Nothing quite like jumping on a squeaky clean fresh bike that’s ready to smash up the trails is there? Hope you’re all good, let me know your cleaning tips below 👊
This is the best “how to clean your EMTB” RU-vid tutorial I’ve seen that avoids promoting named brands. Well done Rob! I get all of my cleaning utensils and consumables from either my local motor factors (degreaser etc) and one pound shop. When Aldi and Libl put on one of their bike specials (GT85 and lube) I grab a bargain along with my regular shop and save myself a truck load of money.
This is probably the first bike cleaning vid i have seen where someone doesn't use a brush on the frame , well done . Another option for the casette would be painting brushes from your local hardware store they have longer bristles and maybe an old toothbrush for the chain and jokeywheels .
using a brush ca damage the paint if you scrape the sand,dirt,rocks off, bad idea, that's why you let the cleaner do it's job, and carefully rinsing it off, only using brush where necessary, I got protective stickers on from All mountain style, so for those areas I can just brush it off if I want to. but my bike gets scraped off by the gravel and stand that on the icy,snowy bike paths in addition to me riding on gravel paths, ski tracks, and trough rough terrain and roads, so protecting paint with vinyl wrap is a good idea, and all mountain style of high risk areas, like top tube, down tube, for chain stays, seat stays.
Great Vid....just picked up my new ebike and have been hammering it.....cached in mud just the way it should be....after a wash down i pulled out the stihl petrol blower which worked a treat on getting the water out afterwards.
Love your work. I'm new to EMTB's and find your info very helpful on here and the forum .Its thanks to people like you I'm confident enough to take a punt and have now ordered one Many thanks.
Well done Rob! Quick cleaning. I have problems with getting my chain grease free before I re-lube it. I use the Finish Line chain cleaner and some WD-40 and it still has a residue. Also clean jockey wheels, etc, seems like there is residue lingering somewhere I cannot see. Cheers Rob!
On my 2017 Levo for a full clean I always remove both wheels so I can clean them properly, especially the derailleur and jockey wheels. I also remove the battery after cleaning it so i can properly clean and dry the battery itself and the housing area.
I have never needed that, but sure makes cleaning wheels faster, but not the whole process, but I have done it when only wheels ere dirt and had to work on my bike, hub, cassette and so on or swap wheels. I got my cleaning process dialled pretty well so I can clean the whole bike in few minutes.
Great video with a lot of really useful advice. I'm also a bit obsessed with my tyres, having ridden too many times over dog crap on the trails I regularly use. I therefore include a routine for cleaning the tyre treads, which on my 2016 Turbo Levo with 3" wide 6Fattie boots can be a bit of challenge!
2:50 I recommend Finish line Grunge brush instead, it's much faster & easier to use, also bristles last a long time, I got spare set but not used it yet, been using it for years.
Thanks for the video Rob as I did get some good tips. I'm waiting for a Dillinger street legal kit which I will install on a BMC alpinechallange AC02 to take the edge of some hill climbs around home in Melbourne's east. Many videos warn about getting the e-bike wet and this is my only concern as I also ride in all weather conditions. Seeing your video has eased my concerns. I clean my bike after most rides and have a carbon drive system which avoids a lot of maintenance. The belt and sprockets are easy to wash and require no lubricant. I have been using dishwashing detergent so will stop this and get car wash. I also will get some silicone spray as well. Nothing better for me than a long ride on a clean well maintained bike to re-set all of your worries and extremely excited to soon have my first E-Bike!
My stand is already maxed out with just my Trek Police eMTB so I leave the battery out. I am just careful not to direct spray into the open downtube of a Bosch battery system. I use a battery-powered yard blower to dry it off. I like my eMTB looking nice! It costs enough... LOL!
I can highly recommend a dog dryer (don’t buy a motorbike one, they are the same but have a massive premium on them). You get different attachments and can get all that moisture out of the little nooks and crannies.....
I spray Muc off cleaner(not saying it's the best cleaner, just what I got my hands on), let it work in 5 minutes, then I come back, after I taken my dirt clothing off, then brush and rinse off the whole bike using the right brushes for the job, every thing gets brushed and cleaner takes few minutes but sure not 15 minutes, then I hang the bike in the repair stand and dry it with a rag/old t shirt. I clean my bike in the shower, it might get -15 in few days so no good idea to clean bike outside ahah.
