30 Minute Bike Wash | How To Clean & Degrease Your Bike

Here's an outline! SUPPLIES: Bucket Soap - You can find "bike soap" (or car soap), but household dish soap is OK 2x sponges ("clean" & "dirty") -- a "car sponge" works Rag (for cleaning between cassette sprockets / removing excess lubricant from chain) Stiff-bristled brushes: x1 for coating bike with degreaser x1 for getting into derailleur & chain rings (thin & narrow) Flat head screwdriver Degreaser Chain lubricant (wet or dry) WD-40 PREP: Put chain on big ring Put bike on work stand, if available. (If not: when front wheel comes off, rest the bike on the fork blades & brakes, and lean it against a wall. This keeps it cleaner). Fill a bucket with soap & HOT water (hot gets rid of grease & oil better.) Put some degreaser into, e.g., a half-water bottle (put into bike bottle holder) DEGREASE: Brush degreaser "liberally" onto chain. (Some say take chain off -- but Simon doesn't think this gets it cleaner, & doesn't like breaking the chain too many times.) With flathead screwdriver, get gunk off jockey wheels; add more degreaser to jockey wheels & chain rings. CLEAN BIKE W/ GENEROUS SOAP & WATER: Using clean sponge: Starting from handlebars, go "backwards & downwards" (i.e. while degreaser is working on the drive train) Using dirty, then clean sponge: Drive train (adding degreaser if necessary) Using narrow brush: Derailleur & chain rings BE SURE ALL DEGREASER IS OFF -- it will defeat any lubricant put on later! Remove front wheel, then rear wheel. Using clean sponge: clean hidden parts of fork & brake callipers. Tires: outside to in. (Note: dirty side walls make a bike look very dirty.) CASSETTE: Brush on more degreaser. Slip edge of a rag between sprockets; wash w/ dirty sponge. Put wheels back on Rinse bike w/ hose (or w/ fresh bucket & clean sponge). For dirty white bar tape, use WD-40 & rag. TUNE UP: Lubricate chain; wipe off excess w/ rag. Spray WD-40 onto derailleurs & brake calipers. Check brake pads. Check tire for anything sharp wedged in carcass; lever it out w/ flathead; glue big holes shut.

3 hours ago I just wanted to learn how to adjust my front derailleur. Now it's in the best condition since I bought it. Goodbye Sunday! Thank you GCN! Great channel.

stuff needed 0:20 bucket with soapy (kitchen liquid) hot water and sponge 0:26 degreaser 0:37 brush 1:05 flat head screw driver 1:34 2x sponges 2:52 stiff-bristled brush 5:00 rag 7:17 wet lube 7:34 WD 40 check @Andrew Grandman comment for indepth supplies details

As a former motorcycle aspiring racer, we never used WD40 for our chains as it is (a) a poor quality lubricant and (b) attracts dirt once applied. It is an excellent cleaning product, in my view, as a degreaser, but the final spray down is a bit odd to me.

I want a full hour real-time bike clean, 'slow tv' style. Watching someone else clean is so satisfying and relaxing.

This got my bike looking the cleanest it's been since I bought it nearly four years ago! It did take longer than 30 mins though as I had to degrease the chain several times, nail brushes worked a treat! Thanks very much

Love your videos. Right to the point, no extraneous information, not a lot of gesturing, pleasant backgrounds, not some cluttered dark basement or garage.

Years struggling with different bike cleaning products and brushes.. just tried your way, the best result! Thank you so much😀

Aside from that last act of W40 on the components and brakes, I loved the rest of the process...

All of your videos are helping and making me Interested to watch everyday, even in the morning while drinking coffee!

Best tips as usual, only one who actually did the cleaning hands on instead of bunch of expensive gadgets and machines. Take off the wheels and clean that properly. Thank you Sir! 🙌

Two additional hints: 1. use cotton clothesline to floss out your freewheel, and 2. Shoe Goo is brilliant for tire gashes. I once picked up a large bent nail that instantly pierced right through my tire, gouged into my rim, and went ka-bang-ka-bang-ka-bang until I managed to stop. I patched the twice-holed tube, put the holed tire back on over it, and filled the bullet hole with Shoe Goo, just as an experiment to see what would happen till I could get to the bike store. Stuff worked so well I didn't bother to replace the tire. In fact I rode on it for two seasons until the tire died of natural causes. Now I always carry a small tube of the Goo on long trips. Great video! Thanks!

Cheers chaps, just avoided an expensive trip to local bike shop and tons of MucOff goods; used soapy water, degreaser, and wet lube too. Shiny bike now.

I'm pretty new to this, but I've found that using 550 cord/para cord works really well on the cassette and other tight spots.

A timeless Video in my opinion. I just purchased my first expensive bike ...and this is great for reference

Very thorough. Best part of the vid: 6:57. You’re actually cleaning your bike...I need to step up my game 🙌

I don't even have a bike yet, but i'm already motivated to clean it. Thanks! :D

I sucked it up, bought degreaser and lube, did it pretty much exactly here, except I didn't have a bike stand. Took me 4 hours because I haven't cleaned my bike since I got it 3 years ago. I'm sure the next time I do it will be much less time. Thank you!

I have now watched all cleaningvideos so many times, they are by far the best videos. I mean my bike is clean and I know exactly how to do it, I just love clean bikes!

All these videos are a great help, well presented and informative too.