I thought this was going to be a parody video. But you’ve got to admire how serious Clint takes the feedback he gets from his videos if he took the time to address this seemingly benign topic of why it’s ok to wash your bike with water.
I have been using car wash soap [wash&wax] to clean my carbon roadies without an issue for past 20 years. my touring bikes get even more washed down because of mud and all kinds of crap between the chains and gears riding on dirt/gravel paths. even on the Nexus/Alfine with carbon belt, it will need periodic rinse down to maintain the long service interval. as Clint had noted, use common sense and spray down with using "shower" mode and avoid using high pressure around the bearing area.
I read in a book somewhere that unicorn tears are the best fluid to clean a bike. No rust properties and plenty of grease to lube the bike at the same time, hey it even drys without any water stains!
There's times when my cyclocross bike looks a bit worse than what you showed in this video with the lime dust and dirt. I just use a bucket of water and a dish brush until its all rinsed off. On another scenario when I used to mountainbike sometimes I had no choice but to take it to a car wash but I did have to replace bearings in the suspension and headset more often. I agree with what you are saying.
I have started using some ceramic wax on my frame after washing it (gasp). Helps the future dirt come off even easier… great and to the point video as always..
I never understood the no water thing. Like you said, what about rain and creeks. Conditions have to be good for me to not wash the frame and I will still wash the chain and cassette.
I remember over 40 years ago when a similar question was being discussed amongst motorcycle trials riders wether to lube a chain or not and there was a lot of serious discussion and serious testing of self lubricating and non lubed chains within the field. Bearing in mind that self lubricating chain drives have and are being successfully employed in a multitude of purposes. In my reasoning you don't want any water inside any bike frame - And you should be sealing off any ingress that may occur via any open orifice typically Bottle cage mountings - Pannier mountings - etc. Ive used pieces of a kneadable putty eraser commonly used for erasing graphite pencil off drawing paper to block bottle mounts prior to washing if you don't have the suitable mounting bolts and they cost a dollar from art shops. You should be using" THREAD SEALANTS" on all threaded mountings not grease as it doesn't have the same physical properties. Understand the difference between thread sealant and thread locking compounds - Not dosing large amounts of THREAD LOCKING COMPOUNDS" designed for higher torque fittings on small diameter threads - typically your 5mm mounting points which require only a small sliver of low to medium strength anaerobic locking compound and by that I mean a dot of thread locking compound the size of 3mm in diameter will do the job " ON THE LAST TWO THREADS OF THE BOLT ". Make sure the frame drain port under your crank housing is clear and unblocked so as to release any internal humidity and fluids. Getting water to a dirt clogged bike as soon as you can is important and watering down your bike initially then leaving it for a short period to soften solidified crud and coming back to it for a second wash down is effective practice. Always wash a bike from top to bottom - Using rags for greased components and seperate rags for the tube sections. Many bikes now come with a meagre single gloss coat and Clints correct in saying its easy removed or damaged. Best wishes and happy pedalling !
Well, like cars if you keep the bike long enough the clear coat is gonna get damaged and worn eventually. Also water is gonna find itself inside the frame. I would think spraying the inside of the frame with something like fluid film will deter rust on steel bikes and maybe corrosion on aluminum. But you know before any of these bikes corrode to uselessness we would probably all be dead first anyhow....😄
Has anybody ever washed ANYTHING without water??? It is the worlds oldest and most used substance to wash everything. Man some people get a little too bent out of shape, what happened to logic. Thanks for clear up something that shouldn’t need clearing up, lol. Well done.
In my experience you can seriously mess up a drivetrain if you use water that is particularly hard. In my part of the world the water is so hard that a droplet of it will dry on a surface and leave a white sediment laden spot in its place. If this stuff dries in your chain you will get the craziest grit you've ever felt without fail.
We had terrible atmosphere for many days after bush fires which deposited all sorts of partical contaminants on my hybrid and damaged the paint surface. The bike was only out in the air for less than an hour and put inside under cover. It was the day after that I saw the damage !
