Originally Posted by
WhyFi
Yeah, mine is a little more dirty than that when I do get around to cleaning it. We're probably talking about once every 2-3k miles and the accumulated crud definitely needs a little more soaking to come off. Even so, it's just a bucket of sudsy water, a sponge and 10-15 minutes. Coming from the matte finish of my old Domane, it's so, so, so much easier to clean.
I agree on the matte finish - I'd much prefer gloss. That's why I've stayed as far away as I can from matte finished cars when they were the rage.
One difference between us in addition to you riding more than I do is that I rarely ride when it's wet. Most of our summer and fall is dry and when it does rain it dries up very quickly. So, the bike rarely gets wet. Same is true in the spring since our spring rains typically run most if not all of the day, so rain usually means indoor riding.