Keep Your Bike Clean and It Will Make You Smile

There's a simple process that you can go through every few weeks, assuming you ride regularly, that will keep your bike running smoothly and keep a smile on your face. It will also keep your bike out of the shop, thus saving you money to spend in other and more fun ways.  

We've had some great weather lately, but remember that rain we had 2 or 3 weeks ago? Chances are your bike looks like mine did when I pulled it into the shop for a clean-up.

So what's a caring bike owner to do? First, get yourself the high-tech tools pictured below (isopropyl alcohol, old toothbrush, and a clean shop rag).

If you're lucky enough to have a workstand, mount your bike in the stand with the chain, chainrings, and that scary rear derailleur facing out toward you.  Put the toothbrush in the alcohol bottle (or pour some alcohol in a jar or other container) and get a good amount of alcohol on the toothbrush.

Work the toothbrush over, under, and around both sides of your chain. Keep at it until you've worked through the entire length of the chain. You will need to dip the toothbrush in the alcohol a good many times to keep it wet enough to work out the crud in the chain. Don't be afraid to use lots of alcohol. You can keep the job a little neater by holding the shop rag underneath the chain as you scrub with the alcohol and toothbrush.

Next, you will want to work the toothbrush over those little wheels (called "derailleur pulleys) that your chain rotates through by the rear derailleur. It's amazing how much crud can build up on those little pulleys. And crud just makes your chain run rougher and your shifting harder.

After you've cleaned and wiped down your derailleur pulleys, you need to use the toothbrush and alcohol to clean up your rear cassette. (That's the deal on the rear wheel with all the little teeth in increasingly small sprockets.) Lots of nasty crud can build up on the teeth and in-between the sprockets. Get that toothbrush working over all of the teeth, with plenty of alcohol on the toothbrush. After you've worked through all of the sprockets, use your shop rag (with plenty of alcohol on it) and run it in-between the sprockets to clean out as much gunk as possible.

Good job! We're moving along now...

There's another set of teeth that we need to clean and wipe down -- the chainring that your chain moves around, located by your pedals. Same routine here: plenty of alcohol on the toothbrush, some elbow great, followed by a good wipe-down with the shop rag.

What I usually do next is apply a good quality chain lube to the chain. I use Boeshield T-9 bike lube, which is available at Sellwood Cycle, REI, and many other bike shops. Carefully put a single drip on each link of the chain. DO NOT DROWN YOUR CHAIN IN LUBE! The trick is to use enough, but not too much. Using too much lube merely invites more dirt and grime to visit your chain. With this particular lube you'll want to give it a chance to dry a bit before you wipe off the excess.

So, while we're waiting for the Boeshield to do its magic, let's put some attention to the bike's dirty frame. Here's what I currently use in the shop to keep my frames clean and looking decent:

I got this at Joe's last summer; I'm sure it's not difficult to find this or another similar product. It's just a liquid cleaner/wax and does a nice job of cleaning up a dirty bicycle frame. If you really want a nice wax job, you'll want to use a hard wax. But I'm generally too lazy to do that... 

I just want to keep my bikes reasonably clean because I know they'll get dirty from riding in the rain sometime soon. Be sure to use a nice, soft clean cloth, such as an old towel, to apply the cleaner. Let it dry for a couple of minutes and then polish the frame.

Another thing you can do while you're waiting for the Boeshield to dry is clean your wheel rims. They get so nasty! For this, use a clean portion of your shop rag and apply the alcohol to the rag. Be sure to use a clean portion of the rag as you work your way around each side of the wheel, front and back. DO NOT get any lubrication on your wheel rims!!!

Now we are ready to go back to our chain. Wrap a reasonably clean (and dry) portion of your shop cloth around your chain and rotate your chain quickly for several dozen rotations. You will see the last bit of black, dirty, gunk coming off your chain and onto your shop cloth. Once you rotate and there is little, if any, black gunk coming off onto your shop cloth, you are done with your periodic maintenance. Good job!

Depending on how much riding you do, you will need to get your bike to a shop at least once a year and have a mechanic check it over. Your chain doesn't last forever, and a stretched-out chain can cause shifting problems or might even break. You may need a bit of derailleur adjustment from time to time, and that is probably something you do not want to try at home. You also need to make sure your brake pads are in good shape and your brakes are adjusted properly. Again, depending on how much riding you do, you will need to have your hubs cleaned and repacked now and again, as well as your bottom bracket and headset (depending on component types). Taking care to have maintenance done will keep you happily rolling along.

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line. 

Til then, bye from Audrey and Syd the shop dog

Cycling in Portland: All it's "cracked up" to be...

We were planning to drive to Salem and ride the Salem Bicycle Club's Monster Cookie ride, but the car conked out. Okay, that means it's a ride-from-home day. But the weather's not that great -- cool and a little drippy. It would have been easy to just go back to bed. But instead, we rallied and decided to ride east on the Springwater Corridor from Sellwood to Gresham. Now, I am usually willing to ride one direction on the Springwater, but pretty reluctant to ride roundtrip. Why? Because of the horrible bone jarring, butt bruising quality of the thing. In fact, the ONLY reason to ride it at all is that it is one of the very few east-west routes in the city.