You make a good point about the dirt drying. The sooner you can get it off, the better. I’ve even seen portable wash stations out of the back of cars at trailheads to do that very thing!
I add gold flakes to my water when washing off my bikes. The gold absorbs dirt like a magnet and the gold deposits will naturally repel dirt on future rides. Nothing but the best for my bikes!
Is hosing off the dust accumulated on my bike from riding gravel paths sufficient and do you recommend drying with a towel afterwards then re-lubing the chain?
Just watched your cheap amazon bike stand review made 3 years ago, and seems the bike stand still functioning, so it is a good sign for me to get one..maybe you can do a follow on review for the stand.
It's decent for the money. It is starting to wear out and it's definitely more flimsy but it's still working for the most part. The nice thing about it is it's very light!
Hay please do a video regarding Bar height in relation with cornering, can you noticeably rail a turn better with a slammed stem vs a raised one Maybe make two experimental runs Also I never hear any creators reference whether the bar being higher than the seat, level with or bars higher then the seat
Hi Clint, cheers from Panama , I really enjoy all your Videos . Thanks for confirming that wash your dirty bike with water is OK .... Regarding your Gravel Bike, are you still using Niner or you already switch to another brand ??
For me, it's no if water is okay to use but rather how to use the water. Water and mild soap will not hurt the clear coating on a frame. To me, it's all about preventing rust! Making sure not to use "pressure" when washing the bike is the key. You simply don't want water forced into any seals or bearings on the bike. To prevent any rust, I dry with a towel and re-lube the drivetrain right away. I live in Bend Oregon, the dust capital of the world, between May and the end of October I will wash the bike maybe twice with water. During the summer months, I can use Endust to wipe down the bikes. During the rainy months, I wash a mudding bike right after the ride. You just don't want water resting on the bike, rust is a bitch!
How can anyone say it’s not safe to use water? How else do you clean a bike splattered in mud? Even a road bike that only gets used in nice dry conditions needs a wet clean otherwise as Clint says, you’re just going to scratch the hell out of your paintwork.
You should open all bearings from the bike after for ex. 1 month and then you will see the real results. I have seen many rusted hubs and everyone of those users did use pressure water very carefully..😅
I use wax on my drive train, just whipe the chain after a ride with a rag and it’ll look like new again, do the same with the cassette and put some new wax on. Super easy and super effective. All the grease and dirt will be on the wax and when you wipe it you take all that off with it.
This is the funniest video ever… only because people actually think water is bad for your bike.. lol. Yes, jet streaming your BB, or hubs is not good, but come on… lets be real here. Go a head, dont ever wash your bike. I’ll bet my regular washed/lubed bike is going to be in much better condition.
I didn't realise that this was even a thing. What else must I use, harsh language to scare mud off my bike?
Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure!
I thought this was going to be a parody video. But you’ve got to admire how serious Clint takes the feedback he gets from his videos if he took the time to address this seemingly benign topic of why it’s ok to wash your bike with water.
Yeah, I checked to see if this was actually uploaded April 1.
I have been using car wash soap [wash&wax] to clean my carbon roadies without an issue for past 20 years. my touring bikes get even more washed down because of mud and all kinds of crap between the chains and gears riding on dirt/gravel paths. even on the Nexus/Alfine with carbon belt, it will need periodic rinse down to maintain the long service interval. as Clint had noted, use common sense and spray down with using "shower" mode and avoid using high pressure around the bearing area.
I read in a book somewhere that unicorn tears are the best fluid to clean a bike. No rust properties and plenty of grease to lube the bike at the same time, hey it even drys without any water stains!
I missed that book in school…something has to change with our education system.
Okay Voldemort
I mean what other choice do we have beside water? Vodka? 😂
We all know to stay well hydrated but In the field without wash water simply urinate on dry mud crud and even on your hot disc rotors.
Most serious bike riders dont even keep their bikes long enough to worry about it...😃
There's times when my cyclocross bike looks a bit worse than what you showed in this video with the lime dust and dirt. I just use a bucket of water and a dish brush until its all rinsed off. On another scenario when I used to mountainbike sometimes I had no choice but to take it to a car wash but I did have to replace bearings in the suspension and headset more often. I agree with what you are saying.
