Cleaning your bike isn’t a luxury, It’s a necessity. Firstly, it just works better, and secondly, you’ll be able to spot any possible problems with your bike before they get out of hand — you can even clean your bike and do a bike tune up all in the same day.

With all its fine moving parts and components, cleaning your bike is not as simple as just soaping down your bike and washing it off. Many of those parts require grease or lubricants, so you can put that high-pressure hose down. Also be sure to have enough time to lubricate your bike after you clean it. It’s part of the bike cleaning routine.

If you’re new to all of this, don’t run away just yet! Once you obtain the necessary materials and set up your bike cleaning area, it will quickly become an easy routine.

In this article, we’ll explain how to clean a bike in just 8 basic steps. After you get the hang of things, you’ll be able to complete the whole process in just 15 minutes or so.

1. Set up your work area and materials

You need:

• two buckets of soapy water
• at least 2 clean sponges (old dish sponges will work)
• bottle brushes
• scrub brushes
• a big soft square-head brush for your wheels
• clean rags
• a hose
• dish soap
• degreaser

Using a workstand will make it much easier on your back and allow you to reach all of the parts of your bike. If you don’t have a workstand, you can also suspend it over a taut clothesline. Don’t have a clothesline either? Okay, try to MacGyver another setup to get your bike off the ground.

You can also remove your wheels before cleaning.

2. Cleaning a bike chain

Cleaning a bike chain is one of the most vital steps of caring for your bike, since it has to stay lubricated in order to work properly. If you’ve ever tried to ride a bike with a horribly rusted-out chain, you know what we mean.

To clean a bike chain, first apply a degreaser. Turn the cranks backward, allowing the degreaser to get on every link of the chain. Let the degreaser sit on the chain for 5-10 minutes — you can go inside and relax while you wait. Then come back and gently rinse the chain with water.

If the chain is extra grimy and needs something extra, you can apply small drops of dish soap and grip the chain inside a rough sponge. Keep the sponge steady while you rotate the cranks several times. Then rinse again.

In addition to lubricating your bike chain during every wash, you should also lubricate your chain whenever it squeaks or appears to be dry. If your bike frequently gets wet, lubing it more often will prevent it from getting rusty.

You can also buy a chain-cleaning device for exceptionally dirty chains.

If your bike chain needs replacing, check out our selection of chains.

3. Washing a bike frame

Next up is the frame itself.

First, hose your bike down with a low stream of water, or dip one of your sponges in a bucket full of soapy water and squeeze it all over the bike. Again, you don’t want to use a high-powered hose on your bike frame.

Let the water sit for a bit before you touch the bike with your sponge. This allows the dirt to loosen a bit and prevents scratching the paint.

Then use a clean sponge to clean the bike, working from top to bottom. Avoid using a rough or abrasive sponge on your frame, since you’re likely to mess up the paint.

Afterward, rinse your bike with clean, non-soapy water.

4. Cleaning a drivetrain

Follow the same process as for the frame, but use a separate sponge to prevent the grime and grease from the drivetrain from spreading to the frame. You should also use a separate bucket of soapy water.

It’s also a good idea to use a stiff brush dipped in soapy water to clean the chainrings and the various crevices around the teeth, pulleys and rings. You can use a thin screwdriver to dislodge any major build-ups or deposits, then continue cleaning with the sponge as usual.

Afterward, rinse again with clean water.

5. Scrubbing your wheels

Lastly, you’ll want to clean your wheels. You can use a bigger, softer brush here, so you’ll be able to quickly go over the surface of the wheels without having to worry about every nook and cranny individually.

For the wheels, you can use the same bucket of soapy water that you used for the frame. Start at the valve and then scrub all the way around the wheel. Don’t forget to scrub the spokes and the hub of the wheel as well. Flip the wheel over and repeat.

6. Taking care of your brakes

Different types of brakes require slightly different procedures.

For disc brakes (common on mountain bikes), you can use the soft side of a (new, clean) sponge, dip it in soapy water, and clean the rotors while cleaning your wheels.

For standard rim brakes (common on road bikes), use the abrasive side of a sponge and clean the brake pads while cleaning the frame. Rubbing alcohol or lighter fluid can help remove any rubber deposits.

Lubricating a bike doesn’t end with your chain — you should also lubricate your brake and derailleur levers, cables and assemblies, while being careful to keep the lubricant away from the brake pads.

Need replacements? Check out our bike brakes.

7. Give your bike some TLC

Different specific steps are necessary for different types of frames, as well as for different riding routines. You will likely need to individualize your bike cleaning routine a bit depending on how often you ride your bike, how often it gets wet and/or muddy, and the starting condition of your parts.

