Mountain bike care advice, can anyone help ?

Question

i took my bike out yesterday to ride, it started to pour down with rain while i was riding.......when i got back to my apartment my bike was all wet through being outside in prolonged rain, and riding for about 40 minutes.

i live in a small apartment and keep my bike in my bedroom, so when i got back i just wheeled my bike back in there.

i want to know after being out in the rain on your bike like this and it getting thoroughly wet....is there any special care procedures you should do to the bike or can you just leave it ?

the bike eventually dried in the warm un-carpeted apartment

Answer 1

I suppose wiping it down a little with a cheap towel wouldn't hurt.  As far as the gears/chain/etc. maybe a little WD-40 (or other grease) every now and then to keep things working.  Not too much, just a small amount now and then.

Answer 2

If it has Muck on it Wash it down immediately  in order to stop it sticking and so make it harder to get off. Easiest is Hose it down and if you like a mild detergent like washing up Liquid, Quix, Fairy, Soap Flakes, but rinse it off. Then Rub a light Oil like Three in One all over it on a Rag. If you like put a Car Polish on the Shiny Parts like Turtle Wax.Oil the moving Parts with Three in One, and you can get Special Lube for the Gears and Chain, there is stuff call Wet Ride that you can put on the Gears and Chain.It would not do any Harm one Wetting, but if you left your Bike out all the time without Oiling it it could get Rusty. So if you just Rubbed your Bike with Oil all over ,Three in One every so often it should be  alright, and Oil the moving Parts.

Answer 3

use an old rag to dry it or it will rust a bit

pay special attention to the wheels

Answer 4

keep the areas that are moving clean dry and wel lubed!!especially the rear mech.enjoy!!!

Answer 5

There are a couple things you can do to keep your bike and you happy after riding in wet conditions.  Im going to presume you were not riding with fenders, even if you were the clean and care procedures would be the same.  

You need to rinse off the bike after your wet riding is done for the day.  Take your bike and rinse off all the muck that has collected on the frame, brakes, and drive-train(chain, chainrings, front and rear derailuers).  Make sure you are rinsing and not blasting with high pressure any bearing surface; bottom bracket, front hub, rear hub, head set.  Thoroughly rinse drive-train and brakes, since these are parts of the bike that are more sensitive to build up of debris.

After you have rinse the bike off, take it inside wipe down the chain with a rag(holding the chain with the rag and back peddling works well).  Then apply some lubricant.  If it the wet season where you are at you use a lube that works good in wet conditions.  If it is the dry season use a dry condtions lube.  Applying lube is as simple as placing the end of the drip bottle on the chain and back peddling.  After that take a rag hold the chain again and back peddle one more time.  This step will remove excess lube.  If you want to apply some lubricant to the pivots of the derailuers and brake pivots(rim brake not disc) that is fine too.  

Doing this after every wet ride should keep your bike running pretty smooth.  But you should do a thorough degrease and re-lube of the drive train once in while too.

Your local bike shop should carry all the stuff to help you with that, like degreasers, lube, and any cleaning tools.

Make sure to use lubricants that are made for cycling.  WD-40 is not a lubricant(Water Displacement formula 40 is what it stands for), 3 in 1 oil is not a proper lubricant.  These kind of lubricants will just muck things up and your bike mechanic will know you've been using chemicals that don't belong on a bike.  

I'm a bike mechanic, we know when bikes are not being taken care of properly. :-)

Answer 6

Often, when I get back from a ride late at night, covered in mud and feeling generally yuck, there are a couple of things that I will do before putting the bike to bed,

The chain will usually be caked with mud, as will the front derailleur.  To overcome this I will wipe down the chain with a couple of baby wipes, to get rid of the worst much.  I will also use a brush on the front derailleur, to clear mud, before drippingg oil onto the metal parts.

I will also spray on some wet wax onto the chain.  These are the areas that will normally have hadtheirr oil stripped and are more likely to rust.  The chain is especially at danger, since the mud will have acted like an abrasive cleaner.

Oh yes, a bit of newspaper to protect the carpet might be an idea.

Luck