Bike cleaning

[Fordulike]

I ride a lot of miles along dusty tracks and the drive train tends to get very gunky.
Would it be safe/good idea to blast all the crud off with an isopropyl alcohol spray? Hopefully this would be less damaging on any electrics than water.
Also, once i've cleaned up the bike, any recommendations on a good dry lube to protect the parts. I tried using oil on the chain and gears and the dust stuck to it forming a paste like substance.

 

[Vikki]

Interesting questions. I'm about to clean my chains this weekend. I've got some lubricant that says it leaves a Teflon film and another that leaves a PTFE film. Going to see how they fair against the spray grease I've been using. You know the stuff, comes out thin then thickens up in the nooks and crannies. It's horribly thick and sticky once the solvent evaporates.

I'll get back with the results. Got to clean the beggars first and my trike chain is like cleaning three chains

 

[flecc]

The iso-propyl alcohol spray will obviously clean ok, but you'll have to take great care not to blast bearing areas like the bottom bracket, hubs and pedals since the seeking properties of the iso-propyl alcohol can quickly wash out any grease.
.

 

[Fordulike]

Good point flecc, do you think it would better just to use a good medium to firm brush to remove the crud, then lubricate?
Also thanks Vikki, it'll be interesting to see if these dry lubricants are any good

 

[flecc]

do you think it would better just to use a good medium to firm brush to remove the crud, then lubricate?

On oil free areas it's best to soften the dirt with water first to avoid damage to finishes like paint or polished alloy. Before that though, brushing the oily areas with "Gunk" or a similar proprietary grease solvent (Halfords etc) will enable the greasy and oily thick residues to be washed off with water at the same time.
.

 

[Vikki]

Following Flecc's pointy finger and subtle nod I went and had a look at Halfords website and thought that this:

Bikehut Chain cleaner Kit from Halfords Price £17.99 Web Offer! Buy 1 get 1 half price on ALL Bike Accessories. Discount applied in basket

looked interesting.

And this:

Muc Off Chain Doc Chain Cleaner from Halfords Price £19.99 Web Offer! Buy 1 get 1 half price on ALL Bike Accessories. Discount applied in basket

Although from the user reviews it looks like the first one is to be preferred.

Vikki.

 

[Mussels]

I've got the Bikehut one and used it many times, it does the job fine. Halfords is pricey for the degreaser so I order it by the gallon online.

 

[Vikki]

Cool tip and one to remember.

 

[Fordulike]

Just ordered a Muc-off Xtra value bike maintenance pack from eBay for £11.99.

It contains:

1 x 1Ltr Muc-Off Biodegradable Bike Cleaner
1 x 500ml Bike Spray

The cleaner is on offer on Halfords for £4.80 for 1 litre, but i'll end up coming out of the store with much more than i intended to buy
So much eye candy in there. Damn you Halfords
Thought i'd give it a go given the positive reviews on the cleaner, plus the bike spray is a bonus.
Don't really fancy melting the paintwork with isopropyl alcohol

 

[Extra Cold]

I ride a lot of miles along dusty tracks and the drive train tends to get very gunky.
Would it be safe/good idea to blast all the crud off with an isopropyl alcohol spray? Hopefully this would be less damaging on any electrics than water.
Also, once i've cleaned up the bike, any recommendations on a good dry lube to protect the parts. I tried using oil on the chain and gears and the dust stuck to it forming a paste like substance.

I use Sdoc 100 (available from Hein Gericke) on my motorbike chain and it's like magic!! It disolves grease really easily and just rinses off clean with practically zero effort. The best thing is, it's safe on pretty much all surfaces and they say it also leaves a "protective" coating on it afterwards.
Highly recommended!

 

[tillson]

I use paraffin and a compressed airline to blast the dirt out of the links / dry the chain. Not everyone will have access to compressed air, but if you do, it does a great job.

I followed Lloyd's tip of lubricating the chain with Halfords chain wax. I find it keeps the chain very clean and lubricates well. I'm just coming up to 6000 miles on the original chain and sprockets and they all look in reasonable condition.