Riding Fat Tire Bikes and not getting them dirty would be silly. Sure, some days conditions are perfect, but if you get back to the car after a sloppy ride and your bike has gained some additional pounds of mud, you need to clean it off as soon as possible. If it’s raining, cool, rack it and drive home, the mud won’t set up and you can clean it there, maybe the rain does the heavy lifting for you. But don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ll get to it soon enough and suddenly there is a ¼” concrete like crust all over your bike that you must now deal with or risk all kinds of destruction to the finish, the drive train, seals, bearings…
Some wouldn't think twice about blasting it off at the local car wash. But we all know it’s a bad idea to turn high pressure on the bike. You risk blowing grit into the seals ruining the bearings as well as blowing the much needed lube out of everything else. Even if you are skilled at not applying high pressure to the critical areas, you always risk an accidental blast and you are wasting water.
Some wouldn't think twice about blasting it off at the local car wash. But we all know it’s a bad idea to turn high pressure on the bike. You risk blowing grit into the seals ruining the bearings as well as blowing the much needed lube out of everything else. Even if you are skilled at not applying high pressure to the critical areas, you always risk an accidental blast and you are wasting water.
FTN prefers to use a garden sprayer back at the car, immediately after the ride finishes. The thickest of the mud will be washed away and because the sprayers are low pressure, no seals are harmed. After a recent pre-ride of the Barry- Roubaix course, we cleaned 5 bikes with a little less than 3 gallons of water. They weren't showroom perfect but when I rolled mine into the house later that day to finish the detailing, I wasn't dropping chunks of mud, sand or grease curds from the tires, frame or drive train.
The model pictured was purchased at Lowes and was a little expensive ($75) but it is a “professional
contractor” series and I liked the backpack feature and opposite hand pump lever. The sprayer can generate 25 psi for several seconds, more than enough to get crud off the frame but I tend to use less pressure with a wider broadcast to be kind to the drive train. If time permits, a dish scrub brush and a spray bottle of diluted grease cutting dish detergent will really make a difference.
Fat tires and a clean bike makes everyone look better while riding.
FTN
contractor” series and I liked the backpack feature and opposite hand pump lever. The sprayer can generate 25 psi for several seconds, more than enough to get crud off the frame but I tend to use less pressure with a wider broadcast to be kind to the drive train. If time permits, a dish scrub brush and a spray bottle of diluted grease cutting dish detergent will really make a difference.
Fat tires and a clean bike makes everyone look better while riding.
FTN
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