When it comes to bike maintenance, everyone tends to think of lubing the chain, wiping your bike down after getting caught in the rain, or even the yearly “Spring Tune Up.” But did you know there’s an even more important preventative maintenance step? The bike wash.

Washing your bike may seem like an insignificant item in the scheme of bike maintenance. However, it’s a crucial of preventative maintenance step. Just think about pro bikes, they are all washed EVERYDAY, after every race or ride. While an everyday should not be done on recreational cyclists bikes, it is something that should be done at least a few times during the season, as part of a comprehensive maintenance plan.

With these hot summer days, think about the sweat that pours off your head and body at every intersection or stoplight. And then think about where that sweat ends up as it drops off your body, it probably touches your bike at some point. This sweat potentially finds it way into the nooks and crannies of your bike, building up on the steel bolts or aluminum components and slowly causing corrosion… unless it’s washed away. And it’s not just sweat; road grime is a culprit of wear and corrosion as well.

Take a look at your bike, look around the brake calipers, the bottom bracket, the headset. Chances are you will see dried road grime, dirt, etc. on the frame. It’s important to wash or wipe away this road grime before it can work it’s way into the protective layer of grease, to ensure that the dirt does not make its way further into the bearings.

Finally, look at your chain. Is it bright and shiny? Or is it black and greasy? While a chain lube is needed to keep the chain quiet, and shifting perfectly, the chain does need to be clean, and lube should not be visible. Too often people keep applying chain lube but fail to wipe the excess off and more importantly the chain is not cleaned on a regular basis to remove old lube and road grime that on the chain. By regularly cleaning and degreasing your chain, you can ensure that this road grime doesn’t prematurely wear the links, rollers and even the cassette.

While a bike wash isn’t hard to do, it does take time to do right and few tools do help make the job easier.  Just take a look at this video:

So there you have it, a fairly simple, straightforward process. Although care does need to be taken around the bearings to ensure you don’t wash away the protective grease or have water penetrate bearing seals.   But if you don’t want or have the proper tools or experience in washing your bike, just come by the shop, we have a bike washing special all summer long.