I’m hesitant to ride my bike because I’m worried about how dirty it will get. I live in an area with a lot of leaves and damp dirt, and after every ride, I have to spend about an hour cleaning it. My drivetrain ends up caked in grime, the frame gets dirty, and debris is scattered everywhere. I have to degrease the drivetrain, hose it down, remove small debris, and thoroughly dry it—it’s a lot of work. Is this normal? How often do you guys clean your bikes?
Similar situation in that every ride at this time of year involves wet leaves, and many involve rain. Things that have helped me:
- running a winter bike that I care a bit less about than a fancy race bike with high end components. Titanium frame, cheap chain and cassette, cheap BB that I don’t mind just replacing in the spring.
- Mudguards/fenders. You, the bike and the drivetrain all stay a lot cleaner
- Waxed chain. Drip on wax is the way to go as you pretty much need to wipe down the chain and reapply after every ride when it’s wet (especially if they salt/grit the roads). I just use Squirt in winter as it’s fairly cheap. Still grinds through the chain fairly quickly but that’s why I run a cheaper chain than in nice conditions. I believe that wet lubes have also improved a lot in the last few years, Fenwicks is apparently decent
- Having cleaning stuff handy. I have a bike pressure washer and stack of old t-shirts so I can rinse and wipe the bike down as the first thing I do when I get home before any of the muck dries on, then apply lube
For me it’s a 5 minute job not a 1 hour job. I don’t bother cleaning the whole bike to showroom condition, the frame just gets a fairly cursory rinse and wipe down, it’s only going to get dirty again the next day. Most of the time is spent on the drive train.
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This is the most important part. You can clean your whole bike with water and a a single brush. You don’t have to mess about with a separate brush and degreaser for the chain / drivetrain.
A cleaning with hose + brush takes 5 mins like you say.
Every now and again a clean with dish soap and water helps remove any stubborn dirt.
I’ve stopped immersive waxing, and just use drip-on now. It’s easier. Tru Tension Tungsten I’ve found to be the best so far - lasts longer than Squirt, Smoove or Silca.
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I clean my bikes as little as possible/practical. Removing superficial dirt is OK, but often efforts to do so increase the chances of get water/cleaner/dirt into bearings and pivots where it can do harm. When I do clean a bike, I use a gentle rinse of water and a brush to loosen the dirt.
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I think you can clean a bike too much. I generally clean out the stuff that might adversely effect operation, but don’t get too into the rest. Well, until it gets really bad. But I’m usually riding bikes that are built for grunge.
I have a cassette brush and remove leaves that get caked in there but generally wipe down the frame and suck when it gets really bad. It all falls off eventually. Using brushes and hoses can inject more sand and grit into bearings so I avoid it as much as possible. I also generally give my road bike a bath once a year. My fat bike, after IceMan, really needed a bath though, but was done in a shower, no high pressure… A year later, it still had some caked mud on it. 
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Waxed chain + hose + shop towel. Only when fairly dirty. 10 minutes tops. Don’t overthink it.
I shall try Tru Tension Tungsten next time I need a new bottle then! I have Silca drip and while it is certainly better than Squirt in dry conditions or summer rain, when it’s cold and wet I find it still basically needs reapplying every ride, in which case Squirt is a lot cheaper and does a good enough job.
I would focus on cleaning the essentials: your drivetrain, anything that can cause scratches, brakes. I use wax-based lube, which means my chains accumulate less grime and crud.
Also, bikes are meant to be ridden, not babied and kept in a garage. Usual signs of wear are fine.
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I’m the contrarian.
Yes, I use an immersive paraffin waxed chain and basically do the full cleaning every week. I find it extremely relaxing and therapeutic to take things apart and reassemble them. For me, that means full bike wash, boiling and re-waxing the chain, and yes… taking apart the cassette cogs and pulley+jockey wheels to clean individually. I take great joy in seeing a mirror finish cassette and pristine clean chain on the bike.
It’s not normal. It’s not healthy. It might not even be good the bike. I don’t give a crap. I just really really enjoy having shiny clean stuff. For me (and this is a very individual thing), I find it relaxing and soothing.
Before anyone says “dude, you’re wearing crap out prematurely”… my reply is: I don’t care. It’s an excuse to buy new shiny stuff. If I wanted a cheaper hobby, I’d take up polo or yacht racing.
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Stay in bed, dont get up life is easier that way.
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Ridewrap helps a ton with cleaning. I can do a pretty good clean on my bike after a muddy ride in about 10 minutes. Low pressure rinse, degrease chain and wipe, then sponge the rest of bike with car wash detergent. Rinse again, then relube.
I don’t wash after every ride, once a week at the very most. But I do clean and relube drivetrain after every ride.
Something not mentioned in the thread so far is snow foam in a can, it’s become my go to for a quick clean. I can get 90% of the way to perfect in 5 minutes (I usually swap the chain but if you’re careful you can keep it on and rewax)
I’ve used tru tension branded and weldtite, both work well.
Link to TT site for info/pictures: Bicycle Snow Foam 500ml - Cycle Snow Foam 500ml by Tru-Tension
I ride my bike year round, all weathers. I rarely need to clean it. But then I have mudguards on the bike. Not fashionable I know.
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After every ride. Clean bike is a happy bike
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How often do you guys clean your bikes?
I’ll let you know when I get around to it.
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Only if you don’t know what you are doing. You can easily clean a filthy bike (talk to me about winter gravel riding in the rain and mud) in about 10 minutes, quick spray down with cleaning fluid, wait for it to soak, spray with water and wipe down the bike and chain.
If you are waxing the chain like you should be it lasts me a few hundred km of shit weather before a quick relube 
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Seconding ridewrap. Stuff sticks to it less and what does it usually easy to scrub off without worry about damaging the finish and paint. It’s not easy to put on, but only one panel has peeled up a little in the three years since I did my bike. I factor it into the cost of all new bikes now.
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I rode with a guy that had a pristine shining like brand new bike every time I saw it. I was amazed that he had the time to do that after every ride, OR he had a whole garage full of brand new bikes that looked the same. I just looked at it and was exhausted. The thought of striping a bike, cleaning every mm, and putting it all back together was on a different level…
But, hey, he had to have a clean bike, and he kept obsessively (a non-PC word I’ve heard) cleaning his bikes. He also bought a fat bike, which are notoriously capable of attracting massive amounts of mud/grossness.
But the thing is, in spite of all the teasing, it was HIS bike and if that was what he had to do, be yourself. Be true to yourself. I sure cleaned my new Roubaix a lot after I bought it, but it manages. (It was probably pissed when I got the Aspero and was washing it a lot)
You can do whatever you want. Heck, I even bought a Muc-Off power washer, and actually used it!! (For the record, it really rocks)
But back in the day, at the shop I worked at, we had someone come in with ‘problems riding’. He was taking his bike to an auto car wash and using ‘the wand’ on it, and blew quantities of sand/grit/water/etc into almost every bearing. That cost BIG money. It was before cartridge bearings so rebuilding the wheels and bottom bracket meant replacing a lot more parts, for a lot more money. (What the heck was he thinking)
You do you. Rock it, and Ride On!!!
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Yeah, the car wash thing might not be a great idea. I do it for therapy because my normal health insurance doesn’t cover psychiatric services! 
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And I actually found that bubble wrap could be a prescription medical device. After a hard day, I got back to the office and ‘strangled’ a huge wad of it, and felt incredibly better. Wow…
Once I also slammed a broken keyboard on the trashcan. The keys flying everywhere was amazingly cathartic. Oh, I ride VO2 max intervals now…
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