Mountain biking is a rigorous outdoor activity that is enjoyed by many. Whether you have your own mountain bike or you are renting someone else’s, it is always important to keep it clean for the best possible experience.
How do you clean a mountain bike? To clean your mountain bike, you will need to gather your supplies and head to an open outdoor area. The process will include hanging your bike on a stand, washing it with a high pressure water system, scrubbing with a brush, and drying everything off thoroughly before storing it.
Once the entire bike is dried off completely, you will need to add lube to the chain, allow it to soak in for a few minutes, and then wipe it clean one more time. It is imperative that no water is left anywhere on the bike to avoid corrosion, rusting, or any other damages.
When it comes to riding a mountain bike, cleaning and maintaining it is just as important as using the correct technique while you are out on the trail. Failure to properly clean and care for your mountain bike can result in premature wear and tear, and even more serious damages in the future.
In this article, we will be breaking down everything you need to know about cleaning a mountain bike, from specific cleaning techniques and products to why you should take it seriously. Keep reading to become an expert on how you can keep your bike in tip-top shape for the rest of its lifetime.
How To Clean a Mountain Bike
Mountain biking consists of riding on rocky and muddy terrain, climbing up steep trails and navigating swift twists and turns along the way. Finding challenging trails is only one of the benefits that come with mountain biking.
Many mountain bikers will bring their dirty mountain bikes home like a trophy, signifying the exciting ride that they completed earlier that day.
Although a dirty and muddy mountain bike can be viewed as the standard, or something that indicates the bike is being used and getting lots of love from its owner, it is essential that the bike is cleaned to keep it in the best possible shape for many more rides in the future.
In this section, we will be going over exactly what you will need in order to clean your mountain bike on a regular basis, as well as some simple and straight forward steps that you can follow in order to do so.
Take a look at the lists down below, and keep reading through the details in this section to find out how you can achieve a sparkling clean mountain bike.
Here is what you will need:
- Bike stand
- Cleaning brushes (one for general area cleaning, another for smaller components)
- Water hose/high pressure water system
- Dry towel
- Lube (for the chain)
- Soap and water
The first thing that you will need to clean your mountain bike is a bike stand. These can be found at any nearby outdoor retail store, or online for relatively cheap. This piece of equipment will serve to lift your bike and hold it above ground, which is important for being able to clean the tires as well as the frame.
Next, you will need a pair of cleaning brushes. One should be for general area cleaning, which can consist of larger and softer bristles. The second brush that you use for cleaning should be able to reach the smaller and more detailed locations of the bike.
You will also need a water hose, or a high pressure water system, which is actually preferred. However, either one can work fine for this task. Make sure you have a dry towel on hand, and some lube for the chain.
Finally, you will need some soap and water to use for your mountain bike cleaning process. You can choose to mix all of this together in a bucket, or bring a bottle of dish degreaser to use with your hose.
Now that you have a pretty good idea of what you will need to get together or invest in for cleaning your mountain bike, we will move on to the actual process. Refer to the list down below to find the steps that you can follow in order to achieve this.
This is how you clean a mountain bike:
- Find a good space where you can comfortably clean your bike
- Gather all of your materials in the area of your choice
- Rinse off the outside of your bike
- Scrub the frame and all components on the bike with your brush
- Clean off the chain of the bike
- Clean out the cassette and smaller components of the mountain bike
- Give the tires an extra rinse (no need to scrub)
- Dry off the entire bike (to prevent rusting)
- Lubricate the chain once it is dry and let it soak in before wiping it clean again
- Store your mountain bike in a safe location until the next ride
The first thing that you will need to do before you can start cleaning your mountain bike is to find a good space. Since you will be using a hose or high water pressure system, you will obviously need to be outside for this.
Pick a location where you can comfortably spray your bike without worrying about getting anything wet in the background. Also, make sure that you can easily have your cleaning supplies next to you, and your water source connected somewhere nearby.
Gather all of your materials in the area of your choice, and organize them in an easy-to-reach location. This will include hanging up your bike on your bike stand. Once this is done, you will be ready to start.
Begin by using your hose or pressure washer to rinse off the outside of your bike. Stand back far enough, but don’t be afraid to gradually move forward and apply some more pressure.
The idea here is to get all of the big chunks of dirt, mud, and debris off of the outside of your bike to make the scrubbing process easier.
When the entire bike has been rinsed, you will use your soap, water, and brushes to get to work on the exterior components. Use your larger brush to hit the frame area, and use the smaller brush to get inside of the chain and other individual pieces that wouldn’t be efficiently cleaned with the other one.
When you are cleaning the bike, don’t forget to scrub the cassette and all of the other smaller components. It is important to give these areas special attention as well, not just the frame.
To clean the tires, give them an extra close rinse with your water. There is no need to scrub these, because they will just get dirty again when you take it down.
