Originally Posted by
masi61
I have made washing and polishing my bikes a fun ritual that I try to stay caught up on. Rain rides are adventure for me and some of my best training is done on the crap days. I have a soft nylon paint brush that flows water through a ball valve when connected to the garden hose. I spray a dilute solution of Dawn dish detergent with Simple Green then scrub my tire sidewalls, rim sidewalls, take a toothbrush to my rim brake pads and rinse with clear water. The whole process goes quickly and I also wear a magnifier to be able to visualize where the gritty nastiness lives.
My tubeless wheelset is built with Chinese made DT Swiss R460 tubeless compatible rims. The sidewall machining on these is good and the rims themselves I only paid about $40 each for (pre-Covid pricing). I'm about to add at least one tubular tire/wheel bike to the stable here soon. The Velocity Major Tom rims have nicely machined sidewalls but they are also mirror polished. I may well cringe if I ride these in the rain and abrade up the pristine sidewalls. Maybe I will report back on the ride of this classic/modern wheelset when it takes its maiden voyage on my rescused size 57 silver Masi Gran Criterium.
I don't mind tedious work like drilling or sanding/laying down numerous coats of clear on a CF saddle - but I do absolutely abhor deep-cleaning. Why? Because the
end state is technically no different than if
I simply didn't ride my bike in inclement weather. I suppose in that analysis, I'm a pragmatist at heart. I'll do the work
to see an improvement as a result, but not to
undo something - particularly if I could've
avoided it from the jump. I understand others enjoy a deep-clean process, and that it can be a 'zen' thing to them - a similar example that comes to mind are those who love
every aspect of wrenching (while I have a deep aversion to tearing down hubs and pedals, and adjusting their bearings - and can't build a wheel to save my life!).
Different strokes!
In addition, while deep-cleaning after the fact is a good thing, there's no way to actively deep-clean during the ride. That's when the slow but constant additional wear is happening to the components. I've been running the same chainring pair, for example, on the Colnago Mexico for well over a decade - and there's probably another decade left in that pair, too. I don't 'shift heavy', avoid dirty, wet, nasty weather, and replace chains before their stretch begins to cause undue wear on the rings and cogs. Oh, and of course, periodic cleaning and lubrication of the chain, since it's the component picking up the gunk and distributing it to the rest of the drive train components.
I'm a
'clean-as-you-go' type. The extensive drive train component life I realize from this approach speaks for itself.
Again:
speaking only for myself. I understand
others have their own vision when it comes to their reason(s) and motivation(s) to ride their bike. It's all good!
DD