Great video mate, I uploaded a video on my channel regarding cleaning my bev so this really helped me out. I keep my new ebike looking fabulous it gets more attention and that's helping spread the word about them as I've had a lot of people ask what it is ;) Cheers
I would first give the bike a quick hose rinse and then start what he is doing, however I would start at the top and work my way down. Finish with a quick rinse, dry, and lube.
Great video, will improve my cleaning. Only thing, you didn’t use any diluted Fenwick - just neat for chain. What would you use diluted for? Also, when spraying cassette would you consider covering disks to avoid contamination? Thanks
I saw that too. Had to take a few deep breaths. Definitely put a barrier between the two when spraying the dirty cassette and try spraying down towards the ground onto a rag. Very critical step the barrier
Hi Rob, sensible cleaning video 👍 Would recommend using the silicone spray where mud usually sticks, makes things better on the trail and come cleaning.
Couple of comments, with anything involving bearings such as freehubs, add the degreaser to the brush, not the component. Degreaser will find it’s way through to them otherwise. Also you didn’t mention the rear mech lock out which is really handy for cleaning the jockey wheels.
Very good video, like all of yours. But... On a dirt bike there is a battery, a electric starter motor, many wire an sensors etc. And i can't imagine to clean without high pressure washer! Soo i think ebikes should be much much more water resistant.
Well, yes - I did this whole piece this way on purpose in front of the camera to demonstrate it. Would have been a bit crap if I didn’t talk and you just watched me clean my bike, right?!
I have a 2020 turbo levo and back pedalling with an allen key jammed in the chain ring (to clean chain) makes the bike turn itself on and generates a motor error is this bad for the bike
How long did that take? That bike was just slightly dirty, I get far worse mudcaking on mine sometimes. Not sure I want waste hours and hours of my life cleaning a bike like it's a toddler.
Good informative video, I've gone ahead and ordered a lot of these products. I'm curious though, would you not use the Fenwicks cleaner to clean all the bike instead of using the car shampoo ?
I was wondering just the same. Also, forgive my ignorance but does anyone know what negative effect would be caused by using a car shampoo and wax (I have Meguiar's Ultimate Car Wash & wax in my garage)? I can make guesses based on basic assumptions, but has anyone used a wax based shampoo and experienced issues?
Nice Rob , I noticed you reviewed the Orbea Wild FS but you didn’t actually buy one , do you prefer the Specialized ebikes to the Orbea or are you sponsored by Specialized ?
I'm thinking of getting the specialized turbo tero 3.0 I see on the manual it says not to use a hose to wash it do you think it's just specialized covering themselves???
Still using brushes, that so yesterday, use C18 truck wash and a bit of degreaser. Just need to hose off the mud, spray the rear mech and chain with degreaser, spray the remainder of the bike with truckwash. Wait 10 minutes as hose off, all done....relube the chain. Perfect result no dirt haze remaining and no brushing.
All good stuff Rob except for the battery advice. If any of the seals between the battery terminals and the motor fail the water will get in! At that point the battery will short and burn the bike, and the building it is in, down! Always take the battery out before doing any maintenance on an Ebike, a simple lapse will see your fingers removed when the motor comes to life unexpectantly !
That's fine, but with 43 years of experience with electricity and batteries I would take the safe route and remove the battery! No battery, no power source, no incident, no issue, no damage, no injury.
Trail parks and on the moors , the same as what I’ve seen you do , It can’t be right surely I go out with other lads one has a cube and the other has a trek there’s are fine .i went back to the bike shop and they said they can wear down fast but I’m only getting a couple of bike rides out of it .
Hello, I have the same bike and i do the same that you show in the video, but it doesn’t start and I have to wait for 2 days and then the bike start. Can it be that the connections in my motor are lose? What can i do to protect my motor from water ? I kwon that dielectric grease is a good way to keep water away but, where i have to put the grease? I realy hope you can help me. Regards
about time someone, showed somthing regarding value for money, was not impressed with that it turned all my switch gear a milky grey colour ,, and that was following the instructions to a t,, either way will give this product a bash ,,, cheers shane uk
Hi bro Why u clean chain first and after that u start cleaning frame ? It make no sense to me. Because when u start cleaning frame, all dirty stuff comes into chain again.
