solman

Hello All,
I recently joined the carbon fiber bike club and I am wondering what to use for a quick bike wipe down after a ride. This mornings ride was after a rain and my bike needs a quick wipe down I guess but, with a mat finish I am not sure what to use. In the Next week or so I will give it a thorough wash with soap and water as per the Park tool video I guess. Just wondering what to use in between major cleanings. My steel bikes always responded well to various auto type cleaners I have around the house, not so sure with a carbon fiber mat black finish though.
Perhaps a dumb question but better to ask than make a foolish mistake.
Thanks

Dave Mayer

A damp rag. No running water, as this gets into bearings and kills them. No WD-40 or spray solvents, as this is even worse than water at stripping out necessary grease. Nothing 'green' as this is basically water (bad) plus corrosive additives that eat chains and other metal parts.

When I 'clean' my bike, it involves regreasing bearings and replacing chains. Plus occasionally unwinding fixing bolts (bottle bosses, brake mounting bolts, stem bolts, etc.) and retorquing to make sure they are properly tensioned, and are not getting corroded into place.

The outside of the bike is far down on my list of maintenance priorities.

bigd777

I use windex

Ogsarg

For a light cleaning, I use waterless car/motorcycle wash products. I think I'm currently using a Maguirs product and it works really well. I spray it on a clean towel and wide down as opposed to spraying it directly on the bike.

After a rain, I would wash with water though since you're going to have grit on the bike and rubbing it around is going to roughen the clear coat.

mr_bill

"Running water" does not get into bearings and kills them. Otherwise we couldn't ride in the rain.

Don't "JET" spray water directly at bearings. (Pay no attention to La Tour mechanics who treat the domestiques bikes like crap.)

Otherwise, water isn't an enemy.

As far as "Matte" finishes, that's cosmetic. Here's some Hints/Kinks (Yes, it's autocentric. Matte don't care.)

-mr. bill

Troul 

use a facial "wet wipe" & if it's really bad, use a multi-surface wipe.

GlennR

Just this ride this morning after a rainy night. The bike was filthy and covered with sand, dirt and grit.

So I gave it a light shower and as stated it was a "spritz" and not a power washer.

Normally I have a spray bottle with 1 part Simple Green and 10 parts water. I have the straight Simple Green for the chainrings and cassette.

The nice part is that carbon fiber does not rust.

PoorInRichfield

I bought some of this Chemical Guys Meticulous Matte Detailer for the matte black wheels on my pick-up and also use it on my bikes. This isn't a cleaner, but more of a final prep spray if you're anal about keeping a matte finish looking nice.

I freakin' hate the matte finish paint on my bikes because it's such a PITA to keep clean compared to gloss. The last 3 Treks I've purchased were all matte black... it's as though Trek knows my price point and wants to torture me by only offering the bike in a color I hate I think matte black looks nice, I just don't want to maintain it any more.

Note that matte paint will eventually become semi-matte and then eventually a semi-gloss... and that will happen faster the more you clean it. At a microscopic level, a matte finish is really a bumpy finish and as you wipe the bike clean, you're slowly smoothening-out the tiny bumps. Granted, this change might happen so slowly you won't care and/or won't own the bike any more once it does, but I think it's an interesting tid-bit to know.

Melvang

As someone who works with bearings daily since about 2003. Unless it is a fully open bearing this is far from the truth. Even just shielded bearings, running water isn't going to be a major issue. Besides, bearings aren't that expensive.

GeneO 

I usually wipe mine down with a wet clean rag. If it gets really dirty or builds up a film I use either dawn or a non-waxed based detergent for washing clear-coat (or better yet for ceramic treated car paint), and lightly spray it with a garden nose nozzle set properly. BTW, I have done this on all of my bikes for years and have never washed out any bearing grease.

Same as for any other clear-coated bike- Carbon, steel, aluminum....

mercator

Do the soap and water wash, then when the bike is dry, wipe it down with lemon furniture polish.
After that, any time it gets dirty a simple rinse will get it clean.

Troul 

Make sure the spigot is calibrated to flow the right psv. Would be tragic to have pressure square value valved inadequately.

Toespeas

nice trek , maybe you should check out the checkpoint next !

for frame clean i only use dish soap and water and i use a dust pan brush with soft bristles ,
for complete clean start with drive chain
i use Walmart brand wd40 in a specific fashion ,
so i take a really hard brush from dish washing section of Walmart and i spray the cog only and i scrub the chain on the cog as it rotates back wards do that for two rotations ,
on my brush it has even harder bristles on the back in a line , so then i rotate the cranks and rub the chain against the bristles ,
i use wax lube only now so i take a screw driver to remove the cake from the jockey wheels ,
or just hit it with more lube spray and scrub down the rear mech and wheels ,
after that i take the dish washing liquid and i repeaton the cogs and chain ,
then i use my other brush to wash the entire frame down , and to finish i take the garden house pressure and point at the cogs from the top and put it really close and rotate the cranks so the water cleans out everything ,
i take it side to dry it off , and use a rage to wipe the chain even more ,
( now if you want a full chain clean , you can use gasoline or more bootleg wd40 or even lamp oil in a bottle and drop your chain in there and shake it up usually take about 4 rounds , wash off and dip it in paraffin wax for best results )
for the final step i take some shea butter or coconut oil ( food grade ) and some paper towels and i dab and rub the carbon down it sexifies the entire bike , but just dont use too much you might slip off and it will collect pollen and dust

Cyclist7485

At our shop, and at home, we use a motorcycle polish called Original Bike Spirits Spray Cleaner and Polish. It comes in a pink spray can. Pedros Bike Lust is also a good, similar product if you don’t like compressed cans. Pedros is bicycle-specific and comes in a white pump bottle. Either one does a great job on both matte and gloss finishes. Some polishes and waxes will turn a matte finish into a semi-gloss. These products will not. But be very careful to not get any polish on your disc brake rotors. It will cause them to squeal badly.
If you do get some on your rotors, you can remove it using a rag, some denatured alcohol, and some elbow grease. A rag and some finish line speed degreaser also works. Either way, wear rubber gloves and eye protection any time you use denatured Alcohol or any Degreaser.

We spray the cleaner-polish on a clean cloth or shop towel, then wipe the bike down. Next we wipe the polished areas with a dry towel or rag. Never spray directly on the bike. The overspray will get into your brakes.

SurferCyclist

Rinse off with hosepipe, wipe down with sponge. Dry off with old towel and wipe dry chain and reapply Squirt. Very occasionally I'll then apply some car wax to the frame to get it gleaming. I avoid riding in rain whenever possible, but there are times the roads be damp so bike gets wet.

thehammerdog

pledge.
makes it shine with lemon freshness

GlennR

speedyvelo

Baby wipes: 1. do not affect carbon 2. They are stronger than wet paper so you can use it like a wet rag 3. are disposable. I bough a package in Costco and it will last for a long time. If you do not ride daily, just try a single package from the supermarket.

solman

So I ended up buying the Chemical Guys Meticulous Matte detailer. I have a few of their other products for my vehicles and have always been satisfied.
I used the matte cleaner cleaner on my bike and it does a great job. I also ended up using it on my motorcycle helmet with equally fine results.