# Just bought a Moots RSL! Maintenance suggestions, please.



## Local399

Hi all,

Just curious what the collective wisdom is on keeping your Ti frame clean and preserving the decals?

Any and all suggestions welcome.

As always, thank you all in advance!

Steve


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## AlphaDogCycling

Two suggestions: 1) pre-moistened cleaning wipes; 2) dish soap and water. Ti frames are pretty easy to keep clean if you wipe them down every now and then. My Merlin is over 13 years old, and the frame still looks great


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## tihsepa

Anything works fine. I use WD40 on a soft cloth. Always looks great.


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## Local399

What do you do about the decals? I would love to keep them looking new for as long as possible...

Thoughts, suggestions, opinions?

Thanks!

Steve


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## Special Eyes

Then fuhgetabout that advice to use WD40. It's not a cleaner. Ti is so easy to keep nice. Just wipe it down with a damp cloth and follow with a dry one. No soaps or solvents.. If it's a mtb or the like you may need to hose it down and then dry it.


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## tihsepa

Special Eyes said:


> Then fuhgetabout that advice to use WD40. It's not a cleaner. Ti is so easy to keep nice. Just wipe it down with a damp cloth and follow with a dry one. No soaps or solvents.. If it's a mtb or the like you may need to hose it down and then dry it.


Yeah, bad advice. All that cleaning of my bikes with WD40 has left them in ruins.

Now, what the hell difference does it make? So long as things get cleaned. 
These threads always go the way of the lube or chain cleaning threads. It doesn't really matter how you do it. The end result will be the same, the bike will be clean and look good.


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## Mike T.

tihsepa said:


> Yeah, bad advice. All that cleaning of my bikes with WD40 has left them in ruins.


Yeah for sure. I'd like to see his reasoning for his comments. I've had Ti frames since '99 (15 years) and have tried what's recommended for my Seven (Lemon Pledge) and for my Kish (ArmorAll) and WD-40 is my favorite. The Kish, three seasons old, looks as good as the day it arrived. The Seven, my mountain bike, has some trail-induced battle scars; nothing to do with the cleaner used.


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## tihsepa

Mike T. said:


> Yeah for sure. I'd like to see his reasoning for his comments. I've had Ti frames since '99 (15 years) and have tried what's recommended for my Seven (Lemon Pledge) and for my Kish (ArmorAll) and WD-40 is my favorite. The Kish, three seasons old, looks as good as the day it arrived. The Seven, my mountain bike, has some trail-induced battle scars; nothing to do with the cleaner used.


Heck, I clean painted bikes with WD and have for 20+ years. No ill effects. 
I get a 55 gallon drum every year, for free. It's to the point where I have resorted to giving away drums or burning it in an old tractor. 
Bummer.


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## Local399

I cannot imagine that DW 40 would be good for the preservation of the decals...Any other thoughts regarding keeping them in good shape for many years to come?

FYI, its a road bike and I live in Los Angeles and never ride in bad weather. 

Thanks!


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## tihsepa

Local399 said:


> I cannot imagine that DW 40 would be good for the preservation of the decals...Any other thoughts regarding keeping them in good shape for many years to come?
> 
> FYI, its a road bike and I live in Los Angeles and never ride in bad weather.
> 
> Thanks!


My Lynskey has some really crappy decals. Never effected them. 
I have a old Merlin Roots mountain bike. The decals are fine. 
The issue with a Ti bike is most of the time there is no protective coating over a transfer type decal. They may not hold up forever anyway.


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## Mike T.

tihsepa said:


> Heck, I clean painted bikes with WD and have for 20+ years. No ill effects.
> I get a 55 gallon drum every year, for free. It's to the point where I have resorted to giving away drums or burning it in an old tractor.
> Bummer.


