|
One of the things I love the most, other than racing, is sharing my experience with other riders and spreading the love. So, in the spirit of wanting to help my fellow racers out there, I've decided to drop some race tips every Saturday through out the off-season to improve your riding so you can SHAKE it up next season!!! So, in the spirit of racing, let's start with the most basic of basic race tips:
Keep your bike clean. If you’re sponsored, this is even more important. Not only does a clean bike operate more smoothly and efficiently, the stuff you’re sporting for your sponsors looks great and people can get a good look at the product. First impressions are very important in this business. A clean bike show’s your sponsors you understand what sponsorship is about and they can trust you to represent them well-even in the off season. This translates into better deals and potentially better sponsorship deals!
One of the comments I hear most on race day is how clean and professional my bike looks. It doesn't look as clean as it does by me wiping it with a dirty rag once a month. It takes some time, but it’s worth it and once you’ve got it in beautiful condition, it doesn’t take much to keep it that way.
Here’s the cleaning kit I use to keep my bike blingin’:
Bucket
Car wash sponge
Several types of bike cleaning brushes
Several clean white shop terry cloth towels
Pedro’s bike lust (I actually use Mother’s Gold because the Yeti 4X is sprayed with a clear coat)
Tri-Flow
Chain cleaner
Rock N’ Roll chain lubricant
Muck Off bike cleaner (Or Pink, or Pedros)
1. Wash It: WARNING! Don’t use a high-pressure hose. Use a standard garden hose with a misting nozzle or the misting option on the hose nozzle. Do not wash your bike in direct sunlight.
Give the entire bike a thorough sprits of the bike cleaner. You don’t need to wait long before the cleaners done its job. Thoroughly rinse the bike then dry it off with a couple of terry cloth towels. Be sure to get behind the crank and chain device and the behind the crank arms.
2. The Devil’s in the Details: WARNING! DONOT SPRAY BIKE LUST DIRECTLY ONTO BIKE LEST THE OVERSPRAY FIND ITS WAY TO YOUR BRAKES AND/OR TIRE TREAD! ALWAYS SPRAY BIKE POLISH INTO A CLEAN TOWEL THEN WIPE THE FRAME DOWN WITH POLISH!
Once washed, the bike’s ready for a detailing. I don’t have a work stand right now, so I raise my seat, set a large towel down to rest my bars on, then I flip the bike over. Start with taking the front and rear wheel off. While you’re doing this, go ahead and take your chain off. Put the chain in something like a Glad Wear container (One you’re not ever going to use to store food in) with some chain cleaner. Leave it in there until you get the wheels back on.
I always clean the rear wheel first. Using the hose with the misting nozzle, the bike cleaner, and the skinny “knife” looking brush that comes in most cleaning kits, I set out to clean that rear wheel. Spray the rear cassette with the bike cleaner, then go to town on it with the “knife” brush. Clean in between the cogs and the valleys between the teeth as well. If you’ve never cleaned it, it’ll take some work to get that dirt out of there, but do it-it’s worth it!
Using a terry cloth towel, hold the corners of the towel tight, then run the tight side in between the cogs. This will clean out the crud the brush missed or loosened up. Using that same towel, wipe out the valleys between the teeth on your rear cassette. If you have to, use a bit of chain cleaner on the towel to clean the teeth and valleys on your rear cassette. Check for worn teeth, cracks, and loose cassette. WARNING! Replace components that are worn or broke. Don’t push it until it does.
Spray the Pedro’s bike lust on a clean towel. Use it to clean your rear hub, spokes, and wheel. Use this time to check for loose spokes, cracks in the wheel and hub body. You’d be surprised what you’ll find!
Using a larger, stiff bristled nylon hair brush, clean the tread of your tires. Use this time to check out your tire and ensure it’s good to go. Look for splits, bubbles, and exposed bead.
Spraying a very small amount of Armor All on the same towel that you used to spray the Bike Lust on, wipe the tire side walls only, avoiding the knobs.
Repeat these steps (minus the rear cassette cleaning, dur) for the front wheel. Follow the same warnings!
Before you put the wheels back on, wipe down the inside of the chain stays and the inside of your forks with a clean terry cloth towel with a bit of Pedro’s bike lust on it. Once it’s all nice and shiny in there, put the wheels back on. Tight everything then double check it and ensure it’s tight and in the proper position.
Using the same towel you cleaned the inside of the chainstays and forks with, wipe down the underside of the frame, cranks, chain device, and rear-derailer. Use the brushes to get out stubborn dirt.
Flip the bike back onto its wheels, repeat the same cleaning and polishing procedure that you used on the underside of bike on the top of the bike.
3. Grease ‘er up! WARNING! AVIOD SPRAYING OILS NEAR BRAKE SURFACES TO INCLUDE CALIPERS, ROTORS, V-BRAKE PORTIONS OF THE WHEEL (IF YOUR BIKE IS EQUIPPED WITH V-BRAKES)!
Get the chain out of the degreaser and wash it off using the hose. Dry thoroughly then put it back on the bike. Give ‘er some oil, but then wipe it off as much as possible. Oil attracts dirt and dirt does hurt. My chain appears dry when I’m done, but it is, in fact, well lubed. Check that chain for stretch and loose connections. I’ve found several chains on my bike right before races. Replace worn chains immediately. Do not race or ride on a worn chain. No amount of points are worth pushing a chain to its breaking point.
Grab that Tri-Flow with Teflon and give your forks at the dust boot a few drops. Give the forks a good throttling then, using a clean terry cloth towel, wipe the exposed fork stanchions down. Be sure to examine the fork for cracks, deep scratches, bent crowns, or twisted legs. Have a question about your fork? Send it to a reputable repair spot and let them work them over. They’re the only ones that will let you know if they need to be replaced or not. Do not rely on me or anybody else to tell you that you should replace or keep riding your forks. They look damaged or worn out of limits-send them in to a tech.
4. Get yer’ tools: WARNING! IF SOMETHING REQUIRES A SPECIFIC TORQUE, GET A TORQUE WRENCH. OVER TORQUING/UNDER TORQUEING A COMPONENT COULD RESULT IN PRODUCT FAILURE! YOU CAN FIND TORQUE INFO ON DEALER WEB SITE UNDER “TECH.”
If it has a bolt, nut, quick release, or in some case, screws (Not to include the rear derailer, dummy), make sure it’s torqued to spec or tight. Pay close attention to your seat post and quick releases.
Check the operation of your bike by riding it around and shifting. If it’s out of limits, make the necessary adjustments to get that shifting back in check.
This is just the minimum cleaning. I go even further by taking my bike down to the basic components and cleaning then rebuilding it, but that’s just me.
You’ll be surprised how much better you’re bike will perform when it’s clean and the items you’ll find worn to death might just save you from a nasty spill or, in some cases, your DOOOOOM!
After you’ve got it all cleaned-go get ‘er DIRTY!
Keep it Pinned!
Bob Burnes
|