Is it really that bad to clean your bike with a high pressure cleaner?
I wash my bikes (especially mtb) with a high pressure cleaner but always make sure to keep the pressure quite low and don’t spray up close and then finish it off with a blower to get rid of remaining water.
@rocourteau s reply in the favero users thread got me thinking
and I’m wondering what others think about this. Do you clean your bike with a high pressure cleaner?
Absolutely not. Never put my bike near a high pressure cleaner. Say goodbye to any grease, bearings and seals.
Can be done, but special care must be taken to prevent blowing garbage in and grease out of critical areas.
GCN pretty much show that unless you point it continuously at bearings, it’s fine to use one.
Yeah as long as your not within like 18 inches of the tip of the nozzle then you’re probably fine. Also don’t really point it directly at your bearings up close. Using nothing more than a damp cloth is definitely over kill though
I don’t see the point. Pressure washing makes sense when you are cleaning a lot of surface area like your driveway. Garden hose pressure and scrub brush in soapy water is more than enough to clean a bike.
To me, getting the pressure washer out, hooking it up and then having to put it away takes a lot more time than you might save.
yeah, I really don’t get the fascination with pressure washing a bike, just because pro CX mechanics do it… I guess? Introduces way more issues than it solves.
For a bike, suds are way more important than water pressure anyway. Standard tap pressure with a decent nozzle is sufficient. I dig the pink bike wash concentrate, but any car wash fluid will work decently.
I always liked GCN’s 5 minute bike wash video. It’s as close as I’ve found to what I’ve been doing for decades.
Yeah, this and a couple others of the “bucket & hose” variety are what I used to form my own cleaning process. Keep it simple and easy, and you are more likely to get it done more often. Your gear will thank you 
My cross bike gets pressure washed multiple times per week or even day and is fine. Use decently sealed bearings and nothing will happen. The way our weather is, bikes need to be able to cope with water, grit, and mud, even on the road. They can take pressure washing too.
…if you have super low friction bearings (which means bad seals), or even run your bearings dry, that bike might be better off not being pressure washed. But it likely also shouldn’t be used in conditions where it’ll get dirty to a degree that ot needs pressure washing.
For sure, I use the pressure cleaner on my mtb most of the time.
Road bike only for a thorough clean. One tip I got was to always spray from the front or back and not from the sides.
5 minute bike wash!?
“Listen to this… It’s going to blow that right out of the water… 4… minute… bike wash”
Well played, sir… well played. 