I use it for cleaning my painted bikes also - and the rest of the bike too (minus rim sidewalls, saddle and h/bar tape!). On the WD-40 website are tips for hundreds of uses for WD-40. Evaporated WD-40, thinned back down to the viscosity of my choice, has been lubing my chain for the last 5 months. I've re-lubed 3x in all those months.


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## ibericb

WD-40 is little more than very clean kerosene with a light mineral oil added. Many use it as a GP cleaner with no ill effects.

My go to GP cleaner for dirt mixed with some oily residue is 1/4 cup of 91% isopropyl alcohol diluted to a quart with clean, pure water. It will take off pretty much everything except real greasy/oily stuff without ill effect, and it completely evaporates (no oil residue). 

Degreasing gets stronger stuff - one of the Simple Green products, acetone, mineral spirits, Goo Gone, etc.


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## Mike T.

ibericb said:


> WD-40 is little more than very clean kerosene with a light mineral oil added.


My test shows that drops of its oil run down a mirror at the same speed as 30w motor oil. That's not a very scientific test but it's a good enough viscosity indicator for me.


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## Mike T.

Local399 said:


> I cannot imagine that DW 40 would be good for the preservation of the decals...Any other thoughts regarding keeping them in good shape for many years to come?
> 
> FYI, its a road bike and I live in Los Angeles and never ride in bad weather.
> 
> Thanks!


The decals on my 15 yr old Seven mtb are in perfect shape and they've seen years (14?) of WD-40. But nothing will stop the ravages of being scraped along a lamp-post. My MTB is in Canada and has seen years of $hit, snow and ice.


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## ibericb

That's not a bad test, at all. I just don't want to have to clean the mirror.


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## Mike T.

ibericb said:


> That's not a bad test, at all. I just don't want to have to clean the mirror.


Hahahaha! It's my old workbench mirror!


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## ibericb

_Mirror, mirror on the bench, who's the badest, bestest wrench?_

Reply -- Wheez, cough, ... I haven't a clue I hate to admit, but it's simply because I can't see Sh*t !


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## Special Eyes

OK, Mike, you've made your point pretty well! What exactly is on your frames that requires a solvent to remove? My Lynskey is 5 years old and looks brand new. My Ritchey is 30 years old and looks great. Like you said, what ever gets the job done. I just don't need greasy fluids to achieve it, and my shop and house doesn't smell from the WD, armorall or pledge.

To address your reply to my original reply, some graphics are actual decals and many now are stickers, and the various adhesives of them may not react well to solvents. In fact, solvents are used to remove them, though some resist solvents. I don't think the OP or any of us can tell what the resistance is of our sticker adhesive. On painted frames. there is often a clear coat sealing the decal, so solvents there are not so risky.


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## Mike T.

ibericb said:


> _Mirror, mirror on the bench, who's the badest, bestest wrench?_


WD-40 on the frame? Will the decals ever be the same?


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## Zampano

When I found Lemon Pledge couldn't come close to cleaning my Moots, the first thing I grabbed was WD40 and it did as expected.


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## Special Eyes

Sorry, but Pledge is not a cleaner. It is a wax/polish. Sure, if you spray and rub enough it will remove some stuff, but again, what is it you are trying to get off?


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## cohiba7777

Moots owner - I use Pledge wipes after each ride - inexpensive and remove about all you'd run into on your ride. After wiping down frame I clean off tires and brake calipers - my LBS swears by this method for Ti and its been great for me 4 year running now. Good Luck-


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## Mootsie

Pedro's Bike Lust. It adds a silicone layer to keep dirt from sticking and has UV inhibitors to stop the Moots decals from cracking. Been using it on my 2001 Vamoots almost from day 1 and the frame and decals look like new.


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## sw3759

Mootsie said:


> Pedro's Bike Lust. It adds a silicone layer to keep dirt from sticking and has UV inhibitors to stop the Moots decals from cracking.


cool,thanks ! I wasn't aware of that.been using PBL for years but never tried it on my moots.guess I will from here on out


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