Cleaning your bike is the perfect time to inspect it for any wear and tear. Being aware of the state of your bicycle’s many moving parts will far lessen the chance that you’ll be surprised by a sudden squeaking chain or worn-out wheel.

Taking your bike in for an occasional bike tune up will further ensure that your bike stays ready for the road or trail, but you can also complete a bike tune up yourself after cleaning.

8. Finish up

After cleaning your bicycle, reattach the wheels and dry your bike with a dry cloth. You can also pat it dry and let it air-dry in the sun to save some time.

You’re done!

Congratulations — you now have a clean bike. Pat yourself on the back, have a cold one, and take your spotless bike out for a spin.

Now that you know how to clean a bike, there’s no excuse for letting your bike go into a state of disrepair. The materials necessary for bike washing are not costly, and they pay for themselves by keeping your bike parts usable for longer.

Shop The House for Bike Parts.

God gave us BMX for wheelies and bike play. But we’re lacking.

We’ve all attempted a few half-hearted wheelies? We’re cruising with buddies, cracking jokes—life is grand. Then we make the attempt. We pull on the bars, lean back for a wheelie, and our tire barely gets off the ground. Reality sucks. So let’s change that. The BMX bike you ride was made for greatness. It’s time to up your game and learn the BMX wheelie. All you need to dominate this basic BMX trick is a few good pointers, confidence in your method, and quality alone time with your BFF BMX.

What you need for a Wheelie

Bike: If you’re reading this article, you probably already have a BMX bike. Unlike regular bikes, BMX bikes offer a tremendous amount of customization and personality. It helps to keep this in mind as you practice the wheelie. It’s in their nature, and your given right to learn the wheelie. Freestyling on a BMX bike is an amazing feeling that rewards hard work and persistence with style, finesse, and steez. If you do not own a BMX, no fear, these directions apply towards a regular bike as well. While it may not be as easy or styling, any bike with two wheels can pop wheelies. But you might need to adjust your seat a little lower – the higher the seat the more difficult the trick.

Helmet: Protect the melon, especially if you are just starting to learn wheelies. You can never be too safe. You’re probably going to fall once or twice (part of the sport), and if you want to be able to get back up and try again, you might as well buckle that strap.

Gloves: Gloves are optional when riding BMX. I personally wear them because scratching my palms is quite annoying. Any pair that protects your palms and easily lets you grip the handlebars will do.

Luckily, there isn’t much else you need. It may not come easily at first, but if you practice with persistence and determination, you will be doing wheelies in no time. Oh, and give yourself time. Remember, you are here to master the wheelie.

Steps to Learning a BMX Wheelie

1. Start biking at a comfortable speed while sitting and standing. Do not go too slow because controlling the bike will become too difficult. You want to be able to roll at least 40-60 feet without pedaling.

2. Pop the wheel off the ground a few inches while you move around. Do this a few times to get a sense of the weight of the bike and learn some basic bike handling skills.

3. Keep your knees level over the pedals. If you turn your legs out too much you can develop bad balance habits.

4. Shift all of your bodyweight as far backward as you can. Try to get your rear end past the seat towards the back wheel. Practice riding like this. This will seem uncomfortable, but this is the weight distribution method necessary to pop a wheelie.

5. After you feel like you have the weight of the bike dialed in, it’s time to give it a try. Pull with your arms on the handlebar. Stand up a bit more on your pedals and keep your weight back. As you pull your weight back push a bit with your feet to compensate for the backward momentum of pulling.

6. Practice doing this until you reach a point where you can ride 5-10 feet without the front wheel touching down. This is called a BMX manual. Congratulations! You’ve just pulled off your first BMX bike trick.

7. If you successfully found your sweet spot, your bike should be at a 40-45 degree angle off of the ground. Keep practicing manuals while your butt is off of the bike.

8. To pop a wheelie on a BMX (compared to a manual), you will be sitting on the bike. The motions are essentially the same as for a manual, except sitting down. Practice finding your sweet spot while sitting on the bike. If you are afraid you will fall, simply push the bike away and stand up on your feet. This is called a successful bail.

9. To actually perform wheelies, the next time you pull up to do a manual, pedal down and do not stop peddling. Find your sweet spot while peddling.

10. Eventually, you will be able to pedal, sit down, and keep your front wheel in the air all at the same time. This is a wheelie on BMX. Tip: Once you’ve mastered the wheelie, practice fluttering your back break a little bit for more control and styling.

