How do you guys manage it?We have individual and communal balconies,but i can hardly spray about a load of water and oil.Ideas appreciated. Apes.

I find Muc-Off Dirty Work Wipes are good for cleaning the bike when you can’t use water

If you get it really caked in mud, see what local car washes are around. I’ve used the coin-operated held pressure washer a few times at a tesco near me. Just be careful where you spray it and not too close.

Get a length of clear plastic carpet protector to put your bike on if the flat is carpeted throughout and you don’t want to service it on the balcony. Don’t use spray on oil.

If I was in your situation then a potable pressure washer would be key. Used before you get home or at worst outside near a drain. For servincing a large tarp/mat and fabric throws (got loads cheap from Ikea I still use) and a workstand.

At no point during maintenance should you be spraying round enough oil to cause a problem. Have a look in a LBS workshop – it’s not like a bad day on an oil rig.

If you want to do forks then some big plastic boxes/trays to catch anything nasty.

After that find a mate with a garage or make friends in your LBS.

I have a large v dark brown rug in my living room. Ill do my bike tinkering on the rug. any small oil, grease, brake fluid drips, scrapes etc just gets rubbed back into the rug with a bit of fairy in hot water. It still looks like a nice new normal brown rug 🙂 Managed this for last 4 years without mucking up the light beige surrounding carpet errr much. I’ve got a back yard for proper cleaning etc though. But even on a balcony what’s wrong with a bucket of soapy water? Used to put bike in the bath for a shower when I lived in a shared house, only when my housemates were out though ;)When a mate came up he took his forks to bits for a service on the fireplace – that’s 3 tiles deep!

Cheers Guys,have been thinking about a car wash at local Garage.Have used muc-off wipes, cf,just dont seem as good as a bucket and sponge.I forgot to say i,m not to keen on cleaning outside or on the balcony.It,s a bit of a rough area and I dont want to give any tea leafs ideas.
Any more suggestions greatly appreciated.Monkeys.

Cheers Kev,I did forget to point out the the balcony decking has gaps in it. 😕

Get friendly with your neighbours below 😀 but yeah, a nice bit of tarp to let it drain off down some stairs or something? Don’t feel you are doing something wrong, like it’s some kind of social stigma to BE CLEANING A BICYCLE in full view of kids and old people. Those neighbours give you any gyp, just tell thm you have a serious health condition (sad face) and cycling is very important to your life long health and you also have a cleaning OCD! terrible,difficult, etc. Not one drop on their property and you are good to go! (on a nice clean bike). OH get some insurance, if it is how you say it is.. they have clocked your bike and where you live already.

I had the same situation. Started-off just going to the jet-wash place on the way home (as long as you are careful it’s fine), but ended-up getting a portable mobi thing. That had the added benefit of the bike getting cleaned before it even went in the car.

For oiling/spannering, I had a big bit of carpet underlay that got folded up and kept under the sofa when not in use.

Kev,more truth in your reply than you will ever know.Primate.

If your worried about stuff getting nicked as Kevers says get it insured.

Good reply bf,unfortunately I dont own a car and tend to ride to and from my frontdoor.Perhaps i could stick it in the fountains at the town square! 😛

yeah, whack it in the fountains, just take a bottle of fairy in yer camelback and a scrubber. serious though- there is nothing wrong with a jetwash, just dont point it at your hubs or headset or anything with bearings and job done. It’s well worth 2 quid in a proper jetwash machine just for the laffs anyway just give the bike a quick going over then play with the jetwash 😀

Thinking about getting some contents insurance,mike.Should be able to get it through my social landlord.Anyway,it is mainly dust on my bikes at the moment.It,s really the cleaning of the drivetrains which I need to do.Treehuggers

Yeah, it’s either a jetwash on the way home, or clean it in the bath!

fack. If you’d have said it was just “Dust”, I’d have left it at the big dark brown rug solution!

Northern dust though Kev.

I have been to Manchester, and lived in Hull for a bit, and I can understand how dense the local dust can be.

