How to Clean Your Bike – Maintenance Series part 1 of 3

*originally posted August 27, 2020 and updated in 2026 with new and improved info. This is also part 1 of our new 3-part bike maintenance series. Stay tuned for part 2 on morning bike safety check and part 3 on cleaning your bike. 

Cleaning your bike is about more than just making it look good. On a long tour, it is essential to keeping your bike in good working order.

Your drivetrain – that is the gears and chain – is the most abused part of your bike. It’s constantly fighting dirt, rain, sand, and thousands of pedal strokes a day. It’s the hardest, but also the most important part of your bike to keep clean.

By the end of this blog, you’ll know how to clean your bike and drivetrain in under 15 minutes. All you need are a few basic tools and a simple method tried and tested by our own tour mechanics.

Why it Matters

A dirty or dry drivetrain wears out fast. Chains, cassettes, and chainrings are expensive and hard to replace when you are on a cycling tour.

Grit acts like sandpaper between your chain and cassette. Meanwhile, applying too much lube without proper cleaning creates a sticky paste that just attracts more dust.

A clean drivetrain means fewer skipped gears, quieter rides, longer component life, and far fewer roadside failures.

What you need

• Hose or water source
• Bucket
• Dish soap
• Tooth brush or scrubbing brush
• 2 Microfiber cloth, towel, or rag for washing the bike
• Chain lube

We’ve broken down the cleaning process into 10 simple steps. Watch the video showing how to proceed, or scroll down if you prefer the written description with pictures.

Rinse your bike

Get the whole bike wet, but be careful not to spray high pressure water into any of the bearing in the wheels, bottom bracket, or headset. Lightly rinse the drivetrain.

Prepare your wash bucket

Put a bit of dish soap into a bucket, and then fill with water.

Wash your bike

Dip your cloth into the soapy water, and use it to wipe down your bike. Start with the less dirty parts like the frame, and then move on to the wheels. Dip the cloth into the soapy water again frequently, and rinse the cloth off if it gets too dirty.

Don’t use the cloth on disc brakes, and don’t clean the drivetrain yet.

Rinse

Quickly rinse the bike, just so that the soap won’t dry while you clean the drivetrain.

Scrub

Dip your brush into the soapy water, and use it to clean any hard to reach areas, like under the downtube, around the derailleurs, and so on. Then you can use the same brush to clean your drivetrain. Use it to scrub the gears and chain, but just quickly, as you will clean these again later on.

Rinse

Rinse the drivetrain, and then rinse the whole bike again in case any dirt or soap was left there. Be sure to lightly rinse the brakes as well.

Dry

Let the bike dry before moving on to the next step. If the sun is out, move the bike to a sunny spot and it will dry quickly. Otherwise let it sit overnight.

Chain lube

Hold the bottle over the chain, and squeeze it very lightly so a slow drip of oil comes out. Spin the pedals while you do this, until the whole chain has a light coating of oil on it. The oil only needs to be on the top or bottom of the chain, not the sides.

Use dry lube on dusty roads, or dry pavement so grit won’t stick to your chain. Switch to wet lube in rain or mud—it stays on in the wet and lasts a bit longer but attracts more grit.

Clean the chain

With a clean microfibre cloth or rag, clean any remaining dirt and excess lube from the chain. Hold the cloth around the chain while you spin the pedals. You can do this first quickly, and then again where you hold the pedals in place, and scrub back and forth on one section of the chain at a time. Move the pedals a bit, and repeat, until you’ve worked your way through the whole length of the chain.

Clean the chainrings and pulley wheels

Wipe off any excess oil from the chainrings. Then clean the pulley wheels. Press the cloth firmly against the pulley while spinning the pedals, but be careful not to catch the cloth in the drivetrain or pinch your fingers.

How Often Should you Clean your Bike?

Not every camp or hotel has access to water, and usually a quick wipe-down after your ride is enough. But as a rule of thumb, and in normal, mostly dry conditions, a full clean-and-relube every three days to a week is more than sufficient.

Listen and feel for cues: chain squeaks or grinding noises, a gritty feeling when back-pedaling, or visible black buildup. Any of those mean it is time for a clean.

Done – now all you have to do is go and ride your bike!

Was this useful? Many of us have our own tips and tricks, so please share yours in the comments below.