Keeping a Bike Inside a Home/Flat

Jonathan86

Hello all,

This is a question aimed at those of you who use your bikes daily and keep your pride and joy tucked up inside.

I live in a flat and will be receiving a new bike soon. Since ordering the bike I've talked to a couple of neighbours and one of them mentioned that they had their bike nicked a couple of years ago when they stored their bike against the stair railings. I didn't ask if it was locked (no idea why I didn't) but this has obviously scuppered my plan of keeping it locked up there, as I wouldn't hear evil activity out there in the evenings/nights.

As a side note, I should say I (naively) thought that outsiders wouldn't be wandering about. However, I now need to think of arrangements to keep it inside. Space isn't a problem, it's the dirt.

The rest of the summer should be no problem with a dedicated towel to dry it off after cycling in the rain. What's annoying me is how I'll keep it clean and stuff during the winter months with salt and mud on the roads.

My thinking at the minute is to lock it to the stairs for a couple of mins while I run into the flat to grab some water and a rag, dry it off with a towel, and then wheel it in and put it on something inside to protect the laminate. A bit of a faff I know, but it's worth it for the peace of mind of having a secure bike.

So my question to you guys is if you have any tips or tricks for dealing with the above? Is a bike bag too much of a faff in your experience? (one that just requires the front wheel to be off if poss) Does the cleaning routine work in practice, or does it become a nightmare chore eventually?

Any advice appreciated!

unixnerd

Maybe you could have a tiled area or plastic tray in the area you plan to keep it. My nice bike lives indoors. It's no problem if it gets wet as the room it's kept in has vinyl flooring.

d87heaven

Get an offcut of lino and put it where your bike is going to live. Easy to wipe when the bike has dried off and you can roll it up when the bike is dry or not there.

warpcow

I use rolls of plastic kitchen-drawer liner from Ikea (about £1 each) for my mountainbikes. They come home covered in all kinds of crap, sometimes literally, and the only problem I ever have is getting the bikes from the front door to their spots without leaving a trail. Any liquid tends to pool on the liner, so it can be wiped up later.

FoolishFour

I usually lock my bike outside on the railings for an hour or so if it has been raining (after wiping it) to let it dry before rolling it into the flat - works for me!

oodboo

I clean my bike and then put it in the kitchen (tiled floor) to dry, then it's kept in the lounge. Keeping it in the house makes me clean it more but surely that can only be a good thing.

Ridg

mine lives in the extension, this has laminate floor which is easy to clean, dry dirt is easily brushed up, wet stuff is easily dealt with using kitchen roll.

a cheap bit of vinyl or lino would do the same too

most road dirt can be wiped off using a micro fibre cloth, i personally use an old car drying towel to wipe the frame and forks down. your main problem with it comes to dirt is going to be marks from the tyres as these can quite quickly ruin a light colour carpet.

The Rookie

As there would be no need to move the locking you could have super secure (heavy) locks to the railings with alarmed padlocks?

If its indoors, remember it comes in no wetter or muddier than a person anyway - its psychological that its worse, but yes, having somewhere to stand on a waterproof and cleanable surface should do the trick!

Simon

rubertoe

My Bike lives in the spare room of my flat - luckily i have a fire escape that i can clean the bike on before i trapse it through the Kitchen (lino) hall (carpet) and into the spare bedroom.

In the bedroom the bike stands on a Wheel box that has been broken up and flattened and this in turn sits on some of the many large shopping bags that my Mrs has collected over the years

I find the combination of both keeps the carpet clean,

Job Jobbed.

mossychops

Mine are often kept inside. Tiled floor in hall and kitchen so if its wet it goes in the kitchen until dry and then goes on the wall in the spare bedroom.

Could you put some laminate floor down? I am looking at getting one of these for getting mud off before taking inside: http://www.gbdriver.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=658&zenid=4e0d7d8806cc7b6032529bbe2185a56c

Yeah, the missus doesn't live with me. [/url]

MichaelW

You can get plastic carpet protector matfrom any carpet shop, clear vinyl with a textured surface so water doesnt run off the edges.

Jonathan86

mossychops wrote:

I am looking at getting one of these for getting mud off before taking inside: http://www.gbdriver.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=658&zenid=4e0d7d8806cc7b6032529bbe2185a56c

That thing would be fantastic if it's as good as it sounds! I'm sure 8l is more than enough to get the majority of the crap off the tires and frame.

I have laminate flooring where the bike will most probably be, so I'll try and find a nearby carpet shop to get some of the clear plastic stuff that was suggested.

Cheers for the suggestions all, keep em coming!

stevie_90210

My bike is kept hung up on a two-peg wall bracket in my study.

If it's wet then I simply put a towel underneath it.

The bracket also makes it easy to adjust things on the bike. :-)

Paul E

Mine lives in the hall either up against the wall or up on a hoist, if it's wet I leave it in the hall (very quiet converted placed so only three other in the house) I then put paper down where it normally sits, carry the bike in to avoid tyre trails and place down, let it dry while I deal with myself and then it's cleaned with baby wipes.

mossychops

Jonathan86 wrote:

......That thing would be fantastic if it's as good as it sounds! I'm sure 8l is more than enough to get the majority of the crap off the tires and frame.......

I am really tempted with one at the moment, could go in the boot nicely with 1 of those 5 litre water bottles from the supermarket (£1 or so in supermarkets) refilled with tap water and clean a couple of bikes before driving home (dry them off on the bike carrier on the motorway).

Should be enough pressure to wash a bike but not enough to damage any seals. Shouldnt be too bad to pump up either having used the pump spray things in the garden.