It's one thing to fight your way through the rain and dirt on your bike: a heroic endeavour, which is why you overcome yourself. It's another thing to then fight the dirt on your bike with new cleanliness. That's not heroic at all, but rather annoying. It's much nicer than cleaning your bike with clammy fingers than standing under a warm shower. But cleaning is a must, otherwise laziness will soon take its revenge in the form of pretty little rust flowers, jammed cables, cloudy paintwork and a stiff chain. And then the winter heroism will be completely over. Therefore: treat your racer to a five-minute beauty and wellness programme after every ride. You'd like that too...
For quick aftercare, you don't have to follow the whole programme shown here; the short formula is sufficient: wash, dry, (chain) grease. It's less about expensive jars and tubes and more about the right and regular care. If you don't want to stop, be careful with the steam jet. The hot, sharp jet of water shoots the dirt off the tube at lightning speed, but likes to penetrate past seals into the bearing interior to dissolve and rinse out the vital grease.
Also refrain from bathing the chain in a chain cleaning machine. The cleaning fluid dissolves the grease inside the links, but does not completely rinse out the dirt. Grease, dirt and cleaner residues form a dirt barrier on the inside and new oil or grease cannot flow in sufficiently. No matter how shiny the chain is on the outside, the basic lubrication on the inside is lost. Good on the outside, bad on the inside.
Cleaning agents can help with surface care, but often fail due to salt residue from dried sweat or spilt sports drinks. A tried and tested household remedy: a bucket of warm water with a few drops of washing-up liquid. Rust and dust should be removed from scratches in the paintwork immediately and repaired with a touch-up pen.
