I never spray my bike frame, but I do spray off the wheels being careful not to spray the hubs or let water drip into them, and let them air dry. For the frame I let the mud dry,if any, and brush it off with a medium soft handheld floor brush working fom top to bottom not forgetting under the seat. Next I spray the chainrings and front derailleur with GT85 and wipe down with a clean rag. A toothbrush works well for tight spots as does the Park cassette tool, available in a cleaning set with a tire, frame and soft sponge washing brush also. The cassette tool has longer bristles and a curved plastic section with teeth on the other end to get the crud out from the cassette cogs. Toothbrush works well for the front derailleur also. I also remove the front wheel before starting the frame but leave the rear one on. Wipe off the rear deraileur and move to the chain. If it's real dirty I use the Park Chain Scrubber with the Park Chainbrite citrus scented degreaser. It cleans well and your chain will appreciate the fresh citrus smell for what thats worth. If it's not too dirty I fold a clean rag a couple of times over, hold the rag under the chain as I spray the chain with GT85 using the spray nozzle to focus the spray and the pressure on and through the chain. The rag catches any of the spray and keeps from wasting GT85 into the air. Do this to the whole chain by turning the pedals. After that hold the rag over the chain firmly and spin the pedals backwards to clean the chain. Keep turning the rag to clean ares till no dirt is left on the rag. A clean chain is a happy chain! Now I remove the rear wheel and fiish cleaning the rear derailleur including the chain wheels. For the frame I use Furniture polish. My bike shop gave me this valuable tip. I think it works better than car wax and is easier to polish out without leaving wax in those areas that are hard to reach. Apply to a soft rag folded over then wipe down the frame top to bottom. After you finish start back at the top and polish out with a new clean cloth. Also while you have the brake cable loose pull the housings out their holders and let them hang for better access to the frame. Also gives you the oppurtunity to slide the housings down the cables, spray them with GT85, wipe clean, and relube with Tri-flow, then sliding housings up and down again to distribute lube inside the housings. Don't forget to wip off excess lube. If your fork tubes aren't exposed, slide the covers up to expose them, then apply some suspension lube, I use Slick Honey, sparingly to the estauncions with your finger and to the seals and trying to leave a little at that spot where the est. meet the seals. This also works well for rear shocks. Later when you replace the wheels, work the lube into the fork seals by pushing the fork down repeatedly or by riding the bike and compressing the suspension. Don't forget to wipe off excess lube as any left over will attract dirt getting into the seals and causing premature wear. I use furniture polish on the painted surfaces of the wheels, spokes, and hubs and polish them out. For rim brakes use some medium scotchbrite or steel wool. Spray alittle dilutted (50/50) Simple Green onto the wool or scotchbright and scrub the dirt and grime out of the brake wall surfaces, then wipe clean with a clean cloth. I generally onlr do a 1/4 of the wheel before wiping clean and moving on to the mnext section tiil that side of the wheel is done and repeat for the other side. Then wipe down with rubbing alcohol and let air dry. For the rear wheel I repeat the process with the exception of cleaning the cassette. Ilike to use the same mixture of Simple Green, GT85 works but not as well i think, spray the cassette lightly, keeping the wheel on an angle by resting it against something so it doesn't get into tht seals. Have a clean piece of rag about a foot long and maybe 6-8" wide, thin enough to get inbetween the cassette cogs. I like to fold mine in half to give me a sharper edge that goes into the cogs easier. hold the ends of rag and start behind the biggest cog, working it back and forth till it's all the way down to the hub and slide back and forth, keeping pressure against thecog. the cassette will spin one way and stop when you pull it back cleaning the cog, continue till clean. Then move to inbtween each cpr repeating the same action, only while pulling the rag through keep pressure up withone hnd and pushing down with the other. This will clean both sides of the cogs you are inbetween. Repeat until clean. Before you put the wheels on take a clean piece of scotchbrite and scrub your brake pads then wipe them off with rubbing alchohol (slightly moistened not dripping wet) on a clean rag. For those with discs, use a clean rag to wipe inbetween the brake pads. Often overlooked but it's amazing how much dirt you can get off your pads this way. If your rotors are dirty scocthbrite lightly(uaually you don't have to do this as the pads pick up all the dirt) and then clean with rubbing alcohol and let dry. This will usually solve all noisy brake problems, pads or discs, with the exception of misaligned rim brakes. Back to the chain, once the wheels are back on I lube the chain with Dumonde chain lube taking time to lube each barrel from side to side covering the whole link. If you don't have a removable link in your chain for a starting and stopping point you can make a mark on your chain with a sharpie. Then spin backwards 30-40 times slowly letting the lube sink in. I like to leave the lube on overnight if possible but if your going to ride soon, I take my fingers and lightly squeze the top and bottom of the chainwhile pedaling back slowly so as not to catch your fingers then do the same thing to the sides of the chain. This completely covers the whole chin and then wipe off the excess. If you want to lube your shifter cables, put the chain on the biggest cog then pull the trigger till it's at it's futherest shift stop. The cable will now be loose enough to take the housings out of their stops, slide them down the cables and lube just like the brake cables. Just don't shift the triggers again until you have replaced the housings to their regular places as this will make it harder to replace the housings. Wow, sorry this was so long, my fingers are tired!!
