Getting your bike through the winter: cleaning it after salt, rain and mud

In winter you ride on wet roads with road salt, through forests in mud and often in the dark. Your bike suffers. Salt corrodes metal, mud scrapes off your brake pads and drive train, and moisture gets into the bearings. If you just leave your bike in the shed after a winter ride, you’ll face a big bill in March.

Immediately after the ride (5 minutes)

1. Rinse the bike with lukewarm water from a bucket or a garden hose on a gentle setting. Start at the top, finish at the drive unit.
2. Clean the brake pads and rims (or brake discs). Do not use oil or degreaser near the brake disc when using disc brakes.
3. Dry the chain with a cloth and lubricate it again. Wet oil works best in winter.
4. Store the bike indoors or in a dry place, not in the rain.

Once a week or after a muddy gravel race

• Wipe the entire bike with a soft sponge, lukewarm water and bicycle cleaner or some dish soap.
• Degrease and lubricate the drive (see: Cleaning and lubricating the bicycle chain).
• Check the brake pads: in wet weather and mud, they wear out in a few hundred kilometers.
• Look at your tires: remove rocks and glass from the tread and check the tire pressure.
• Apply a drop of oil to the cables and hinge points of the derailleur.

What you better not do

• High-pressure sprayer up close: Water gets into bearings of the hub, ball head and pulley. It can be done from a distance and at a low setting, but a bucket and sponge are safer.
• Hot water: not necessary, and bad for some fats and bearings.
• Degreaser on the brake discs: then they brake poorly or they make a whistling noise. Clean the discs only with special brake cleaner or isopropyl alcohol.

Race bike or gravity bike?

With the racing bike, salt is the biggest problem. Rinse off the salt from the roads after every ride, even if the bike looks clean. With the gravity bike, mud is the biggest enemy: it gets stuck around the crankset, in the brake levers, and between the tire and frame. Spat boards help a lot, and also a cleaning job within an hour of the ride: dried mud is much harder to get rid of.

In the spring: the big overhaul

Around February, before the season really starts or before you go on a training camp, a big overhaul is a smart idea. Have the chain measured, replace worn brake pads and cables, and have the bearings checked. This will set you off on the right foot for the first long rides, for example during a week. Winter sunshine in Spain.