How often do you clean your bike after dry dirt road rides?

[Patrick Moore]

I'm curious about others' dirt road/trail bike maintenance routines. I'm moderately conscientious about drivetrain upkeep, and generally wash and re-lube shortly after the chain gets noisy. For road, this may be 200 to 400 miles depending on routes, but on our very powdery, river-silt bosque soil even a single ride will have the chain and cogs coated in a light brown dust, and I do notice a very slight decline in shifting quickness. This is all the more so as we have had sub- Sub Saharan levels of humidity, under which the dirt road and trail surfaces dry and break up into very fine silt.

I generally get about 100 miles of about 3/4 dirt-cum-pavement riding before the chain on the derailleured Matthews starts getting loud, and I often wipe the dust off chain and (using soft, long-bristled brush) off the cassette, but I can't bear to wash the bike every 100 miles.

So, I am curious what yez do when your ride in dusty, or other sorts of dirty, conditions..

BTW, when I do wash the bike, I've reduced it to simplicity: Take bike stand outside and put near hose. Put bike in stand. Rinse bike with full but gentle flow of cold water. Use long-bristled but soft brush and pail with 2 gal cold water and dish detergent to wash drivetrain, frame, wheels, disc calipers; rinse with full but ditto. Remove front stand, bounce, let dry in garage. No more than 10 minutes. Come back later when all dry to lube chain (James at Analog's Pro Link method: drip, wipe, wipe again, and again; come back later when dry, wipe some more) and derailleur and brake pivots -- spray lube or fine-spout oil can with chainsaw oil, not WD 40). Total about 15 minutes.

What do you do?

Patrick Moore, after another very pleasant spring dirt ride on the Matthews Road Bike For Dirt in Albuquerque's Westside bosque, 87*F, 4% humidity, very light breeze, welcome in this high-spring-wind season.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[rlti...@gmail.com]

I commuted off-road on a Pugsley in those conditions here in dry SoCal for years and really did little maintenance other than lube the chain regularly. I think I changed cogs, chain and the large chainring at about 4,000 miles but that was about it. This was a 2x10 drivetrain.

I don’t think our dust is as bad as what you have but it does coat the bike with a fine layer of dust every ride. In winter I would sometimes get caught in some mud and that got washed off as soon as I got home. Our mud dries into something that’s hard to get off once it sets.

Robert Tilley

San Diego, CA

Sent from my iPhone

On May 6, 2022, at 5:10 PM, Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Ryan Frahm]

I have had very good luck with SCC Slick Tech chain lube. I just wipe my chain down after or during those rides and it stays clean for a long while before I just apply more. I’m not great at keeping track of miles but it does a better job than any other i have tried!