big chainring 

I've been a biker for too many years. Give me a nice bike with good components and I'll ride it and maintain it. But after that I really dont give a hoot about the wheels, components, tires etc. And other than wiping down the bike now and then and giving it a shot of oil on the chain, I leave it alone. These pictures of spotless bikes with clean chains are obnoxious. It used to be you would look at a bunch of racing bikes, find the one with the chipped paint and filthy chain, and that was the fast guys bike.

I mean brakes stop you, derailleurs shift the gears, wheels spin. And those darn computers. I know when I'm going fast or slow without a computer telling me about it.

Anyone just like riding?

ezoons

No. You weird man.

kukusz

I wash my bike once every 3 months or so. Probably would get a couple more Watts out of my drivetrain if I kept it in better shape. However, any aesthetic issues I could care less about.

tjspahr

Now you're just talking crazy talk.

scotch

my bikes are never spotless, but i do clean my drivetrain every few rides since many of my routes include stretches of dirt road and the chain, cassette and pulleys get pretty gunked up.

Cdy291

I'm not as worried about keeping my bike looking brand new but I do keep it highly maintained. I am taking something apart, greasing, and readjusting all the time, almost every day. And I wash it every one to two weeks. Usually every Friday so it looks good for the weekend.

Richard_Rides

My bikes are spotless and well maintained. A bike is a precision, fined tuned machine. I would never ride a dirty bike.

dcbikeguy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_retentive

Nem01

you look after your bike and it'll look after you...

ridethecliche

I buy new things if I need something to get comfortable, for a build, or if it's worn and needs replacing.

I lube my chain and wipe it every 500 miles or so. That's about it though.

I will, however, give the drivetrain a once over before a race weekend.

pseudobrit

I don't use a computer, just a HRM so I don't goof off or blow myself up. I clean off the major grime and bugs and spilt Cytomax. I'd rather be riding the bike than taking care of it, but I know if I don't do the latter the former becomes a pain in the ass.

Nachoman

I'll clean my bike when I['m board and have nothing better to do.
I clean my bike a lot.

Youngin

+1, that or trackstand in the garage when weather is death

tomoscotto

this may sound stupid to some, but you should never "wash" your bike....

campag voids the warranty the instant its washed

wiping it down with a damp cloth is fine, otherwise the water from the hose gets inside the hub and other parts, its not good to ride in the rain but it doesn't reek havok because the water is not pressured.

every three months i degrease my chain and cassette, after every ride i wipe it i can do thousands of km's without wearing it out because the dirt acts like sandpaper

you say that "real" cyclists have dirty chain? must be pretty rich to afford the constant new chain and cassette from all the training that "real" cyclists do...

so what does your "maintenance" consist of i mean you don't clean your chain, just oil it (which would just help it wear faster), nor any other components

we all obviously enjoy riding or else we wouldn't be here, but the rest of enjoy it more with our maintained bikes

yes man you are weird

55/Rad

My bikes are spotless most of the time and I like it that way. Except one. The one I ride the most. It's pretty trashed at all times.

Dynamic

mind your own business. have a dirty bike if thats what you please.

patentcad

You are the anti-Schwag. On BF that's like the anti-Christ, but much, much, much worse.

God help you my son.

carpediemracing 

I think that looking for the chipped bike is accurate, now that many bikes don't rust or come with touch up paint. Dirty chain simply means lack of pride in equipment.

I would look for dirty spots which are hard to clean - inside the new skeleton brakes, the springs on virtually any sidepull brake, etc. Then you know they were training, did a 98% job cleaning the bike, kept what's important clean, but didn't kill themselves to get the last 2% cleaned off.

Cleaning the bike is not that hard or difficult:
https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...your-bike.html

Yeah I also (when I had a garage) washed and waxed my car. Also rubbed clean with clay. Now it's been unwashed for 8 months or so. I do it if I can, I don't if not.

My bike has chips on it though from getting tossed in various vehicles for transport to races or far off training camps.

When a car company went out to design a new retro styled car (I forget what it was, maybe the Thunderbird), the first they did was to get the designers to go and wash an original. There's nothing like washing a car, carefully, to learn you about your car's contours. Subtle details designed to hide a high waistline or tiny wheels or whatever all pop out when you run a soapy sponge over (intentional) creases, trim, and contours. If you've washed your car you probably know how your windshield wipers sit relative to your hood (or if you've cleared ice/snow off them, or if you've replaced the blades).

Washing your bike does the same thing. You automatically see brake pad wear, feel how wiggly the chain is (worn ones are more loose and wiggle more), eyeball your rings, hear your freehub body, etc. Hopefully you discover nothing unusual but a crack in a rim, a worn brake pad, or maybe a chain on its last legs or maybe with a stiff/damaged link... they could all cause a problem or ultimately cause you to crash.

cdr

GlassWolf

also, some WD40 goes a long way as a water repellant in rainy rides.

+1 on taking care of a machine and it taking care of you.
I have a dragcar I built, and I'd never dream of treating it like the typical soccer mom treats her car. the 50,000 mile oil change if she remembers, and take it to a shop when it breaks.
I maintain the car top to bottom, and I do the same with my bikes, so they'll all last 20+ years just like my first bike is doing to this day, and still ridden regularly.

and yeah I'm probably OCD, too.. comes with being an Engineer.

FrankBattle 

That's like going over to a Ham radio site and lambasting its members for deciding to communicate with Ham radios. Who does that?? Cell phones are a dime a dozen. Screaming is even cheaper.

There is room for you also in the spectrum of cycling. We can all co-exist. I am fast. My bikes stay clean. I'm weird like that.

mihlbach

I'm sure most people here clean and maintain their bikes, but its still very hard to keep them totally new looking. Most people photograph their bikes when they are new or newly assembled, not after thousands of miles, which is why so many bikes posted have that fresh minty new look.

GlassWolf

when you spend 3 or 5 grand on a bike, you want it to last. maintaining the bike, makes it last.

Road Fan

uhhh yeah we're gearheads, it's in the contract, man!

Hammertoe

Maybe we do both...

I certainly do...



Ride the heck out of the bike...

And keep it spotless...




I mean what else is there to do...

Pay attention to the wife and kids...

(Oh and post on BF)....

Turkey Feathers

I'm anal, my road bike is kept very clean...I've got a terrible habit of taking very good care of things that I paid good money for...well my MTB probly has a dirty frame most of the time, but the drive train is cleaned after every ride.