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Washing a mountain bike in Cape Town


lyslexic

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Having a similar water issues in Port Elizabeth, so invested in a 10l backpack sprayer bought at our local co-op.  Filled with rain water from a tank and the 10l is enough for 3-4 bike washes and 1 surf ski rinse down

 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/317kOtQC1NL.jpg

:thumbup:

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  • 2 months later...

i have been using washing machine waste water, bike wash and a sponge. Bikes are nice and shiny with a slight hint of Stasoft. I'm just wondering whether the cleaning properties desirable for clothing are as desirable for cleaning your bike with? Anyone had any issues? Anything i should perhaps beware of? If it makes any difference, the dual suss gets cleaned most often.

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i have been using washing machine waste water, bike wash and a sponge. Bikes are nice and shiny with a slight hint of Stasoft. I'm just wondering whether the cleaning properties desirable for clothing are as desirable for cleaning your bike with? Anyone had any issues? Anything i should perhaps beware of? If it makes any difference, the dual suss gets cleaned most often.

I use my shower bucket to wash my bikes. So far so good. But mostly been resorting to the slightly oily rag method lately.

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Other option is also to go to Dischem or something to pick up a bottle of Rubbing Alcohol, which you put i a spray bottle.  And with that you spray the bike and wipe clean. 

 

Not sure if there are dangers using this (except if you thinking of lighting smoke while cleaning your bike)

 

For the parts that get gummy from grease and oil, isopropyl alcohol is a useful solvent that will clean away the sticky mess almost effortlessly.
  1. Step 1

    Dampen about a quarter of a cloth rag with alcohol.

    Step 2

    Wipe down the brake pads of your bike with the alcohol-dampened cloth, removing all the dirt and residue that has built up.

    •  
    Step 3

    Use a clean rag and more alcohol to clean the rotors. Wipe off the outer surface, then cover your finger with a damp section of the cloth and use it to poke in between the spokes and clean the grime from around the inner part of the rotors.

    Step 4

    Dip an old toothbrush in isopropyl alcohol and use it to scrub your bike chain clean when it becomes encrusted with oil and dirt. Thoroughly lubricate the chain again with bike oil after cleaning it with alcohol.

    Step 5

    Remove the disk brake pads if they become contaminated with oil and soak them in isopropyl alcohol. You don't need to submerge them and leave them sitting in the alcohol; simply pour on the alcohol to saturate them. Allow the brake pads to dry for about five minutes, then lightly scuff them with sandpaper before replacing them on the caliper.

    Step 6

    Wipe off the rims of your bike using the alcohol and another clean rag.

 

 

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With the water restrictions here in Cape Town, my cleaning process as follow:

 

- I only take care of my drivetrain and fork stanchions.

 

I use a rag that is only for the drivetrain to clean it (no water needed). I also check the pulley wheels for build up and the chainring. If there is a lot of grime near the bolts of the chainring, I remove it and clean it with the rag. Afterward, it looks like a new chainring.

 

I have used this method to clean my drivetrain and have no issues. My cassette currently has 2,633.8km on the clock, not quite sure on the chains as I use two which I switch out. If I need to guess, the one on my bike now has just over a 1000km and going strong according to my chain checker. I do degrease my chain(s) every 600km or so using an Energade bottle with degreaser in. Super easy and convenient.

 

After each ride, I can the fork stanchions with a dedicated rag for the fork only.

 

I never really cared about the wheels, but now that I got new wheels, I actually clean it now and then with a little bit of water in a spray bottle and use an old towel to wipe it off.

 

I clean my whole bike once each month with only using water in the spray bottle and my selection of rags/cloths.

 

If it was a rainy day and the trails are wet the next day, I do not ride (although, I might go for a road ride, depending on how wet the roads are). 

 

 

Disclaimer: We have water tanks which I use to fill my spray bottle. 

Edited by Andrew_Smith
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Ive been using the borehole, but ive noticed a lot more corrosion on bolts etc compared to tap water. So now i wipe everything down with wd40 afterwards to prevent the corrosion build up

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Ive been using the borehole, but ive noticed a lot more corrosion on bolts etc compared to tap water. So now i wipe everything down with wd40 afterwards to prevent the corrosion build up

A lot of Cape Towns' borehole water is a bit on the acidic side, that may well be the reason. You can test it easily enough if you get a dipstick kit. 

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Harvested grey water and a pump up pressure bottle to spray the water, and then bike wash and degreaser for the chain.  I use about 3l of rainwater each bike wash (it's a 5l container on the pump up pressure bottle).   

 

I do wash the bike every 4 dusty rides.   My road bike is still on it's pre-Argus wash. haha.

 

This last rains about a week ago, I managed to collect buckets of water and fill the bath in my house too, which I used for toilet + topping up my outside tanks, so I have about 10000l of storage now, wish I had more tanks during that rain as mine were overflowing at about 2am, hence me running buckets during the night to store in the bath.  :)  

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Back in 2012, I bought a LG condenser tumble drier in an effort to combat the humid greenhouse feeling in the kitchen when the drier has been running for a while. It outputs the hot air from the drum through a cool radiator where the water vapour is condensed and pumped to a 10L reservoir. This water is just about as clean as water can get, essentially distilled.

 

I use that water almost exclusively for washing my bike, with the odd exception of having to dig into my grey water supply for the pre-wash after REALLY dirty rides.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not sure if this has been asked before...

 

 

With the current water restrictions in the Cape, How do you guys clean / wash your mountain bikes?

hipster's tears, there are running rivers of these in places like woodstock and Kloof street!

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