What to use when cleaning my new bike

[pattieG]

I've heard that fairy liquid has salts in it and isn't ideal for cleaning my bike. What is the best thing to use and should I be degreasing and relubing my drivetain at the same time?

[jodypress]

Depends on how much road dirt/grime there is etc.

I use my car shampoo (plus muck off if it's pretty dirty). I degrease chain/cassette every few weeks in winter, less in summer.

Seems to be working fine for me for last 10 years of all year round commuting on road bikes.

[GarryDK]

GCN's youtube channel has a decent vid on bike cleaning.

[Timbo_S2]

Best thing I did was buy a morgan blue cleaning kit. Includes all the little brushes required; its ace!

[richardxjr]

One of those 1l trigger spray bottles is invaluable. Touch of car shampoo in there, a stack of old rags for flossing the cassette and cleaning the chain and brake blocks, should be all you need. White spirit as a degreaser if you really need it.

Clean rims and brake blocks after every wet ride, other than that the winter bikes get to accumulate frame muck as a sort of badge of honour.

[gazza285]

Soft brush on the end of the hose, then a squirt over with Muck-Off or Hope st Shifter before more hose and brush action, followed by a squirt of GT85 and/or TF2 depending on the fixing/component. The chain is blathered in GR85 to disperse the water, then left for a day, then wipe down and apply TF2 chain lube. This is usually after a cyclocross race or four hour stint on the MTB, so is generally repeated weekly. All weather road bike might get the same treatment three times a year.

[N8CYL]

100 pipe cleaners from fleabay for a pound. Excellent for cleaning the cassette and in between chain links.

[Jonnny]

Baby bottle brushes are brilliant for cleaning parts that are hard to get to

[AlmostUseful]

For those that use Muc-Off of st shifter I can recommend using Fenwicks caravan cleaner. £11 gets you a 500ml bottle that is diluted 20:1 and becomes the same (ish) product as bike cleaning stuff. You're basically buying concentrated Muc-Off.

Just spray on and scrub, then rinse off. It's ideal.

[jfdi]

Toolstation brake disc cleaner cleans the cassette to an as new state. A can disappears a bit quick, maybe 3 or 4 cleans but I look on it as 60p a time to clean a £40 plus part.