaminate them with injected dirt.

I lightly hose it down (light so mechanism and brakes don't get screwed up) and then I use dish soap and a sponge to scrub bike, then I hose down again and grab a cloth, run chain through it.