After cleaning and rinsing the entire bike, you will need to thoroughly dry it off with your towel. This is a very important step, because you can run into a lot of issues when you leave any kind of moisture on the parts of your bike.
Lubricate the chain, after you have dried it off completely, and let the material sit for a few minutes. Once this is done, wipe it clean and prepare to take your bike down from the stand.
Store your clean mountain bike in a secure location to keep it safe and sparkling until your next ride.
The Best Supplies For Mountain Bike Cleaning
Now that you have a pretty good idea of what you will need to clean your mountain bike, as well as how you can carry out this process specifically, there are a few more factors to consider.
While it is true that the supplies list for mountain bike cleaning can seem really straight forward, there are some specific materials that you might want to look for in order to make your long-term cleaning tasks more seamless and effective.
Take a look at the list down below to find some supplies that you can use for mountain bike cleaning that will give you the best results every time.
Here are some of the best supplies that you can use for mountain bike cleaning:
- Degreaser soap
- Natural fiber brushes
- Microfiber cloth
The first specific item that you can use to your advantage for cleaning your mountain bike is degreaser soap. This can be in the form of your average dish soap, but make sure that there is some kind of degreasing property.
This type of soap will be beneficial to you while cleaning your mountain bike, because it will quickly and easily break down any dirt and grime that is stuck there. If you were to use regular hand soap, or something similar, you might be spending a lot of time scrubbing.
In addition, you will want to make sure that you are choosing the correct type of brush for your mountain bike cleaning task. Sure, you can just pick up some quick brushes from the dollar store for your first time cleaning, but you will need to invest in something more quality for the long-term.
The best type of brush for this specific task will be any kind of natural fiber brush. These brushes are beneficial for getting rid of all of the dust and mud, and you will not need to put too much effort into scrubbing with these, as opposed to the average scrubbing brush.
Finally, you will need a microfiber cloth for drying. You can use a regular towel that you might have around the house for drying off your mountain bike, but you are more likely to leave fuzz and lint behind on the frame.
The last thing that you want after spending all of that time cleaning and detailing your mountain bike is for it to get dirty again, or collect any kind of debris.
Overall, you can always use the most basic supplies when you are cleaning your mountain bike in a pinch, but it will definitely help to have some of these more specialized supplies on hand to fulfill your regular cleaning routine.
How Often Should I Clean My Mountain Bike?
After reading all about cleaning your mountain bike, you might be wondering how often this is necessary. As previously mentioned several times, it is very important to keep your mountain bike clean.
This is due to the fact that you could be dealing with corrosion, rust, or replacements when you keep your bike dirty for too long.
Keeping in mind that cleaning your mountain bike is a necessary task, we will be going over how often you should do so, and how long you can get away with not doing it.
The items in the list down below will detail some of the basic time frames that you should go by when it comes to cleaning your mountain bike.
This is how often you should clean your mountain bike:
- After every ride
- Once a month or less (when not in use)
- After a particularly muddy ride
The best philosophy to go by for mountain bike cleaning is that you should clean it after every ride. When you are mountain biking, you will be traveling through terrain that can result in a very dirty bike almost every time you go out.
Mountain bikes are not made for riding on the road or sidewalk, so it is safe to say that there is really no such thing as a clean adventure.
Therefore, you should try to clean your mountain bike after every ride, as soon as you return home. You don’t want to let the dirt and debris sit on your bike and inside of the components for too long after this.
Aside from cleaning your mountain bike after every ride as much as you possibly can, you can go by a slightly different rule for the off-season, or for any period of time when you are not using your mountain bike on a regular basis.
In this case, a good rule of thumb to follow is cleaning your bike at least once a month, if not sooner. It is important to make sure that your mountain bike is not sitting with damaging substances on it for too long, so the one month estimate should be referenced as a maximum.
If all else fails, you should just clean your mountain bike after a particularly muddy or dirty ride. While most of us would like to think that we can clean our mountain bikes after every ride, a lot of the time it is hard to stick to this schedule.
For the lazy mountain bikers that don’t want to be bothered with such frequent maintenance, mountain bikes can get away with being cleaned when they are really noticeably dirty, as opposed to every time, as long as the usual rides are pretty light.
How (Not) To Clean a Mountain Bike: Common Mistakes
Along with all of the tips for cleaning your mountain bike correctly and the best supplies that you can use in order to do so, there are some common mistakes during mountain bike cleaning that are worth talking about.
In order to make sure that you are cleaning your mountain bike completely correctly, it helps to enlighten yourself on what many other people are doing wrong. That way, you can make sure that you can avoid these incorrect techniques when you clean your own mountain bike.
In this section, we will be going over some of the most common mistakes that many beginners struggle with when it comes to cleaning their mountain bike. Take a look at the list down below to get all of the main ideas, and keep reading for all of the details on the topic.