I clean dirt bikes, cars, houses, dogs, cloths, lawn mowers, babys, tools, & myself with water. But it might be unsafe for an MTB, c'mon man.
I always just buy a new bike if it gets that dirty, this video is going to save me a lot of money in the future!
I have started using some ceramic wax on my frame after washing it (gasp). Helps the future dirt come off even easier… great and to the point video as always..
I never understood the no water thing. Like you said, what about rain and creeks. Conditions have to be good for me to not wash the frame and I will still wash the chain and cassette.
I remember over 40 years ago when a similar question was being discussed amongst motorcycle trials riders wether to lube a chain or not and there was a lot of serious discussion and serious testing of self lubricating and non lubed chains within the field. Bearing in mind that self lubricating chain drives have and are being successfully employed in a multitude of purposes. In my reasoning you don't want any water inside any bike frame - And you should be sealing off any ingress that may occur via any open orifice typically Bottle cage mountings - Pannier mountings - etc. Ive used pieces of a kneadable putty eraser commonly used for erasing graphite pencil off drawing paper to block bottle mounts prior to washing if you don't have the suitable mounting bolts and they cost a dollar from art shops. You should be using" THREAD SEALANTS" on all threaded mountings not grease as it doesn't have the same physical properties. Understand the difference between thread sealant and thread locking compounds - Not dosing large amounts of THREAD LOCKING COMPOUNDS" designed for higher torque fittings on small diameter threads - typically your 5mm mounting points which require only a small sliver of low to medium strength anaerobic locking compound and by that I mean a dot of thread locking compound the size of 3mm in diameter will do the job " ON THE LAST TWO THREADS OF THE BOLT ". Make sure the frame drain port under your crank housing is clear and unblocked so as to release any internal humidity and fluids. Getting water to a dirt clogged bike as soon as you can is important and watering down your bike initially then leaving it for a short period to soften solidified crud and coming back to it for a second wash down is effective practice. Always wash a bike from top to bottom - Using rags for greased components and seperate rags for the tube sections. Many bikes now come with a meagre single gloss coat and Clints correct in saying its easy removed or damaged. Best wishes and happy pedalling !
Well, like cars if you keep the bike long enough the clear coat is gonna get damaged and worn eventually. Also water is gonna find itself inside the frame. I would think spraying the inside of the frame with something like fluid film will deter rust on steel bikes and maybe corrosion on aluminum. But you know before any of these bikes corrode to uselessness we would probably all be dead first anyhow....😄
Has anybody ever washed ANYTHING without water??? It is the worlds oldest and most used substance to wash everything. Man some people get a little too bent out of shape, what happened to logic. Thanks for clear up something that shouldn’t need clearing up, lol. Well done.
In my experience you can seriously mess up a drivetrain if you use water that is particularly hard. In my part of the world the water is so hard that a droplet of it will dry on a surface and leave a white sediment laden spot in its place. If this stuff dries in your chain you will get the craziest grit you've ever felt without fail.
Always important to dry off your drive train. I use an air compressor like I show in my cleaning video.
We had terrible atmosphere for many days after bush fires which deposited all sorts of partical contaminants on my hybrid and damaged the paint surface. The bike was only out in the air for less than an hour and put inside under cover. It was the day after that I saw the damage !
I could see maybe a Californian screaming "dont use water to do that!" Outside of that, uh yeah water is choice #1.
You make a good point about the dirt drying. The sooner you can get it off, the better. I’ve even seen portable wash stations out of the back of cars at trailheads to do that very thing!
I add gold flakes to my water when washing off my bikes. The gold absorbs dirt like a magnet and the gold deposits will naturally repel dirt on future rides. Nothing but the best for my bikes!
💩
To wash your bike properly without water, you would have to use large quntities of something like isopropyl alcohol, which is highly toxic.
True!
Is hosing off the dust accumulated on my bike from riding gravel paths sufficient and do you recommend drying with a towel afterwards then re-lubing the chain?
