I have a certain compulsion for clean bikes. It’s not a major issue, but I do find myself feeling rather agitated when I see someone with a dirty bike. To be specific, I’m not so bothered about a mucky frame and wheels – that can easily be dealt with by a bucket of soapy water and a sponge.
What irks me more is a dirty, greasy drivetrain full of crud. The drivetrain is where the power from the rider’s legs is transmitted through the pedal cranks to turn a chain and is converted into speed and torque via the gears and thus driving the bike forward.
So, in purely practical terms, a dirty drivetrain means a less efficient conversion of power into speed. Many riders spend an absolute fortune on their bike and in particular the pedal, gear and chain combination, trying to eke out a few more watts of power to give them an advantage over their fellow riders, usually in the uphill battle against gravity.
This quest is negated and often undermined by the grit and grime stuck to gears and chains. At best it will slow the rider down, but over time it will actually reduce the lifespan of that expensive equipment.
That’s the practical part, but aesthetically, you may have the most expensive bike in the world, but a greasy chain and gears makes it look like a ‘tuppenny hack’. Such riders are also easy to spot in the local cafe with the tell-tale sign of an oily imprint of their front chainring, the ubiquitous cyclist’s tattoo, on their right leg calf muscle.
The prevalence of biodegradable cleaning materials and lubricants, as well as a plethora of how-to videos on line really means there is no excuse. I know full well that you may be reading this and thinking “so what” and you would be right, to a certain extent.
It really doesn’t matter if your chain is filthy as long as long as the wheels still turn and your steed takes you where you want to go. And it certainly doesn’t matter if it annoys me. However, as a young cyclist, with a dad who was a racing cyclist, I was brought up to look after my bike and that also meant making sure it was clean and worked properly.
I knew that my parents had scraped their earnings together to pay for my Raleigh Racer. So when my friends, from a running dismount, let go of their bikes leaving them to career uncontrolled into the bushes, I carefully dismounted and leaned my bike against the nearest tree before running off to play on the swings. That schooling has given me a discipline that has indelibly left me with a respect for my bike.
I am on the receiving of some lighthearted ribbing from friends and work colleagues. My need for a clean drivetrain has led me to the point that I enjoy cleaning bikes. When guiding and in charge of a fleet of hire bikes at the end of a wet day in the saddle day the bikes will arrive at the hotel filthy, with brake-pad residue running down the forks and the chain looking like it has been painted black, but I take pride in the job I have ahead of me. Leave them with me for an hour or so and I can have that fleet of bikes looking like they have just been delivered from the showroom floor. It pleases the clients who are riding them the next day, but more so, it gives me a warm and fuzzy sense of satisfaction.
Where to ride: Highland Wildcat Trails Golspie, Sutherland
Terrain: Off road mountain bike trails
Description: OS Landranger 1:50000 Map: 17
Start at: Golspie town centre NC833 001 for the red and black trails
Start at: NC839 013 for the Green and Blue trails
Distance: Various
Description: The trails around Golspie are a great network of purpose built off-road trails on Ben Bhraggie. Although a bit of a journey for many, they are worth visiting and feature the longest descent in the UK from the summit of Ben Bhraggie (1300’ to sea-level) – and the longest technical single-track climb. The trails do feature something for everyone, from the Green (easy) graded Pict’s Path through to the Black (severe) which offers some “full-on” technical climbing over ½ km as it leaves the treeline.