Summary:
Lean back, place your body weight behind your seat. Remember, this part is uncomfortable but necessary. Pull up on the handlebars while pedaling with your feet. As you lean back you should be actively finding your sweet spot. Once you’re in the sweet spot, pedal away while pumping your legs to maintain balance.

BMX biking is incredibly fun once you have an arsenal of tricks at your disposal. Many tricks on BMX bikes require knowledge of manuals and wheelies. After practicing what you learned, you’re going to have a great starting spot for many other BMX tricks.

Shop The House selection of BMX Bikes.

Every skatepark has a sign posted that tells you the skatepark’s rules. In addition to a skatepark’s posted rules, there’s also a list of unsaid things that every skater knows not to do when they skate in the park. This is skatepark etiquette, and breaking them is going to anger other skaters. Before we get into the nine things not to do at a skatepark, let’s first lay some ground rules on some skatepark basics before you go tearing up the asphalt terrain.

Ease Into Skating at a Skatepark
Your first time at any new park for skateboarding should involve spending lots of time checking out the park before you skate. You want to get a general vibe of the park before you do any skating. Scope out where the trickiest parts of the park are by skating around the whole perimeter and checking things out.

The first thing that you’ll want to focus on is the actual terrain and layout of the skatepark. Keep in mind that every park is different. At first glance, it might seem like they are basically the same. Most skateparks are completely topped with concrete and have various ramp configurations. But if you look closer, you’ll see some differences. Some parks are more flowing, allowing skaters easy access from one end of the park to the next. Some parks are even arranged like urban street parks. Before you even learn skater etiquette, it’s best to get in touch with what type of parks you like to skate. This allows you to get a feel for the park and the proper etiquette.

Doing a general skate around will help you see which parts of the park are easy for you to skate, and which parts of the skatepark are too demanding for your skating level. Don’t be afraid to stand back and skate with your eyes. Take a look around before jumping in with four on the floor.

Choose a Beginner’s Skatepark if You’re Inexperienced
It will be easiest to learn skating etiquette at a good beginner’s skatepark. The terrain should be mostly smooth with small bowls and ramps. There shouldn’t be any inclines that are too tall. Three feet high is about the maximum height you want to be skating for a beginner’s park. This type of smooth, easy terrain is great for cruising around and perfecting all your basic tricks.

It doesn’t matter how inexperienced you are. As long as you know the basics of skating, you’ll be able to do well at any park with a minimum of steep ramps. A beginning skater can have fun at any sized park. It’s good to look around the entire perimeter of the park so that you can see what you like to skate what you don’t want to skate.

Before you start a run, watch what other people are doing. Compose yourself and take a look around to check the lay of the land. Check out to see if any lines are forming before jumping into a bowl or vert. Pay attention and keep your eyes open.

What Not to Do at a Skatepark

Now that you know some basics, let’s take a look at a few things that you want to avoid so you fit in at your local skatepark.

1. Don’t try to figure out a skatepark during the rush hours.
Guess when the worst time is to try and learn the nuances of a particular skatepark? That would be the early evening and late afternoon hours (or anytime during the weekends). These are the times where the park is full of people. If you’re just getting familiar with skatepark basics, you’re going to end up getting in the way. If you want to have a good time, do yourself a big favor and learn how to skate it before peak hours.

It’s always a good idea to come early. The younger kids are still at school while older adults are still working. If you go early in the morning, you’ll have the skatepark almost all to yourself. The morning AM hours are a good time to practice your various moves and get a feel for how best to use the park.

2. Don’t do flat ground stunts in the middle of a bowl.
Doing little ollie tricks is probably best done in the place that’s flat and unobtrusive. Okay, this is skatepark etiquette 101. But we had to list it. The worst place you can start doing flat ground tricks is in the bottom of a bowl or the bottom of a ramp.

3. Keep your wax to yourself.
A waxed surface might be great for helping you grind out a trick flip, but keep in mind that you’re going to leave a very slippery surface in your wake. What might be just the right amount of slipperiness for you might be something very different for everyone else. It’s understandable that some people need wax to perform their tricks. Try putting some wax on your trucks first to give you a little bit of slide. If that doesn’t give you enough glide, then you can go ahead and wax the ledge directly. But make sure that other skaters are okay with it. And don’t spread your wax all over the grounds of the skatepark. Skaters aren’t going to appreciate the spills created because you’re lax with your wax.

