Anyone snow foam their bike?

Arminius

Well-known member
Subscriber
Jul 26, 2022
377
570
Rhein-Ruhr Delta, Germany
When the bike picked to much mud I do it and use the car stuff I have:

ValetPRO snow foam
Gloria FM30 and because I am to lazy for pumping by hand with a compressor

IMG_2687.jpeg


Sprays easy and exactly, makes mud easy to drip off or spray away by mild pressure garden hose. Compatible with mechanics and brakes. After this the bikes gets a small lube & protection service.
 

Ark

Active member
Mar 8, 2023
384
322
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Most bike specific bike wash is fine on the brakes.
I'd stick to brake cleaner personally.
I hate the howling squeak.
my front brake was making that noise from the factory for some reason annoyingly, I cleaned it and it stopped though
So never get them dirty, right?
You can let the dirt dry and then brush it off, your pads should clean themselves as long as the rotor is free of contaminants
 

Stihldog

Handheld Power Tool
Subscriber
Jun 10, 2020
2,894
4,086
Coquitlam, BC
I can’t disclose the formula or chemicals I use but I’ve used this fluid since the “Dawn” of time. It’s also used to wash ducklings after an oil tanker spill so it must be good. I keep this magical solution close by.
IMG_6191.jpeg
After years of trial and error I’ve eventually devised a cheap solution solution [sic].

I’d still like to keep this a secret because the economy would likely crash and possibility hurt others financially.
Happy washing 👍🏻
 

B1rdie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
Feb 14, 2019
829
1,031
Brazil
A bucket with luke warm water, soap and some toilet brush is all you need to keep the bike clean. The tyres would be the only part I’d jetwash… after taking the wheels off the frame.
 

Sander23

Active member
Aug 28, 2020
692
428
Belgium
Lol no! Just don't wash them everytime! It's really simple and the reason why some people have multiple motor failures. It's just really hard for some people to not wash their bikes! If you have gone through 3 motors in just a few hundred miles you are doing something wrong.
Then you also shouldn't ride in the wet and mud in the winter. That's stupid.
wash your bike, just don't jetwash on the motor.

I wash/rinse my bike every ride (only in the dry summer i dont) with a hose or when its to dirty with a jetwasher. I've never had any real big problems with my bosch motors and I've done 17k km on them.

I keep the seals of the motor clean and good greased with bosch tacky grease every few months.
 

Piccirilli

Member
Jan 17, 2023
34
33
Asheville, NC
I can’t disclose the formula or chemicals I use but I’ve used this fluid since the “Dawn” of time. It’s also used to wash ducklings after an oil tanker spill so it must be good. I keep this magical solution close by.
View attachment 113750
After years of trial and error I’ve eventually devised a cheap solution solution [sic].

I’d still like to keep this a secret because the economy would likely crash and possibility hurt others financially.
Happy washing 👍🏻
Dawn came out with a new product called Powerwash. It's much more effective compared to regular Dawn and the sprayer works so well it's almost like foam.

IMG_9880.jpg
 

FirstAscent

Member
Subscriber
Apr 5, 2023
104
141
Portland
yup! most definitely! also snow foaming isn't as high pressure as your pressure washer due to the foaming action and heavier "foam" by the time it actually hits the surface. stick your hand directly next to the nozzle with your snow foam vs straight water and you'll see.

Also, I'm in the opinion that there is absolutely no issues pressure washing a bike with a couple caveats.
Don't be an (insert choice of word here) and 'jet stream' straight into bearings. my pressure washer can't even do a jet stream and has a fixed 40° angle spray. TYPICALLY most pressure washers have some type of fan/spray nozzle, if you're standing a few feet away from your bike, no issues. just use your judgement and a little common sense and you're safe :)

I know this is an emtb forum so to be fair, I'm sure there are specific bikes out there maybe with better or worse seals for batteries, electronics etc, so you'll have to use your best judgement there as well.

I wash my bikes a lot as I like them to be clean, and a clean bike runs better anyway (suspension, drivetrain, etc).
 

Eliadn

Member
Jul 25, 2022
82
34
Croatia
When the bike picked to much mud I do it and use the car stuff I have:

ValetPRO snow foam
Gloria FM30 and because I am to lazy for pumping by hand with a compressor

View attachment 113748

Sprays easy and exactly, makes mud easy to drip off or spray away by mild pressure garden hose. Compatible with mechanics and brakes. After this the bikes gets a small lube & protection service.
What's the price of smth like this? With the compressor.
 

Ou812

Active member
Jun 26, 2022
593
392
Fort William
I foam mine from time to time, I use a foam cannon from chemical guys that hooks up to the garden hose. I’ll foam it, let it sit then rinse it off with the hydro shot.
 

Eliadn

Member
Jul 25, 2022
82
34
Croatia
Quick look at the big river sites - Gloria has also smaller and larger sprayers.
Good thing on the battery is that it is a joint system for various brand machineries.

View attachment 113859
I figured it would be over 150 eur, in that price range I can get a portable battery powered pressure washer, like the worx hydroshot or ryobi or kaercher.
Because this one still delivers around 3 bars of pressure, which is not that much I my opinion.
 

