Cleaning Products
Whether you ride once a month or every day, performing regular maintenance on your bike pays off in the long run and the most important form of maintenance is cleaning your bike. Regularly cleaning your bike will not only keep it looking great, it also improves the lifespan of your bikes components. Cleaning your bike helps remove road grime, sand, grit and dirt that has worked it's way into the moving parts on your bike. A clean bike is a happy bike, your bike will run smoother, quieter and faster, gear changes will be crisper and your brakes will work when you need them to. Unhappy bikes complain a lot, they squeak and rattle and tend to go slow and if you ignore them long enough they break down, usually when you are riding them! People who rarely clean their bike tend to have fewer riding buddies, this is because most people hate riding next to someone who has a squeaky, rattling bike... it's Very annoying!!!
Routine bicycle maintenance is easy, fast and can actually be fun! Dirt and grime tends to burrow itself into nooks and crannies on your bike so removing it before it can find its way into the hard to get places makes sense. The trick is to clean your bike before the dirt and grime starts to become too obvious.
If you are going to do your own cleaning and maintenance, then the first thing you need to do is make sure you have the right gear so can make a proper job of it. Home workshops vary a great deal in size but to start out you will need the following; An Apron so you don't transfer the dirt from the bike to yourself, Bike Wash, a Chain Cleaner and some Degreaser, Bike Lubricant for your chain derailleurs and other parts, Bike Polish for that sparkling touch, a Sponge and Bucket, some clean Rags and a couple of different Scrubbing Brushes, some Disc Brake Cleaner and a Multi Tool for tightening loose parts. Once you have all of this you are on your way to owning a happier, cleaner bike!
Now, if after reading all of this you decide that the idea of cleaning isn't that appealing, but you understand that it is important, the best thing to do is take yourself and your bike down to your favorite bicycle shop and talk to the Store Manager about setting up a regular maintenance program for your bike.
