There’s nothing quite like the feeling of riding a beach cruiser on a warm summer day. The sunshine, the fresh air, and the gentle breeze make for a perfect day.
But just like any other bike, your beach cruiser requires some maintenance to keep it running smoothly.
If you have a fender on your beach cruiser bike or just your cruiser bike, it makes cleaning much harder because it is hard to remove mud from under the fender.
Cleaning and maintaining your beach cruiser bike is easy and will keep your bike good-looking and functioning great for years to come.
In this article, I will share a few tips on how to clean and maintain your beach cruiser bikes.
Table of Contents
To clean your cruiser bikes all you need is:
Water (obviously)
Shampoo for foam
Sponge or cotton cloth
Lubricate oil
Cleaning your bike is simple don’t make it complicated by worrying about which is the best lubricating oil for your bike, to be honest, your any lube oil will do it but it is always recommended you use lube oil that is meant for bicycles.
4 steps to clean your bike
Step 1 :
Take a dry cotton cloth and scrub off grease from the bike chain and cog, this is important because when you pour water into your bike the grease becomes more sticky, and it will be hard to remove after you pour water into it.
Not only grease but try to scrub off any dry mud that is sticking to your wheel and under the fender if you have it on your bike.
First cleaning from a dry cloth will help you to clean off easily after you pour water onto your bike.
So clean your bike with a dry cloth before you pour water.
Step 2:
Rinse off your bike with fresh water. This will remove salt, sand, and other debris that can damage your bike.
And don’t forget to splash water under the fender if you have it.
You can add a little bit of shampoo to the water to get the foam, if you don’t want to then water will do it too.
This will rinse off the mud, dust, dirt, and debris from your bike and all this will come off easily, pour water on your bike and leave it for a minute or 2.
Step 3:
Take a sponge or cotton cloth to clean your bike to wash the mud and dirt off the bike.
Start to Scrub gently on your bike, if you have too much mud remove the wheels of the bike and the fender will come off too.
Then it will be easy to clean and remove any dirt from under the fender and grease on the chain and cog as well.
After cleaning with a wet sponge and cloth let it dry for a few minutes.
Step 4:
Lubricate the bike and chain on a regular basis. This will help keep the chain from rusting and will also help for smooth riding, but before you do that
A popular suggestion is that you should lubricate your bike once a month, if you put too much lube on your bike it will become slippery, so try to add lube as little as possible.
If you put too much lubricate on your bike chain, the chain is likely to fall off more often, add an appropriate amount of lube to your bike chain to keep off the rust.
You can buy lubricate oil for cycle from amazon for 10$, you can use it for a couple of months with a single 120 ml bottle.
Now here are some tips on maintaining your bike:
- Routinely clean your bike frame, wheels, and drivetrain with a damp cloth. Use a degreaser for the drivetrain.
- Lubricate your chain after cleaning, and regularly check other bearings (pedals, bottom bracket, headset) for tightness.
- Check your tire pressure often. Fewer tire pressure makes you feel sluggish while pedaling you have to pump appropriate air to your bike tire depending on your body weight and the type of bike you are riding.
- Inspect your brakes before each ride, and make sure they’re not rubbing against the rotor or
You need to clean your bike once every 2 weeks if you use it on a daily basis or it is always better to clean after you had a long ride.
A clean bike will give you a smooth riding experience, especially when you are using curser bikes these bikes are usually heavily weighted you need to lubricate these bikes once every 2 weeks.
Final Thoughts
If you use your bike for commuting, fitness purposes, or recreational use keeping it cleaning smooth is important.
It might be difficult in the beginning, especially if this is the first time you have cleaned and maintained your bikes – but it’ll be worth it!
It is hard to clean your bike every time you had a long ride and you know your bike is dirty but you just feel not cleaning your bike, so this is why the above-mentioned steps to clean and maintain are simple and very easy to follow.