I met a nice character a few weeks ago on a magnificent ride through the Bay Area. He rode a Colnago C-50 which was so filthy that I was unable to ascertain with any degree of certainty what color it was painted. I spent most of the ride suppressing the impulse to lead him and his bike through a local car wash. As it turns out, he’s based out of Asia, and the monsoon which is in full swing has the effect of turning white bikes black on the roads surrounding his adopted home of Hong Kong, which I always thought was an ape but apparently is also a city.
I’m what some people might call “obsessive” about keeping my bike clean. Even my Nine Bike gets a thorough washing if not after each ride, then at least after every other. A clean bike is easier to maintain, shifts more precisely, brakes better (if for some reason you want to go less fast), and the components wear more slowly. Not to mention that a clean bike is a beautiful bike. The secret to being able to clean your bikes often is a fifteen minute cleaning routine which I’ll detail another time. For now, lets leave it at having the right brushes and tools in place to quickly and easily get into all the hard-to-reach areas on a bike.
For many years, I assumed I had reached the high water mark in bike cleaning. Ego, it would seem, infects us all at one time or another. To quick I was to believe that cleanliness is godliness. There I sat, lonely upon my high horse of pride and arrogance, until my friend Charlie on Maui introduced me to a product called Pedro’s Bike Lust. And just like that, I was sent back to Earth in the knowledge that I still had much to learn.
This stuff is incredible; it sprays onto carbon, steel, aluminum, or rubber. It cleans and wipes off without leaving any residue. A little bit of rubbing and it brings out an as-new polished finish, covering and filling small scratches – it even diminishes the big scratches caused when, hypothetically speaking, your bike is blown over in the wind on Mount Saint Helens and scrapes along some jagged volcanic rocks. Hypothetically. I also spray it liberally on my saddle, which makes it very slippy and good for sliding forward and back as-needed for crushing fools.
At this point, I’m a complete junkie; I can hardly resist a little bump before each ride, just to get my head right and make my bike gleam beneath me as I set out on my ride. The only downside is the silicone-covered surface makes it harder for grit and mud to stick to the frame and show off how hard core your Rule #9 ride was.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Bike Lust/”/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
Lemon. Pledge.
Speaking of Spring, I incorporated the first cobble sector of the Seattle Ronde into my ride yesterday. Think I will keep doing that...
World is small, I'm using it since ages!
Frank,
Bought the "Lust" purely based on this article, so I hope you didn't sell out to Pedro's and write this to collect a check.
The "Lust" was applied, but since Bike Number One was (and always is) already brought to a brilliant shine, I have yet to notice a distinct difference. I'll wait until I bring it out in the sun and after a ride to determine how well the product actually works.
But, cleaners are like bikes, you should always have n+1.
@frank
Arizona highlands. There are times when you'd swear you were in Egypt when Moses was causing a hubbub. I know all the spots on my routes in which I need to breathe through my nose for a bit to avoid extra protein going down the pipes.
@Owen
Not sure if this has been touched upon in previous articles but the unintentional consumption of flying things remains that most unpleasant of occupational hazards for our ilk.
That said a petite lapin recently tried to dissect himself beneath my wheels at speed. Eating a bug or two certainly is less stressful (Merckx I hope none were mating though) .
A wipe down Pledge or Endust will keep your ride looking pretty sweet too. Plus they are far less costly...
@Ccos
Decapitated a mouse once. Thank Merckx the bladed spokes made it quick for the little guy.
@Pedale.Forchetta
This only tells me we were meant to meet each other many years ago!
@Nik
I'll be impressed when you start including the LAST cobbled secteur of the Seattle Ronde in your daily rides...
@Brian
This always scares me. We don't get paid for this shit, Pedros didn't give me their product, and we've never done a "Reverence" on a product we didn't buy (although in some cases we've been given the product after writing the Reverence.) We have an internal Keeper Regulation that no product is to be Reverence'd after less than 6 months' use or ideally a year or more. The Reverence series is supposed to be about the products we use that we love, the little things that we keep reaching for over and over, rational or otherwise.
It honestly never occurred to us, when we started, that people would actually buy the shit we talk about. But we know at this stage it happens and we try not to let that keep us from speaking our minds about what we love like we used to. I hope you wind up loving it as much as I do, but if not, also know I didn't gain a moticum from you taking the advice from an idiot on the internet!
That said, I think the effect is best in full sunlight and on black materials!