Speaking of the city, are they serious about aiming to be a Platinum bicycling city? Does that mean you can lay asphalt for several miles but never return to check on its condition? Apparently that's the case here in the Rose City. Despite the generally terrible condition of the Springwater Corridor, there are spots that the city itself has destroyed and not bothered to go back and fix. One such spot is under I-205, where they tore up the pavement and left potholes and rough gravel. And that has been the condition there for at least a full year, if not more. Frankly, it's embarrassing to ride around this city knowing that the powers that be think they are in line for yet another bicycling award...

And women, please be careful about riding this route on your own during off hours. There are some pretty rough looking types that camp and otherwise hang out along this route between SE Bell/72nd and Gresham. If you must ride alone, make sure you're riding in the daylight and that other people are also out riding. I don't know of any incidents that have occurred, but I do have a sense of where it makes sense to be careful.

How do you know when you're out of the Portland city limits on the Springwater Corridor? Well, you know you're in another city (i.e., Gresham) when you notice that part of the trail has been repaired AND the condition of the path drastically improves. Thanks, Gresham! You've made it all worthwhile.

Signed,

Sometimes A Cycling Curmudgeon

Time for spring riding!

Spring has FINALLY come to Portland! Clearly folks are thinking "bike" because The Salon has been busy lately. We've had a couple of customers come in for an assessment of their current bikes (neither fit well at all).  They decided to ditch their ill-fitting machines and go shopping with Audrey. Both ended up with sleek but comfortable road bikes that will allow them to commute AND train for those long mileage rides. One woman's goal is the 100-mile segment of Reach the Beach. Another hopes to ride Cycle Oregon.

People are checking out Bike Fridays, too. I've noticed that having a Bike Friday is a little bit like having a cute dog -- people see it and just have to come over and check it out! It happened to me today up on Mississippi Ave. Someone asked to take a look at the bike because she had never seen one except on the Bike Friday website. 

Some folks are anxious to ride but decided they'd better learn to fix a flat tire before heading out for a pleasure ride. We hold clinics for 1 or 2 people at a time in the Salon -- we could probably squeeze 3 people in, but you would have to like each other! Let us know if you would like to set up a clinic.

Speaking of clinics, we don't get much demand for it, I guess because it's so dirty, but doing a little cleaning on your bike every few weeks makes a huge difference in terms of how your bike rides and feels. Stay tuned -- I plan to put up a piece or two (with pictures) about how to do some of that simple cleaning. But I really can't do anything about how messy it is...

Anyway, it's time! Get out there and ride!

Spring training in the desert

It's been difficult to think about posting to a cycling-related blog during the Portland winter we've had. Studded bike tires are generally not required for winter cycling in Portland but after the snowstorm that left 18" of the stuff all over the place I wondered if I needed to reconsider...

After snow, more snow, cold, and rain we decided that some enjoyable cycling might be in store. We packed up the Bike Fridays in late February and headed for some spring training in Tucson. It seemed important to try traveling with the bikes, since we are now dealers and gung ho about the performance and utility of the bikes. After all, that's their true purpose! So, I spent some time on the Bike Friday website reading tips on packing and unpacking and picking up hints about how to avoid hassles with the airlines and with TSA. Send me an e-mail if you want to know what I figured out.

We stayed in a centrally located hotel in Tucson and with a little help from a friend who had lived there and biked extensively, we found that we could easily ride in any direction from our hotel. The city has well-marked bike paths on virtually every major street, and we found the drivers to be cautious and considerate. In 5 days of riding no one honked or yelled and we had NO close calls. (Wish I could say that's the case in Portland...)

On our first day we decided to head to Saguaro National Park East. Our ride included the beautiful 9-mile loop within the park. 

We headed back to the hotel more directly and logged 38 miles that day. We found that our winter commuting had given us a reasonable base of fitness, but we felt a little wimpy after that first day's ride!

There's art everywhere in the desert. Check out this scenery!

After 30-40 miles of cycling in the desert in temperatures of 88 to 90 degrees, one can pretty consume one's choice of cold drinks and fine Mexican food. There is a plethora of both in Tucson. Some of the places we enjoyed were El Toredo and Micha's in South Tucson, and Rosa's Mexican Food and the Blue Willow in Tucson proper. Our friends David and Nicole had given us a long list of places to try, but even our hungry, thirsty biker selves couldn't get around to all of them in 5 and a half days! Just more reason to go back again next spring... if I can wait that long...

The Cycling Salon apparel now available.

We've recieved so many compliments on our t-shirts that we've now made them available online. To purchase one or many of our four designs just head on over to our mini-store.

The Cycling Salon featured in a Terry Bicycles podcast.

Audrey Block, of The Cycling Salon, explains why she's the perfect matchmaker for the woman who "wants to bicycle but just doesn't know where to start" on Georgena Terry's T-Chatter podcast. You can listen to the August 4th podcast on Terry Bicycles website under Buying A Bike - The Bike Shop Experience.

The Cycling Salon is now a “casual dealer” for Bike Friday!

These bikes with the little tires are incredible—they’re REAL bikes but you can pack them up and take them with you on your next adventure or business trip! They’re custom made but affordable! We can measure you up, and work with our Bike Friday representative to get the bike set up just the way you want it. We recently purchased Pocket Crusoes (for light touring and sport riding) and can make them available for short test rides. We’ve visited the factory and the showroom in Eugene and can answer most of your questions about these great little bikes.