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I went for an early ride, came back showered and thought I'd give the bike a quick clean after a month of commuting. Singlespeed belt drive so pretty easy. But after a few minutes with a sponge I was cold again, even with hot water (yeah, I know: "Rule 5 princess!")
Anyone found a polish that works for getting dirt to fall off with just a quick hose? The bike isn't a gloss finish with a more eggshell effect.
I don't bother. Just wait for it all to dry then brush off and use a micro fibre cloth to buff the paintwork. Got some pointy brushes to get in round derailleurs. If there is major clag just remove the worst then wait for it to dry. The big exception to that is chalk based clag as per Ridgeway or SDW. That does need to be removed asap as it drys like concrete.
Lot of discussion about Lemon Pledge furniture polish and Turtle Wax elsewhere.
Cheapest spray furniture polish you can find, Pledge or whatever. And the let it dry idea works.
Flaer Guard
If you're going to polish it, you need to start with a spotlessly clean bike, ideally just the frameset. I've used Finish Line Pro Bike Detailer in the past but it's difficult to find in shops now and expensive so I just went for some neutral car polish. Rebuild the bike with clean components and then keep on top of the cleaning routine.
I'll admit that I don't do that with the MTB, only the road bike!
Just use Mr Sheen regularly.
Auto Glym Aqua Wax, apparently there's a Turtle Wax equivalent that's cheaper too.
As above, any car wax is good enough.
Let it dry, bounce, bounce, to knock the worst of the mud off. Go for a ride.
If it's absolutely caked it will get a hose off for the worst of the mud. Come spring I'll strip it down and clean it properly. I've used Auto Glym polish in the past to give the paint work some protection, it does help with light dust and mud, but mostly I can't be arsed.
No polish, but a man waving hose at a bike.
I love Guy Martin, I think he's brilliant, but a fella who owns a company that sells bike cleaner doing a video saying how he never cleans his bike and then spraying the whole thing with drive train cleaner made me laugh.
I use mucoff silicon shine but it does much the same job as mr sheen, though I like the smell better...
I prefer to spray it on a cloth then apply to the bike, rather than spray directly onto the bike, as it’s easier to avoid overspray and brake contamination.
Outside hot water tap, sorted.
WD40, spray on a cloth, wipe down frame, allow to dry overnight. Leaves a very slippery film. Wash off the dirt with the hose nozzle on a gentle spray.
Then just leave it to dry by itself.