| If are riding your mountain bike as it was designed to | | | | ask someone at a bike shop to show you how, or |
| be used, almost certainly it will eventually come home | | | | get a tune-up and make sure that they take a few |
| covered with mud. Here's some good advice on | | | | minutes to teach you about chain lubrication so that |
| cleaning it. As most people know, mud comes off | | | | you can do it yourself in the future. |
| most easily when still wet. If you can, hose off the | | | | It's important that your bike does not remain wet for |
| bike right away. Otherwise the mud will soon dry to | | | | long. You want to avoid rust at any cost since once |
| a hard crust. In some cases, it will just flake off. In | | | | it starts, it's very difficult to overcome. If you are |
| other cases, it will be very hard to get off. You can | | | | not confident in your own bike maintenance abilities, |
| try taking your bike to a self serve car wash where | | | | it may be worth your time to get a tune-up and |
| you can use a pressure washer to blast off the | | | | have the bike professionally cleaned. This may not |
| caked on dirt. | | | | seem inexpensive, but will almost certainly be very |
| One important part of cleaning up the bike is to | | | | cheap compared to replacing your bike! In summary, |
| lubricate the chain afterwards. Most people don't do | | | | getting your bike all muddy is just fine since it was |
| this and it contributes to a dramatically shorter | | | | designed to withstand that, but it's your responsibility |
| lifespan for both the chain and the gears. If you've | | | | to take care of cleaning it after to make sure that |
| never lubricated a chain before, it's not a bad idea to | | | | your bike remains in good condition. |