Chain and gears are the dirtiest. Filled with oil and lube. Clean all that crap off first. Frame only contains mud and will run off the clean chain with clean water. If you cleaned the frame first you’ll get oil splatter all over it when you clean the chain.
rinse them off with water, brush stuff off in the shower, then you can clean it in the washing machine on hand wash cycle, with special cleaner, read the recommendations by the brand. Toko has cleaner for washing Technical clothing, they got cleaner for wool too. that's what I use. but there are other brands out there, I don't remember them all at the moment.
Strange because water and oil are no friends....maybe with compressor and a point blower the chain dries faster, after all when you buy a bike that power and your power the drivetrain need great service. Btw miracle shine of mucoff is great for a shinny bike and easier to clean. But still great vids Rob!
@@albertfranqui3598 Agree, I use a compressor to blow water off the chain. Although I have dried it thoroughly with a towel (i thought), to my surprise a lot of water is blown off...
I have a Karcher commercial hot and cold water pressure washer to clean my bikes and then follow up with chain lube etc.....any downsides using a hot wash?
I spray the whole bike in cleaner, and of course the cleaner is diluted with water, so I spray it on directly all over the bike, tyres too, takes few seconds to do, you are doing it in an inefficient way.
Hey! Thanks for the video. I am an mtb rider and just bought my first e-bike (so much fun!!!!) I was wondering the washing would change from my mtb and find your video. Thanks a lot!! Check my instagram #chasingbarkingtrails
this is so disorganized, inefficient, makes no sense, but good tip about cleaning drivetrain first, but you sohuld have everything ready when cleaning not do this then clean it do that clean it that's takes up a lot of unnecessary time by walking and moving around. also moving talking to the camera takes up time, so if you did everything efficiently you would do it much faster maybe under 10 min.
You forgot to mention to cover you rotors customer if you get anything from your chain on to your rotors that means some new pads . Well that's how I do it . But thanks for your videos. Kiss kiss 💋🤣
Ok love this channel and this is the first negative thing for me. I’m not going to do war and peace just my thoughts. Never clamp your dropper Post by it’s coated moving part. Don’t use gt or wd as a lube, it is only a dewater spray. Don’t spray it near bearings. It’s low viscosity and seeking characteristic is designed to get in to bearings to free them. It is not lube and will cause grease to wash out After you lube stantions compress the forks and clean off the dirty ring left, if you are a detail person you can lift the seal and clean under there.. After lubing a chain don’t wipe it off (not yet) , rotate the chain to allow the oil to migrate in to the core of the chain. I do 30 revs and wipe off before the next ride. Great point about the wipe off btw, For me I prefer to take my chain off but using the great park tool cleaner twice is best. Drop a single drop of oil on the brake lever pivots. I do not recommend spraying any silicone because to get it to the correct Viscosity to spray it is diluted heavily with solvent. It is the solvent that will attack your seals which is why I use one that is a dropper and if i ever use a spray it must be guaranteed to not attack seals Don’t be tempted to use a compressor to dry your bike. The seals move under pressure and water will be forced in, Good tip, screw fix non solvent based cleaner for degreasing is good and it can be diluted too 8-10 gbp for 5 litres. Online 5 litres of isopropanol is about £20 and last for ever. Use it to wash out a Tesco antibacterial spray bottle super cheap disc spray. I stick show caps over my disc ( geek) to stop over spray and splash whilst doing the grease bits Great channel , keep it up👍
Useful video. Would love more close up shots and more details, though, for each of the steps. How long do the brushes typically last you - do you buy a new one each time? My brushes get pretty dirty and then not sure if it's helping when I reuse them or making it worse! Old toothbrushes very useful and can be disposed of each time.
don't spray directly into motor..... empties sponge full of water onto it haha... not sure why manufacturers make an ebike then you can't really clean it..its a mtb. its going to plastered love your vids, keep it up
Great video! I have a concern about contaminating the rear brake when cleaning my bike. Do you treat the brakedisc in any way? Or check it? Anyway, great video!