4. Entering a skatepark doesn’t give you wizard powers to do tricks you couldn’t nail on the streets.
Everything is skatable at the skatepark. You will see obstacles that are the same as in the streets. These could be stairs, rails, and ledges. But if you’re not at a level where you can skate these types of obstacles, you shouldn’t try to skate them at the park. A park for skateboarding is going to be a bit safer than the street, but it’s not going to give you any magic abilities that you didn’t have before. Either get there early to practice or stand back and watch some of the more experienced skaters ride those rails and stairs. This is a win-win situation: you’ll stay out of their way while picking up a few tips by watching them.

4. Don’t copy other skater’s tricks.
Don’t get on a skater’s bad side by doing the same stuff they’re doing. And absolutely don’t try to one-up them by trying to do their stunts better than them. Get to know them first, and that will come with time. If you want to do some of the same tricks as them, do it someplace in the skatepark that’s far away from where they performed the trick.

5. Don’t be a snake.
A huge problem with unspoken skatepark rules occurs when people don’t bother waiting their turn. You have to make sure that you don’t snake other people. Snaking is when people rudely cut you off during the middle of your run. In a big open area like a skateboard park, you have to be aware enough to flow with other people. The park has a rhythm that you’ll need to get in tune with. It’s proper skatepark etiquette to wait your turn. Somebody is going to get hurt if you don’t have the patience. If it’s a bowl, mini-vert or mini-ramp, then it’s strictly one person at a time. Keep in mind that there are other people at the skatepark besides yourself. Let them have their turn when it’s time for them to skate.

And although this technically isn’t snaking, you also don’t want to be that guy who hangs their board over the bowl while waiting your turn. That’s like nudging the person who’s already skating in the bowl that you’re impatient for them to exit. Chill out and relax.

6. If you lose your board, don’t be silent about it.
Yelling out “board!” is a crucial piece of skatepark etiquette. When you lose your board, chase after it and shout “board!” Think of it as “four!” in golf. Always do this when your board gets away from you, especially when it’s moving with some velocity. When you shout out like this, other people are less likely to get hurt. Other people are concentrating on skating, and they are not necessarily looking out for your board that’s gone rogue.

People are not going appreciate that you stayed silent when you let a board loose. Skaters want a heads up that a skateboard is creeping up on them.

7. Keep you (and your crew) out of the way of other skaters.
When you finish a run, move out of the way so that you don’t get hit by other skaters. It’s important to observe skatepark rules so that you don’t get hurt, and you don’t hurt anybody else. Pay close attention where other skaters are at. You don’t want to get in other people’s way.

This is also a good place to discuss the etiquette around falls. When you fall, get up immediately if you’re not hurt. Falling and staying down makes people think that you’re injured and need help. Unless you want an ambulance coming for you, get up soon after your fall. Staying down also puts you in harm’s way of other skaters.

Collisions and other accidents happen. Sometimes you’ll run into somebody, and sometimes somebody’s going to run right into you. Try to be cool about it and make sure the other person’s not hurt from the collision. After you’ve made sure everyone is okay, move out of the vicinity and let other people skate.

8. Don’t just hang out at the skatepark. You’re there to skate.
Don’t hang out with your friends at the center of a skatepark. Keep your socializing self and your crew to the fence and outer edges of the park if you’re not skating. Don’t socialize in the middle of the bowls or at the top of the obstacles. And don’t sit on the edges of the bowls. If you’re doing more talking than skating, keep to the perimeter of the skateboard park where you won’t be in somebody’s way.

And don’t forget about the spectators that you’ve brought with you. Pick a nice spot for your parents, friends and other visitors to watch you. If anyone that you bring with you is not skating, there are benches available for people to sit and watch the action. Do everyone inside the skatepark a solid and keep your guests out of the way.

9. Don’t start your skating career at a skatepark
If you’re brand new to skating, you don’t want to start your skating career at a skatepark. You need to learn the basics of skating before jumping in the bowl. First learn the basics of how to stand on the board, push off and maintain your balance. You need to learn to walk before you run. If you try to learn to skateboard at a park, you’re going to be falling all over the place instead of making slow progress. This could get you so frustrated before you learn to fly.

There are plenty of informal parking lots, side streets and driveways to learn how to skate properly. If you’ve got your heart set on learning to skate at a skatepark, some offer affordable lessons for newcomers to the sport.

The final rule is that you should always respect the skatepark and its surroundings. If you have any questions about skateboard etiquette as it relates to the park, seek out the advice of locals who are always skating the park. Make sure you respect the locals as the park is basically their second home. And always skate along with the established vibe at a park. You’ll be fitting in like a local in no time at all.

Shop The House selection of Skateboards.