I must be the only person in the world not to have known this before today…, but if you use “wheel cleaner” you can pretty much just hose your wheels clean!
Saves a lot of effort and scratched knuckles… (see sparkling results below!)
The directions for the product I bought (€8) are:
- do one wheel at a time
- wet wheel with water
- apply “wheel cleaner” product
- agitate (i.e. lightly scrub) the “cleaner” – a small brush is best for this
- leave for a couple of minutes
- hose off
I didn’t take “before” photos, but the wheels were completely black (you couldn’t see the “BMW” written on the brake callipers anymore). I hadn’t washed them in at least 6 months. When I last did it then, it took me ages and I hurt my knuckles and hands getting in behind the brake disk and amongst the spokes. Hence, I rarely do it. The unfortunate thing about that is, if you want your bike to sparkle and really look good, the wheels are the most important bit. If you ride without panniers, it’s even more important as the transmission is visible.
Here are my “after” shots. It was as easy as the directions – spray on, rub, hose off. I also did the transmission and anything else that was covered in black dirt!
