What's your bike cleaning routine during the winter?

[PurpleDandelions]

This is the first year that I've made a real effort to keep cycling during the winter and I've realised I need to make more effort to keep my bike in better condition. The roads round here are awful at the moment and my gears and chain are getting badly clogged up.

Any thoughts on the best way to keep my bike running ok without wasting too much cycling time? What is really important to do regularly? How often? Any kit to make it easier?

I got one of these, currently ￡1.77
a.aliexpress.com/_ms1ug9T but they have mixed reviews. Aimed to wash chain weekly, dry and re oil. I wish I could say I did weekly, more often monthly (this was commuting 20 miles 4 days a week in Pre Covid world). Most springs I would get a service and with it new chain/cogs.

Handy tip I've just read is to give chain a wipe after each ride. NOT replacing washes BUT takes a lot of grime off between rides and only takes a minute or two.
Youtube is stuffed with videos on keeping drive trains clean. The 'bath' that has the chain running through it works very well for cleaning purposes.

Watching

DH washes them.. he's far fussier than me
If I wash them soap gets in the bearings & they get soap in wrong places & need an expensive trip to the bike shop for a complete rebuild of cassetts or bottom brackets
He uses plain soap & water, insists this is always fine. And a brush like this.
He has a small hotplate in the garage so the water isn't freezing.

Thanks. A quite wipe down each ride seems like a good plan while the roads are so filthy. Except on the days that I can't feel my fingers when I get back!

DH got me one of those chain cleaning gadgets a few years ago, but I confess it hasn't got much use.

Honestly it hadn't occurred to me to to the cleaning at the end of a ride instead of before the next one. But it's obviously quicker to do it before the mud dries.
I'm just so blimmin cold when I get home these days all I want to do is get inside for a cup of tea and a bath.

Surely that’s what winter bikes are for?! 🙈😂 Seriously though... spray (very light fine water jet) all over to get muck off as soon as I get back. It’s particularly important if the roads are salted as that stuff eats your components. Then I’ll GT85 the springs and pivots of the rear mech and spring on front mech. GT85 the pivots on the break callipers. Wipe the chain with a rag and reapply lube (I use a wet lube on my winter bike). Once a month or so I’ll give it a more thorough clean using a chain cleaning tool and degreaser. I’ll also use a cassette brush and degreaser on the cassette and dry it with a rag like I’m flossing between the cogs. Then check chain, brake pad and tyre wear at the same time. At the end of the winter season (once it’s best bike time), my bike will go in for new cables and a once over. I can do all the basics myself (like changing cables) but I do it so infrequently it takes ages, so it’s just more time efficient to pay!

our bikes are outside all year and we use them almost daily to get about (no car).

only thing we do is getting them to the workshop for maintenance once a year.
perhaps a drop of oil if something is squeaky.

@redcandlelight I was the same until I discovered how much faster my bike goes for the same effort when it's not clogged up with mud. Most of my cycling is pretty rural and the roads around here are filthy.

Last thing you want is a mechanical you can’t fix/ bodge on the road side in the middle of nowhere with no phone reception though... so well worth looking after the bike. Once you’ve had a gear cable go on a hilly rainy ride, you make sure it never happen again!!

I give my bike a quick clean after virtually every ride whatever time of year.
My routine is to spray the drivetrain with degreaser as soon as I get home, then go in and make a cup of tea and get the rest of the cleaning stuff out. Doing it in that order gives the degreaser time to be soaking in whilst I'm having my cuppa.
Then I do a quick wash down with hot water with a detergent - I use Muc Off's pink stuff. If I've been off road I do sometimes use the hosepipe to get the worst of the mud off first. I do the saddle (don't forget underneath) first then the frame and handlebars all with a sponge, then I use a brush for the wheels.
Then I do the drive train. I do have a chain cleaner but I don't use it every time as its a bit fiddly and uses loads of degreaser. More often than not I just give everything a scrub with a brush. An old toothrush is good for getting between chain links and for getting at the jockey wheels.
Then when that's done I get a clean bucket of water and sponge and rinse everything off before giving it a quick dry with an old towel and puttingit away. It takes about 10 -15 mins and is well worth it to minimise component wear and keep everything looking nice. As noodle so rightly says, salt and grit can be very damaging to components, particularly the drive train, so it is worth doing at least a quick wash straight away after a ride. I find that it's easier to do it right away, before I've warmed up and had a shower as once I'm warm and clean I really don't want to go back out to wash my bike.
I also do a more thorough clean about once a month and check things like chain wear and brake pads at the same time.