Thanks Stefan. I try to shield the disc with the cloth to protect from any contamination. Worst case if it does get contaminated you can use a cleaner to remove it (before riding otherwise pads can get contamination then they’ll likely need changing!).
Good video, like the Alan key tip. I personally use a good quality degreaser in the chain cleaner (Crankalicious) then to save money and the planet store the waste in a container that once full I filter it through a coffee filter / funnel for reuse (Filters are pennies and a funnel ~£1). You'll probably get a water layer in the bottom but can syringe it out with a tube on a syringe….. Make sure you thoroughly wash off the degreaser from the chain. A good strong degrease followed by a good rinse after each ride and your chain will last much longer especially if your riding XX1 etc considering the costs involved. Grunge Brushes are fantastic final go overs of the chain and the C brush on it fits around your rear derailleur cogs to clean both sides simultaneously. Already plugged Crankalicious but their "Madame Palm" hand socks are easily better than sponges for the frame and you can get into everywhere your fingers can go. Also a bucket with a scratch guard built in if you want to keep your frame as good as possible (those Petrol Heads know a thing or two about keeping paintwork looking good). I use Purple Extreme as it doesn't gunk up and IMO avoid that Ceramic crap it's useless on MTBs. You only need oil in the rollers so the best technique is to spend the 1 to 2 minutes it takes dabbing each link individually, then spin the chain to work it in and wipe of the excess. If you've done the above properly your wipe off should be clean, if its dirty that just chain wear right out of the gate. If I can be bothered i'll use Cranks Enduro Polish on the frame as it helps cleaning the next time around and makes you really inspect your bike for damage etc. If you ride different places make sure you clean your bike thoroughly including wheels, tyres and details as you can spread diseases between forests... so if you like forest riding with trees in them then spend some time cleaning your bike properly including the details.
I cut a disc from a 0.8mm plastic sheet that I slide between the rear rotor and spokes to protect the brake from overspray etc when cleaning my drivetrain.
If you have a Levo, don’t use water to clean the bike, use a stiff brush to shift dried on dirt. If you must use water, don’t get a drop within six inches of the motor otherwise the motor will die a few days after warranty ends, in a puff of rusty bearings and corroded electrical connections.
Good Video, try, Screwfix no nonsense degreaser for your park chain cleaner, works much better than the fenwicks. I keep my fenwicks in a plant sprayer, £6.99 and use this for my car wheels, bottoms of doors etc too. Great for so much more than bike and speeds up the bike cleaning process too, i have to use jetwash with Vario lance as my water pressure is poor, this is a good tip. £24 for the karcher one from Halfords.
Hey Rob, I love your channel dude. I was bummed I missed your live stream. I am also a member of EMTB Forums. Quick question: What pads to you recommend for my 2020 YT Decoy Pro 29? I ride pretty aggressive downhill and do a lot of jumping. But I still do the occasional trail ride. I worry about the over heating on long steep descends because of the 50lb bike and I weigh about 210lbs. I also entertained the idea of different pads for front and rear. Thoughts?
I scored!!! I had just watched EMBN's two videos on cleaning and was looking for one just like yours. I was sure there had to be more economical product lines compared to Muc-Off. I have yet to clean my ebike. I just got it at the beginning of December ('22) and since I only commute on pavement, it isn't very dirty. Thanks
Good vid. I found an old flathead screwdriver held up against the jockey wheels as you rotate the chain scrapes off so much horror so precisely, quickly too. I do it first thing after every winter ride out. It's satisfying to look at all the greasy black crud coming away. Keep the driver in me bucket with the rest of the cleaning gear. boom!
My local bike shop, in Dingwall, does a muck off refill for £5 so you can reuse the bottle and save money. If they can do it then why can't Tescos etc. The cants.
One additional step I take is put a little lube on the pedals. It is awfully dry and dusty where I ride so pedals can cease up if you don't. Thanks for the vid.
Great video and I love your channel - I’ve learnt everything about e-bikes. The only negative is that now I HAVE to get an e-bike and I primarily blame you for that. I remember seeing somewhere to keep degreaser off the brake pads or they get ruined so I have a product that Velcro’s around the rotors and brakes to keep them from getting that on. Also I first bounce the bike on the ground then also use a leaf blower to get water off before wiping it down. That is on my regular stumpjumper.