Ride Wrap Wash or Brush?

I have my theory on this but I was wondering who here wraps their paint and if you wash or dry brush your bike?

My theory goes like this - those that wrap, wash because they are intent on a clean looking bike. Those who do not wrap just leave the mud on or dust it off with a dry brush because they don't want to spray dirt into seals and bearings and are not as concerned about the aesthetic of their bike.

For me, I do not wrap because I keep my bike (don't turn them over) and I think they are meant to be used not looked at and half the time the edges start to peel up a bit and dirt gets under the edges and now you have just trapped dirt next to your frame and it looks crappy at that point. In accordance with my theory, I believe in dry brushing the dirt of bikes rather than spraying them. I do was my bike every so often but it's more like 3-4 x per year.

I buy a 25$ roll of 4" wide 3M from lordco and carefully apply it, cover the top of the toptube bottom of the downtube the chainstays & seatstays the places where most of the hits occur

for 25$ it does a pretty good job of protecting the paint and keeping the bike looking good IF you do a good job

just cuz you wrap it doesnt mean it won't get dirty

I bought XPEL film by the foot and made my own templates which ends up costing like 120$ for frame and fork but takes soooo much more time. Once I started covering everything I just went deeper and deeper and the bike is 99% covered now. I like to keep my bikes a long time and they still look like new after a few seasons, which personally keeps me from getting the new bike itch longer! 

I made a good application job but the red MucOff bio grease smeared around the edges near the pivots and stained the film a bit. It seems to clean well with alcohol.

As for cleaning, I just wash it when it's really muddy, otherwise when it's dry I keep riding it until it gets dirty. Stanchions and shock shaft are religiously cleaned after every ride though! I don't mind detailing the bike from time to time with a beer in hand while listening to music or podcasts. It keeps me up to date with things that could be rubbing or in need of attention. You won't wait for me on a ride to fix something or get annoyed by bike noises as I am pretty tight with going on a ride with a perfectly running bike.

Since I don't have access to a hose at home and the shower is inconvenient, I bought a Worx battery powered pressure washer last year. Just enough pressure to clean but not too much, and I leave it and a 20L water jug in my car all summer so I can clean my bike at the trailhead after a muddy ride. It's quite noisy though so I only do it quickly when the parking lot is empty (no houses nearby).

If it's muddy I'll rinse the bike off with a gentle stream of water to get the main mud/dirt particles dry and then exposed pivot points like deraileurs and chains a quick squirt with WD40 and then some dry lube after. Wrap on one bike that came with it and nothing on the others but I mat buy a roll of the 3M tape for protection. I keep my bikes long enough to not worry about the odd scratch or ding.

Mine is ride wrapped and I’m glad I did. My last bike wasn’t wrapped and it started looking pretty rough. I kinda view the paint as protecting carbon gouges, so wrap’s another layer.

I’ve always just let the bike dry, then brushed it all off, with the occasionally full wash coinciding with a pivot service.

If I had an alloy bike I probably wouldn’t bother wrapping.

I put protective tape on all my MTBs [not Ride Wrap] and I dry brush as needed. I'll wash with a bucket of soapy water and a rag at the end of the winter or when I need to do a big service and I'll be handling the bike a lot. So I wash with water usually twice a year.

I never understand people hosing their bikes off. Just seems like a great way to accelerate service intervals.

I use clear Gorilla Tape and/or the pre cut stuff that often comes with a bike at the obvious cable, shoe and knee rub points. Ride Wrap really only protects from cosmetic damage and in the meantime looks cosmetically crap like an old lady couch. By the time I sell my bikes they have become “obsolete” according to the manufacturers and I really don’t care about how much resale value is reduced by a couple scratches. I often put stickers over bad scratches if they don’t look out of place.

I do wash my bike fairly often. Just a simple hosing with the shower setting on my hose nozzle to remove the lumps before the bike goes in the garage.  When it’s dry I’ll often wash with a bucket of soapy water and car wash mitt because I sweat a lot.

I got an industry  bud who buys a new high end bike, wraps it , rides it 20 times  sells it for enough that he has money tied up but the bike never costs him $$$$$ claims its worth it

I will buy a 25$ roll of #M but I wouldn't pay for ride wrap

I've wrapped bikes before - it was totally worth it.

Shelter Tape is extra thick and shock absorbing - ideal for under the down tube or under your non-drive chainstay.  https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5054-967/Shelter-Bike-Frame-Protection-Tape-%281m-roll%29

Shelter tape is magnificent.

My current bike came ridewrapped, I'm neutral about the whole thing but I think if it was a shiny carbon frame I'd be more into the idea, but I like battle scarred aluminium. Dry brush works for me, wipe the chain down and lube. I usually just use a screwdriver blade or tire lever to knock off that compressed mud/oil chunk that stays on the jockey wheels. Any more inspection and I then get involved in trying to degunk the whole jockey wheel/cassette/front cog rabbit hole.

well everyone knows what they do to their bike but IME top of the toptube is what gets scratched even by just throwing a leg over the bike & scuffing it with a shoe so I wrap a 4 " piece of 3M covering the top and half way down the sides, same idea with bottom of down tube , cut smaller pieces for the stays, round off corners , soap & water and/or alcohol & water for the really curvy bits and a good job is not really noticable

You should tell us a fourth time that you use a $25 roll of 3M tape. I don’t think anyone caught on the first three times.

Posted by: syncro

You should tell us a fourth time that you use a $25 roll of 3M tape. I don’t think anyone caught on the first three times.

He uses a $25 roll of 3M or whatever he can get at Lordco.

I use the $25 stuff from Lordco, have you guys heard of that? Generally get a bunch of greasy fingerprints and dog hair under it, maybe a few bubbles too.