Should I wash my bike?

This is my bike this morning. It’s filthy with mud from my cyclocross skills drills commute this morning.


Muddy bike.  #commute #cycling #sanjose

The trails I use for my commute will remain muddy and debris laden through the rest of this week, with more rain likely this afternoon, and possible through Wednesday afternoon.

As an apartment dweller it’s kind of a pain to clean this bike — I can’t just hose it down in the yard, since I have neither a yard or a hose. All of this gritty debris in the bike can’t be good for the drivetrain.

Should I wash it now? Or should I wait until the rain is over?

10 Comments

  1. Eh, as a former commuter/apt dweller- sometimes I would take a large cup of water and kinda pour it over some components to make me feel like I at least gave some effort/maybe got some salt off… :-p

  2. A guy at the bike shop told me wiping down the grit from my chain will once a week will improve the longivity of my parts.

  3. stop by a nearby carwash on the way home. I used to carry a few tokens in my kit when I lived in an apartment.

    Just avoid spraying directly at bearings…

  4. There’s this thing called a Spray Doc, it’s amazing….like a little hand held hand pumped pressure washer….it’s amazing. I have tried several other ones, there is nothing like a Spray Doc…you can find them at the better nurseries or McClendon’s hardware.

  5. The mud isn’t the real problem here, its the grit. You want to give your drive chain a good clean, getting all the grit and gunk out then lube it up and you’ll be good to go. You don’t HAVE to do this every ride but your bike will sound better and the parts will last longer 🙂

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