I always dry my bike after hosing it off. And if the chain gets wet, I would dry it too and lube it.
@@ClintGibbs Thx what lube do you recommend do you lube the chain after every wash?
@@Drostvideo Rock n Roll Gold
Can you have a look at the new Giant CXR 2 wheels? I think they look really promising.
I usually cough up some spit to clean my bike, and it adds some sparkle. I hate water.
It's a thing when you wash shit on your brakes from the road, they will malfunction trust me on this
Just watched your cheap amazon bike stand review made 3 years ago, and seems the bike stand still functioning, so it is a good sign for me to get one..maybe you can do a follow on review for the stand.
It's decent for the money. It is starting to wear out and it's definitely more flimsy but it's still working for the most part. The nice thing about it is it's very light!
Hay please do a video regarding
Bar height in relation with cornering, can you noticeably rail a turn better with a slammed stem vs a raised one
Maybe make two experimental runs
Also I never hear any creators reference whether the bar being higher than the seat, level with or bars higher then the seat
Here is an older video that sort of addresses this. May help.
ruclips.net/video/aTQbmXwiavo/видео.html
Hi Clint, cheers from Panama , I really enjoy all your Videos . Thanks for confirming that wash your dirty bike with water is OK .... Regarding your Gravel Bike, are you still using Niner or you already switch to another brand ??
I mainly use Niner and Transition
Very helpful
They wash million dollar cars with soap and water, engine included.
For me, it's no if water is okay to use but rather how to use the water. Water and mild soap will not hurt the clear coating on a frame. To me, it's all about preventing rust! Making sure not to use "pressure" when washing the bike is the key. You simply don't want water forced into any seals or bearings on the bike. To prevent any rust, I dry with a towel and re-lube the drivetrain right away. I live in Bend Oregon, the dust capital of the world, between May and the end of October I will wash the bike maybe twice with water. During the summer months, I can use Endust to wipe down the bikes. During the rainy months, I wash a mudding bike right after the ride. You just don't want water resting on the bike, rust is a bitch!
(Tears up his patent application for a bike frame made of sugar)
Was it going to be stiffer, lighter and more aero?
How can anyone say it’s not safe to use water? How else do you clean a bike splattered in mud?
Even a road bike that only gets used in nice dry conditions needs a wet clean otherwise as Clint says, you’re just going to scratch the hell out of your paintwork.
Have these water naysayers never been caught out in the rain on a ride?!?!?!
They don't actually ride outside. Too much UV light may damage something on their delicate bike.
Thank you for another great video
Water yes. High pressure water NO!
It's not the water that hurts the bike. It is not drying it off completely that hurts it.
Is Simple Green ok
Yep
I just hose it off. Shower hose it. Not a big deal. Every now and then I'll re lube all bearings and components. Not a big deal.
You should open all bearings from the bike after for ex. 1 month and then you will see the real results. I have seen many rusted hubs and everyone of those users did use pressure water very carefully..😅
Spay down my ebikes all the time, no problems.
I'm starting to wonder if cleaning my bike at all is OK anymore... ;)
I use wax on my drive train, just whipe the chain after a ride with a rag and it’ll look like new again, do the same with the cassette and put some new wax on. Super easy and super effective. All the grease and dirt will be on the wax and when you wipe it you take all that off with it.
tequila for the win
I don't know, I use fire to clean my bikes.
That might void your warranty
So for those people, it's OK to ride in the mud or under the rain... but it's not OK to wash a bicycle with clear water... OK ok... 😂
4:36
Spoiler alert: yes
Hot take: It's ok to wash a bike with a pressure washer
I was heavily advised not to use a hose just this weekend. Worst piece of advice I have ever heard.
This is the funniest video ever… only because people actually think water is bad for your bike.. lol. Yes, jet streaming your BB, or hubs is not good, but come on… lets be real here. Go a head, dont ever wash your bike. I’ll bet my regular washed/lubed bike is going to be in much better condition.
First!
🏆
@@ClintGibbs 😂
Nice try
@@TheMatt365 Thanks