10 minute bike wash - Chris Horner style

[karlos]

I've shared my current bike wash protocol with a few folks and Joel and Ric suggested today that I just post it here in case everyone wants some tips, especially since everyone got their bikes dirty in the drizzle today. This YouTube video from Chris Horner's Corner guided me to change my post-ride protocol - https://youtu.be/__bQLdqoOHc. I've been using it after every ride for about 3 months now. I've got it down to 10-15 min after every ride whereas before I did a serious cleanup maybe once a month (1-2 hours each) with touchups along the way, keeping chain clean and oiled, etc. The one really new thing for me is waxing the chain after every ride. I only used wax on my MTB before. One of the keys is the aggressive post-ride cleaning of the chain, derailleur pulleys and cogs after every ride to avoid any dry wax gunk build up. Also on my bikes with disc brakes I don't always completely remove the wheels[edit - see reply below], taking care to get any Simple Green off pads and rotors by flushing with water, maybe once per month swiping the rotors with isopropyl alcohol.

Anyway, it's working for me, but YMMV 

I've included a few pictures here: (1) My bike on my old stand which I keep outside in our dog run, (2) I happened to have all those Park brushes anyway for my bucket, (3) I dry off the frame and chain and wheels and mount on my real stand in the garage to put the wheels back on.

[karlos]

Minor update. Despite the disc brakes, I actually always NOW remove the wheels, too, for every quick wash. Much easier to get at the rear triangle and clean and lube the rear derailleur and pulleys. Also ensures I keep the rotors fully centered between the pads which, when I first started using disc brakes, was annoying as I often was off a little bit ... not an issue any more as they always stay solid after putting back in.

[karlos]

Also pay particular attention to avoiding water spray onto any bearings. I had rusty freehub pawls that needed cleaning and greasing plus both headset bearings completely rusted out after 2+ years and 15,500+ miles. It could have been the rain I like to ride in or the bike wash per ride - probably a combination of both. Gordon Yeager at Velo Hangar chastised me for not checking headset bearings annually. These new integrated headset bearings most of us have now are not as solid with less frequent bearing regrease than my lovely Campagnolo threaded headsets on my 3 antique bikes