How to Clean a Dirty (or VERY Dirty) Bicycle

This is messy, so do it outdoors, or, if you have nothing to hide from your bike, in the shower.

First, clean the moving parts that drive the wheels.  Get a chain cleaner, a plastic box that has a reservoir for chain cleaning fluid (usually called degreaser).  You clamp the box around the chain, pour the fluid into the reservoir and spin the pedals backwards.  The chain runs through the reservoir and dumps the goo into the cleaner box.  It might take several changes of fluid, depending on how dirty the chain is.

Shawn Hill has an alternate to the chain cleaner box.  He removes one of the links on the bike chain, and replaces it with a special link that can be opened or closed.  That way, you can remove the entire chain from the bike, presuming there is not so much gunk on the chain that you can’t find the link that opens and closes.  Then just dump the chain into a jar with degreaser in it, and leave it overnight.  Voila, sparkling new chain.

The most eco-friendly degreasers are made with orange peels and smell like oranges.  You can dump them right into the sink or a city sewer drain if you have to, since the active ingredient is alcohol, not petroleum-based chemicals.  All the stuff mentioned in this article is available through the Fast and Fab website.  Go to our Merchants page, follow the links and place your order.  The club gets 5 percent of whatever amount you order if you buy this way.

For the chain ring or gear set, get a small brush (Park Tools makes one specifically for this purpose) and pour the degreaser right onto the bike and scrub away with the brush.  You can get the junk that has settled in between the sprockets this way.  Bob Wu, a mountain biker in New Jersey, suggests flossing between the gears with a rag.  This is best done out of doors, near a drain and away from vegetation. 

Next step is to spray the non-moving parts with an eco-friendly detergent, such as Simple Green.  Bring a bucket of water with you.  Spray the bike down, and go over it with a sponge or some rags, then shower the bike with the remaining water in the bucket.  Shake off the excess water and let the chain dry completely before re-lubing it.  Thanks to Rosario Gennaro for the outdoors-bucket method.

If you need to clean the bathroom anyway, take the bike into the shower.  You can also get the bike cleaner since you will have a good supply of hot water to work with.

Some older bikes don't have sealed bottom brackets, so it's inadvisable to direct water right onto that area.  Basically, it's the area of the bike between the pedals on the underside.  Some bikes have vent holes there; just be sure not to get any water into those holes.

To re-lube the chain afterwards, please do not use petroleum-based products.  In addition to being very eco-unfriendly, they are a magnet for tiny particles of dirt.  Instead, try White Lightning or other so-called “dry lubes,” which are non-petroleum polymer-based detergents that continue to clean the chain once you lube it.  They can be reapplied six or eight times before you need to degrease the chain, depending on how much muck has accumulated, of course. You can throw on some every time you go out for a ride, then clean the chain every month or so.

Bob Nelson

Jan. 10, 2004