I clean my bike in in bath. The walls are tiled so any oil or mud splashes just wipes clean. No one could tell a bike was cleaned in there. if anything the bathroom is cleaner afterwards than before.

I also have a portable washer you can get battery powered ones so you don’t need a car to run one. Just rinse the bike down before you get in the flat.

I recently changed the cream carpet with laminate flooring again easier to just wipe mud and dirt away. But I kept a large piece of the old carpet and lay this down before I do any work on the bike. It catches any dirt or oil that falls down keeping the floor underneath in good condition.

The trick (IME from student flats) is a simple bike, if you can get away with a rigid SS then your cleaning can litteraly be a dirtworker/mobi at the trail, GT85 the chain, drive home, lube chain and leave it till next time, wipe off excess and ride.

Cleaning isn’t problem, it’s the regular faffy maintenance tasks that end up either taking 5x longer than they should, or depositing a gunky mess on the floor.

I used to use the local garage jet wash on the way home and stash a can of GT85, lube and some wipes just out side the flat, then inside carpet protector and stored the bike on my balcony. (1st floor big lock).

I keep a mobi washer in the car (behing driver seat) and keep it topped up with water. The bike gets a quick hose down to get the worst off and a quick wipe down with a towel. The mrs seems happy enough for it to then come into the lounge (cream carpets). The bikes don’t need a hose down in this weather tho.

As far as maintenance, I chuck a rug down on the floor and carry out all my servicing (inc fork oil change, bleeding brakes, building new bike, setting up tubeless tyres) all in the comfort of the lounge. Only once has it not gone to plan where my bike tipped over and smashed an ornament (and nearly had the handlebar smash through the telly). oops

Although the mrs is very tolerant I cant wait till we buy a new man cave with house attached.

Mine goes in the bath or shower. Take the wheels off and do them separately.

I used to use an old pair of curtains and a knackered bath towel as the working surface.

I may also have been known to clean the bike in the shower too…

…I was VERY single in those days.

Glad someone posted this thread, was going to post a virtually identical one..

its very dusty where i ride on the bike tracks, so every so often i use the jet wash in my local morrisons, only a quid for a short wash, just make sure you just use the water rinse setting and not the wash wax setting, doesnt help your disc brakes much otherwise, and avoid spraying directly on your bearings, brake disc calipers.

It,s a bit of a rough area and I dont want to give any tea leafs ideas.

leave it dirty then. Less desirable and they can’t see what they’re nicking. Also time and effort saved. More time for drinking beer and eating haribo. 🙂 Ftw! 😀

I feel your pain living in a new build flat with no outside space…!

I used to wash mine in the bath but not sure it’s all that great for the health of the bike as it’s almost too wet! As my shower has a fixed showerhead water pools in vital areas like the headset and BB, it’s also pretty annoying with the bike falling over without the wheels on. I agree it doesn’t make a mess though, the first time my mrs caught me washing the bike in the bath was an interesting conversation, but testament to the fact I’d washed it several times previously without her noticing…

I’ve made ‘friends’ with the local car wash guys and now just head down with a few quid in hand and they let me have free reign of the facilities from buckets and sponges to the jet washes, its much better than a petrol station jet wash as there is no time limit and you can do a proper job.

Might be worth scouting at your local area to see if you can find somewhere like a car wash place.

Thanks for the replies chaps,some good ideas their.To be honest,i,ve decided to only ride in dry conditions.Hopefully this will make things a little easier on my flat and the bike.Monkey

You are only going to ride in dry conditions? Granted its nice and dry at the moment but usually….

I,m not a daily rider Cm.We can usually manage a few dry days.Even in winter.

yep – i have cleaned my bike in the bath – but its a real PITA – so now i ride with mates who have an outside tap, then road ride back with a clean bike and have an old heavy duty rug – to tincker and lube the bike on in the flat

works a charm

Perhaps i could find a local church with an outside tap.Or just chuck her in the tees afer a long ride.I,m only 300 metres away.