Mountain Bike Cleaning – Common Mistakes:
- Not taking advantage of the water pressure during rinse
- Taking time to scrub the tires instead of just rinsing them
- Not drying off the bike components completely
- Using low quality brushes for scrubbing
The first mistake that many beginners make while cleaning their mountain bike is not taking advantage of the water pressure during the rinsing process. When you are cleaning off a mountain bike with a pressure washer, it can be easy to stand back and spray from a distance, in fear that you will be damaging your bike if you get too close.
However, this is simply not the case. While it is true that you shouldn’t stand right next to your bike and blast it with the pressurized water, you can minimize the distance between the water and your bike a little bit more than you might be comfortable with at first.
It helps to start at a comfortable distance, and slowly bring yourself closer to the bike, in order to get the maximum clean while you are rinsing. The water pressure should be your best friend in this situation, instead of something that you are afraid of.
Many beginners also make the mistake of taking time to scrub the tires instead of just rinsing them. It is very understandable to believe that you must scrub your tires with the brush, just like all of the other components of the bike.
After all, your tires are the components that are always dragging on the ground. As a result, they will probably accumulate the most dust and dirt. So, why wouldn’t you give them the same attention as the other parts of the bike during this cleaning process?
This is exactly the point – your tires are the closest to the ground. Therefore, if you take the time to scrub all of the grooves and crevices on each one, which will take you a significantly long amount of time, you will discover that they will go right back onto the ground when you are done.
If you had spent the extra time making sure they were sparkling clean, you will be disappointed when they collect even more dirt on the way back to the garage. Overall, though, the tires will not suffer any significant wear and tear if they have a little bit of discoloration or dust.
As long as you rinse them off thoroughly using the pressure of the water, making sure that no mud or debris is left on the surface, you should be good to go for your next ride, and many more after that.
The process of drying off your mountain bike is just as important as cleaning it, if not more. Cleaning off the bike with soap and water is one thing, but you will not be able to complete the process without dry towel to get rid of all of the moisture.
Leaving water droplets or any kind of damp areas on your mountain bike can and will result in rusting and corrosion. This can give you a lot of problems in the future, and you want to avoid all of them by just drying it off correctly in the first place.
The final mistake that many beginners fall into when they are cleaning their mountain bike is not choosing the right brushes. The brushes are some of the most important components when you are going through the cleaning process, because they will determine how well you can clean off your bike.
In addition to just keeping the cleaning process of upmost quality, a good brush will help you do so with minimal effort on your part. This will make cleaning your bike speedy and effective, all in one, just with the simple investment of the right kind of brush.
Tips For The Best Mountain Bike Maintenance
After reading through all of the information in this article, it is safe to say that cleaning your mountain bike frequently correctly is very important to keep up the quality and make sure that you are able to ride it for a long time.
Knowing this information, it is equally as important to set up a cleaning and maintenance routine for your bike. This will go hand-in-hand with upholding the way your bike looks and performs.
To tie this up, we will be going over some additional tips that will help you to properly maintain your mountain bike, as any serious owner should. Take a look at the list down below to get the main ideas of this conversation, and keep reading for more information on each point.
Here are some additional tips for the best mountain bike maintenance:
- Make cleaning and maintenance a habit after every ride
- Establish a routine that you can get used to
- Check your bike for missing or broken components daily (even if you are not using it)
- Understand the importance of proper cleaning and maintenance and act accordingly
The best thing that you can do for your mountain bike is to make cleaning and maintenance a habit after every ride. You can do this by setting some kind of reminder for yourself until you get the hang of it, or rewarding yourself when you are successful.
Make sure that you leave yourself a large enough window of time after each ride, before you move on to another activity or obligation, that will allow you to comfortably clean it without feeling rushed.
Establishing a routine that is realistic for you and that you can get used to will always be to your benefit.
In addition to cleaning your bike after every ride, you should check your bike for missing or broken components daily. It is vital that you keep track of what is working on your bike and what needs some work, so that you can catch any needed repairs early on.
This also applies to the periods of time when you are not using your bike. In other words, whether you are riding your mountain bike daily or on occasion, you should inspect it every single day, or at least every time you walk past it in the garage, to check for any kind of repairs or fixes that are needed.
Finally, you should understand the importance of proper cleaning and maintenance, and act accordingly.
Here are some of the reasons why proper cleaning and maintenance of a mountain bike is important:
- Avoiding damage to the bike
- Preventing premature wear and tear
- Stopping repairs/replacements before they get too serious
- Improving the quality/guaranteeing a smooth ride every time
Once you make yourself aware of why you need to clean and maintain your mountain bike in a way that makes you care about doing so, it will be much easier to establish and uphold your new routine.
As you can see, there is a very detailed process that goes into cleaning your mountain bike. There are plenty of mistakes that can be made if the instructions are not followed explicitly.
However, it is not a difficult thing to do, as long as you get together the correct equipment and are motivated to do it the right way for the best possible results.