Bike cleaning is an essential component of a regular bicycle maintenance routine. A clean bike looks better, runs more smoothly, and lasts longer. All bikes are made up of many moving parts (especially the drivetrain), meaning that the mud, dust, or debris that catches in these areas can cause rapid deterioration of efficiency and faster wearing. […]
10 to 20 minutes? More like 8 hours for me, but I guess that kinda comes with the territory of maintaining a nearly 45 year old antique…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP2ZRLeRdR0
For me, a proper bicycle cleaning involves a 90% teardown and rebuild, including cleaning and regreasing every single bearing on it, including the freewheel. The only parts I don’t tend to bother with disassembly are the spokes, unless perhaps one or more is broken or the rim is somewhat warped.
That sounds incredibly overkill if I’m going to be perfectly honest
Its been used and abused as a BMX flatland rider since I got it around 1997, I crack ball bearings and sometimes other parts…
So yeah, nearly full teardown and rebuild (and spare bearings and such) are necessary for a full proper maintenance + cleaning.
Honestly, these days it needs more than that, now it needs a welding machine plus probably a few custom made braces to tend to various stress cracks.
The frame is a 1981 Mongoose Supergoose, pretty much everything else is custom from various scrap parts.