Cleaning your bike without a hose...

ross_mcculloch

...how the hell do you do it?

Living in a second floor flat means cleaning my bike is tricky. I currently using a bucket and 1L garden sprayer, which means I never really get my bike clean.

I'm thinking about getting something like a 5L pump pressure sprayer: http://www.garden4less.co.uk/hozelock-k ... prayer.asp

Would it be powerful enough to blast the crap off my bike or is there a better solution?

Cps

If you have a car - then this is you answer

http://www.dirtworker.co.uk/news/

BlackSpur

Take it in the bath!

ross_mcculloch

Nope, don't drive so that rules that one out. I've been tempted to shower it down in the bath but I have a feeling that would go down like a ton of bricks.

Captain Turok

I'm in a similar position, its a pain. I use a bucket and sponge in the carpark downstairs. Then a quick wizz around and a few bunnyhops to get it dry(ish).

Then up stairs (in the warm!) to properley clean/degrease the rear casette, chain, cranks etc, I stand it up on the kitchen sink!

With the rear wheel over/in basin and the chain n cranks over the drainer bit. Then go mad with a citrus based degreaser and a stiff brush. Leave to dry overnight then lube.

JUST MAKE SURE THE OH IS OUT 1ST..

Yukon Lad

yep, a good idea is to wash it as soon as possibe so the mud comes off nice and easily, some trail centres have a bike wash but it can be expensive but possibly outweighs the cost of getting your bike thrown out of the window by the angry wife who found her brand new carpets and worksurfaces covered in half of england's mud and GT85

Yukon Lad

MarvintheAndroid

The 5 litr pump spray on its own won't have the power to blast dirt off because the nozzle is so small, but might work in combination with a brush. I still think it's worth having, I fill mine with Fenwick bike cleaner but it needs a garden hose to blast the muck away once it is loosened.

Marv

MarvintheAndroid

BTW that price is a rip off, try http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-8685 ... 882&sr=8-3

Marv

counterculture

one of those pressurised garden sprayers should do the job, just give it some extra pressure for the especially muddy bits, should spray the worst of it off, then you'll have to get your hands dirty for the bits that dont come off

Jimbo.

Just let it dry and brush it off outside. It'll never be concours clean, but then it's an MTB: it'll be dirty again in 200 yards!

rb1956

ross_mcculloch wrote:

I'm thinking about getting something like a 5L pump pressure sprayer. Would it be powerful enough to blast the crap off my bike or is there a better solution?

It's not a good idea to "blast" dirt off a bike anyway, because there are just too many bearings and seals that a high pressure hose can damage by driving in water and grime.

I wash my bike on my balcony. After covering the saddle with a plastic bag, I wet the whole bike down from above with a watering-can fitted with the standard round rose. Then brush wash with a bucket of non-corrosive, non-wax, detergent solution (I use CT-18 Superwash, but I'm sure there must be similar products outside Australia), rinse with the watering can, and repeat as necessary. Scrub the braking area of the wheel-rims with one of those plastic kitchen scourers. After the final rinse, I wipe down the non-greasy parts with a synthetic chamois, and the greasy parts with paper towels. Allow to air dry, rotating the cranks occasionally.

For the next steps I put down a sheet of heavyweight polythene, covered with multiple layers of newspaper. Very necessary for domestic harmony, and to keep the landlord or Body Corporate off your back!

Then I clean the chain with kerosine in a Park Tools chain-scrubbing machine, pouring the dirty waste kero through a big funnel into a suitable plastic bottle for later recycling. With practice I only drop a *few* spots of dirty kero onto the newspaper... Wipe down with paper towels. Relube the chain with chainsaw-bar-oil. Wipe off excess lube with paper towels. Lube brake-levers etc. as needed. Dubbin saddle as needed. Clean light-lenses as needed.

Put used paper towels, dirty newspaper etc. in plastic garbage bag. Tidy up cleaning tools and materials. Done!

P.S. Part of the reason for my not using even a low-pressure hose is that we're subject to water-use restrictions in NSW, but I think high-pressure is a bad idea anyway.

canada16

I dont have a hose at my house, I should put one in but oh well.

I use a sponge with a wash bucket, wash the bike, then go back in with clean water and rinse with sponge and dump the water on the bike, then a peice of cloth to dry.

Simple.

Muddy.Bail

a bucket with some very soapy water in it and a sponge

tlw1

baby wipes

devs

Let it dry and brush it off. Citrus degrease the chain if really necessary. Detergents and bike cleaners contain wetting agents which mean they get through your bearing seals and eat away the grease. They are also concentrated with salt which corrodes everything.
I hose down my tyres and rims before they dry out if I'm feeling in showroom mood for some reason.

rhext

+1 for the bucket of really hot water and sponge. Car shampoo works a treat. Muc-off or similar and a watering can also works if you really can't bring yourself to pick up a sponge (wet bike, leave for 5 minutes to soften dirt, apply Muc-off and agitate with brush, leave two minutes then rinse again). Then dry it off. You need degreaser to get the drivetrain clean anyway, and you can't apply that with a garden sprayer or pressure washer.

I reckon you could use the sprayer instead of a watering can (have been tempted to try that myself, but too stingy to buy one). But if you're trying to blast the dirt off, remember that you'll also be blasting it past the seals and into your bearings.

.blitz

As above. No matter how knackered I am, I always clean my bike when I get back.

roger_merriman

large bucket of warm soapy water, give the bike a darn good soaking and brush off the muck, dry and then oil etc bits that need it.

Stoo61

My uni flat doesnt have a hose either, I tend to fill up a beer pitcher we stole from the pubs to rinse it down. Scrub with a brush and Muc-Off...then inside to sit and polish therputically (sp?). Every cloud.

Muddy.Bail

devs wrote:

Let it dry and brush it off. Citrus degrease the chain if really necessary. Detergents and bike cleaners contain wetting agents which mean they get through your bearing seals and eat away the grease. They are also concentrated with salt which corrodes everything.
I hose down my tyres and rims before they dry out if I'm feeling in showroom mood for some reason.

not all the mud would come off and it may scratch the frame

saltyman

my bike gets a good handjob after every ride............ :twisted:

best way to check for anything broke or needs checked out too.

Verb

I use a old 9litre water fire extinguisher. You unscrew the top, fill it with water, screw the top back on and then pump up the pressure with your track pump and schrader valve connection. Takes off the dirt no problem and very portable.

You don't need to degrease the chain every time. Re-lubricate it with wet lube and the old crud gets worked out as a soft sludge that doesn't harm the chain. Occasionally remove the chain (quick link) and dunk it in white spirits for a good cleaning. rinse, dry and relube.

rb1956

Verb wrote:

You don't need to degrease the chain every time. Re-lubricate it with wet lube and the old crud gets worked out as a soft sludge that doesn't harm the chain. Occasionally remove the chain (quick link) and dunk it in white spirits for a good cleaning. rinse, dry and relube.

In Sydney the soil is basically sand, and if too much of it accumulates in the chain lube, you can hear it grating. It's not the chain that I'm most bothered about, it's my aluminium alloy chainring.