The MTB thread

[Drew Carey]

Yesterday took me just under 2 hours.....which consisted of the following -

1. Remove chain.
2. Remove Deraileur Cogs.
3. Remove Bash Ring and Top Chain ring.
4. Remove Wheels.
5. Spray Remaining bike with my leftover motorbike cleaning spray.
6. Whilst spray is doing its thing, use Parafin to clean Chain, pulley wheels, chainring, bash guard. (Yes was being careful with the bearings etc).
7. Clean Parafin off the above. Re-grease Pulleys.
8. Back to frame - re-spray once more with cleaner, then go over with sponges and brushes. Rinse bike down.
9. Whilst bike is drying in sun - use WD40 on a rag to clean rims and hubs (having removed the brake discs!!!).
10. Reconnect chainring, pulleys, chain, bashringa and then wheels.
11. Finally, clean rag, spot of WD40 - wipe down the frame and forks. Apply chain lube and gently wipe fork staanchions and shock with teflon lubricant.

Job jobbed.

How do!

Mike routine for the DH was:
Jet wash to rinse,
Spray patio cleaner all over (yup I do mean patio cleaner) using one of those hand pump machines.
Go make Brew,
Attach brush end to jet wash and add washing up liquid into hopper,
Drink Brew,
Scrub bike, inside outside all the way around side with jet wash and soapy brush.
Un-hook soap and put lance on jet wash
stand back and rinse.
Can of WD-40 or similar approved with straw in end, get right in and jet blast out the grit.
Lube where needed and done.

Total time, never more than 45min inc 15min brew.
Had that bike 18months rode all year and regular, inc a 2week trips to the alps riding every day and barely had to replace anything other than tyres and pads.

Originally Posted by Luckypants

errr yeah, so bike cleaning gurus, what do you do to clean a suspension bike? Jet Wash the worst off? Sponge? How to clean all the little nooks?

I do the following

Hose pipe to wash worst off as I don't want to regrease every bearing.
Clean the chain with a chain cleaning kit and paraffin
Use same kit as MattSV
Spray with Muc-off
Brushes and sponges with water and dirt removing shampoo to help remove anything the spray missed.
Rinse.
Dry.
Apply the silicone Bike Spray to the frame using a microfibre cloth to stop dirt sticking next time.
Lube chain.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Luckypants

errr yeah, so bike cleaning gurus, what do you do to clean a suspension bike? Jet Wash the worst off? Sponge? How to clean all the little nooks?

First, I let the mud dry. Then, I get my 99p Tesco dishwashing brush and flail wildly at the mud for a couple of minutes til most of it's dropped off. Then I wipe the fork and shock inners down with a cloth, spray them with silicon spray or fork oil, bump them, clean the black ring off, repeat til there's no more black ring. Et voila, as clean as it gets in my garage and takes about 4 minutes

[Luckypants]

Hmmm so you are all saying that basically it is a faff - except for Northy I may use Northy's technique in future. Just as a comparison, road bike was cleaned to higher standard than the MTB in 30 minutes... (and the road bike had been off road )

[Drew Carey]

It is a faff, but I quite enjoy doing so, as gives a chance to inspect everything on the bike and to know in advance when stuff is getting stressed or on the way out.

Think if I had a proper bike stand I could halve the time it took........as I spent most of my time faffing about removing bits etc!! lol

[Luckypants]

A heads up to anyone who fancies a trip to Wales for a not too challenging ride. Sunday 31st July is the Cyffylliog Charity Bike ride. 3 routes on offer through Mynydd Hireathog and Clocaenog Forest, 21km (family), 30km and 47km. Entry Fee is £10 Adult, 16 and under £5, under 6 free and Families £20.

I'm offering accommodation to any orgers who fancy making a weekend of it. I'll also ride with you and act as a guide so it can be combined with a day riding Penmachno, Marin, Coed-y-Brenin or LLandegla trail centres or just a good old fashioned ride over mountains on bridleways from my house. For the more downhill oriented folks, Foel Gasnach is just up the road only 20 minutes ride. The village pub is open again, so evenings are taken care of.

The only stipulation I'll make of people coming to stay is they do the charity ride and spend money in the pub

[JamesMio]

Mornin' Or'jers... could I please pick your brains for a moment?

Avid Juicy disc brakes, how the feck do I adjust the span on the levers? Their stopping power is great, but by the time I've got them to bite, the levers are crushing my other knuckles.

I can't see any obvious way of adjusting them, is it a case of getting them bled?!

Cheers
JM

[Drew Carey]

Hi mate.....sounds like your brakes need a good service and bleeding.

I have a set of Avid Juicy 3's and Avid Juicy 3 SL's.....in both cases, if I was grabbing enough to get the levers against my knuckles.....then the whole of my 16.5 stone weight would be flying over the handlebars into trees!!!! lol.

The Elixir's etc have adjustable levers I believe.....but as far as I know, not the Juicy's - unless someone know's differently.

Originally Posted by JamesMio

Avid Juicy disc brakes, how the feck do I adjust the span on the levers?

They have reach adjustment AFAIK but I don't like doing that to my brakes as I then have to stretch my fingers out further! Probably be better off bleeding them in the long term. Although if they are anything like my Code 5's they will be a pain in the ****!

Speaking of which my MTB needs some attention having been neglected so I could pay for my motorbike license and testing etc.