Arminius

Well-known member
Subscriber
Jul 26, 2022
377
570
Rhein-Ruhr Delta, Germany
I figured it would be over 150 eur, in that price range I can get a portable battery powered pressure washer, like the worx hydroshot or ryobi or kaercher.
Because this one still delivers around 3 bars of pressure, which is not that much I my opinion.
This is to make and apply foam only. Not to spray dirt off. A regular Gloria sprayer - the yellow ones with a different nozzle - is used by some guys to clean the bike when back from tour prior loading into car.
However, I have that equipmemt for my car. Use it for the MTB but also for outside shades (raffstores) on the windows or garden furmiture when pretty dirty. 👍🙂
 

Eliadn

Member
Jul 25, 2022
82
34
Croatia
This is to make and apply foam only. Not to spray dirt off. A regular Gloria sprayer - the yellow ones with a different nozzle - is used by some guys to clean the bike when back from tour prior loading into car.
However, I have that equipmemt for my car. Use it for the MTB but also for outside shades (raffstores) on the windows or garden furmiture when pretty dirty. 👍🙂
Worx also has a foam attachment. I have similar sprayer to that gloria, although the manual version :D cleaning a dirty bike with it is quite annoying.
 

Jackware

Fat-tyred Freakazoid
Subscriber
Oct 30, 2018
1,876
2,027
Lancashire
I can’t disclose the formula or chemicals I use but I’ve used this fluid since the “Dawn” of time. It’s also used to wash ducklings after an oil tanker spill so it must be good. I keep this magical solution close by.
View attachment 113750
After years of trial and error I’ve eventually devised a cheap solution solution [sic].

I’d still like to keep this a secret because the economy would likely crash and possibility hurt others financially.
Happy washing 👍🏻
But it doesn't say it's Ebike compatible? 😁
 

target2804

New Member
Apr 26, 2023
55
80
Germany
I wash my bike after every ride because i just want to take care of it. I use all the muc-off stuff. Bike cleaner, bike protect and some silicon spray for the fork.

Regarding water on an e-bike i read the Bosch user manual and they say: remove the battery, cover your display (purion in my case) and cover the contacts after removing the battery. I made myself some covers out of ziplock bags and it was always working fine.
 

EMTBSEAN

Well-known member
Subscriber
Feb 20, 2020
846
573
Sheffield
You don’t have to buy a dedicated “snow foam” any detergent will foam up if it’s used in some kind of foam cannon, even dish soap will foam up given the correct mixture ratios, if your going to use a foam cannon and detergent just don’t get drawn into the hype because that’s all it is, I’ve been detailing cars for years and I laugh at the money some people pay for this stuff when all that is necessary for a bike is a wax free cheap soap, I’ve tried loads over the years, Meguiars, Poor Boys, Auto Glym, Auto Finesse, the list goes on 😉
 

target2804

New Member
Apr 26, 2023
55
80
Germany
I can say that with a foam cannon you save almost half of your cleaner. I started using the muc-off stuff just with the spray bottle (really don’t know the right English word for that) it came in and I almost emptied it after using it 4 times. With a cheap 20€ Amazon spray cannon for the garden hose I save tons of the cleaner. I think it’s a good investment.
 

EMTBSEAN

Well-known member
Subscriber
Feb 20, 2020
846
573
Sheffield
What ever kind of cannon is used and detergent, it has to be mixed in the correct ratio so it does what it’s suppose to do, it’s what’s known as dwell time, if it’s not doing that it’s not fulfilling it’s purpose, snow foam is designed to stay in place and soften the mud, if it’s thin and runny it’ll just run off 😉
 

Arminius

Well-known member
Subscriber
Jul 26, 2022
377
570
Rhein-Ruhr Delta, Germany
You don’t have to buy a dedicated “snow foam” any detergent will foam up if it’s used in some kind of foam cannon, even dish soap will foam up given the correct mixture ratios, if your going to use a foam cannon and detergent just don’t get drawn into the hype because that’s all it is, I’ve been detailing cars for years and I laugh at the money some people pay for this stuff when all that is necessary for a bike is a wax free cheap soap, I’ve tried loads over the years, Meguiars, Poor Boys, Auto Glym, Auto Finesse, the list goes on 😉
Hi,
You are right, it is to a certain extent a hype. I might be wrong but dish soap will degrease painting, rubber and mechanics (and is said to remove the wax on a car before applying new wax)?
 

MOTO13

Active member
Sep 16, 2020
315
342
Elkhorn, Wi
I have never washed any of my bikes...never. We can't ride on muddy trails due to most trails being closed if wet conditions...and I hate mud riding anyway. The most I do is use window cleaner on the bike to clean her up and use an air compressor to blow out dirt/dust.
 

target2804

New Member
Apr 26, 2023
55
80
Germany
I have never washed any of my bikes...never. We can't ride on muddy trails due to most trails being closed if wet conditions...and I hate mud riding anyway. The most I do is use window cleaner on the bike to clean her up and use an air compressor to blow out dirt/dust.
Using an air compressor is exactly what I won’t ever do. Too high of a pressure.
 

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