Winterize thyself

My bike mechanic, Roger Levy of Freewheelers, puts a premium on cyclical cleanliness. By which I don’t mean he showers irregularly. No, he’s always reminding me and other customers of the importance of keeping a bike’s drivetrain free of dirt, grease, rust, etc., not for cosmetic purposes but to maximize mechanical efficiency and get the greatest mileage out of the chain, chainrings, and cassette.

It’s not rocket science, just a matter of using solvent (hopefully of the “green” variety, with citrus, etc.) to remove gunk and crud, followed by a temperature-appropriate lube. Some devotees remove their chains and bathe them in solvent, then use various secret potions on them. But mortals like me cut corners, simply to keep everything easy. And mostly it is.

But then comes winter, with beautiful snow that soon is “civilized” into dirt-packed browncake, and road salt that dissolves into amazingly persistent puddles of brine. And before you can say “relentless corrosion,” your bike is a mess that must quickly be dealt with.

What to do? I’ve only learned a few things by trial and error, but for what it’s worth, here’s my winter cleaning/maintenance routine:

First, I’m committed to washing off the machine every time it gets dirty – or even more often. This translates into a cleaning job after every ride, and occasionally a quick splash during the ride. The main thing is not to be afraid to apply clean water where needed. If you have a good quality machine (and especially if you’ve got alloy components, sealed bearings and other modern protective systems) it will take a good shower in stride.

I used to prop up my bike on end in the bathtub and then hose it down. This leaves much crap and oily residue in the tub, however, so I soon turned to method B: running the garden hose from my kitchen faucet out the front door and hosing the bike out on the lawn. (The exterior faucet is, of course, turned off for the winter to prevent pipe breakage.) Method B was less of a mess, but it still meant doing a multi-step operation.

Today I use the Lazy Man’s Shortcut: I prop the bike against the side of the house, then carry a large bucket (sometimes two) of warm tap water outside and carefully stream the water over all the dirty parts, including not just the drivetrain and associated frame sections, but also the brakes and brake pads and wheel rims. Generally there’s no need to wash the top half of the machine – unless you’ve gone insane and are riding without fenders, in which case there will be splash on practically everything, including yourself.
So that’s my method; I frankly don’t know if it’s the wisest way to cleanliness – could the volume/pressure of water cause more intrusion into the bearings, etc.? – but so far, so good. My bike continues to work just fine.

Of course, the re-lubrication step is important, too, especially regarding rust-prone parts like the chain. You can wipe the latter off with a rag or paper towel and then apply a very light oil with Teflon. (I’ve found that in winter, you do need oil to keep ahead of the rust – though oil does pick up road crud and frustrate your efforts to keep the drivetrain running smoothly.)

And where you store your bike in winter can be crucial. Granted, as a certifiable bike nut, I consider my machines to be fine sculptures and am convinced they grace my definitely-not-feng-shui’d living room. Guests often disagree. Maybe you have a partner or roommate who waxes homicidal at the thought of a bike indoors, even if housebroken (I mean the bike, not the roommate – or rather, as well as the roommate). But I would be remiss if I didn’t plead the case: a nice warm place inside is where your winterized bike belongs as a matter of natural right. If you keep it in a dank basement or garage or on the porch or out in the elements, both it and you will suffer.

There’s also the matter of defensive preparation. Steel frames, even good chromium-molybdenum alloy ones, can rust, and the worst rust grows from the inside out. But don’t despair. Just spray some light lube (even WD-40, which also works well on gear clusters/cassettes) inside the frame tubes, which you can access the interiors by removing the seat post and spraying downwards, or by unscrewing one or two bottle cage braze-on bolts and then inserting a slender tube (like the one that comes with a can of WD-40) in the holes and spraying inward for a few seconds.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that light oil can seep down into the bottom bracket and dissolve the vital grease therein; anyway, in general it’s a great idea to maintain a decent distance between light lubes and the heavy ones that are packed into bearings. But in practice, I’ve never had a problem with this – and I think that the key is to be moderate. Don’t try to float your frame in oil, on the inside or outside.

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