Are these really overated , i mean 90 odd quid for a washer ….i have been using a bucket and watering can to clean bikes for the last 20 years and its been no major drama not to mention the bucket and can did not cost me 90 quid !!

Thoughts and comments especially from anyone who has one .

Being an electronics geek, I'm seriously looking at spending the 90 quid on batteries and running my small Karcher off them 😀

Obviously the current drain is huge, but 5 minutes is plenty with a 10 gallon water container. All I need to do is to work out if the Karcher runs off a high voltage DC supply (don't want to use an inverter).

Back in September I spent a week in the Dales/ Lakes and got the bike filthy every day. That sort of setup would have been a godsend since I couldn't get to a decent bike wash.

I'm interested to find views on this bit of kit as its a potential B'day pressie for me.

bucket and water or one of these less than £29 from Argos for mine IIRC
Pressure sprayer

not a bad idea but whats the pressure like and does it get in all the nooks and crannys effectvily ?

I have tried those plant sprayers and to be honest, they are rubbish.
Dirtworker was good, but not as good as the Mobi.

Better quality and wider pressure range.

Really comes into its own when riding away from home and especially at events.

dirtworker was a bargain at £25 but I wouldnt pay £90 for one.

although if I had then I might be more inclined to use it more, currently gathering dust at the back of my shed.

I've just bought one, not used it yet though. I live in a flat with no hose, so can't use my normal power washer.

As always with these threads though – if you don't want one/see the need for one, don't buy one.

Jam Bo……you need to sell it wink wink

Matty the Mod

All depends on your circumstances. I picked up a Dirtwrker from Halfords for £25 and it has been fantastic.(When I say I, specifically I sent my other half to a shop in Belfast and she had huge dramas as per the slating Halfords staff get on this website but eventually returned with it.

I live in a second floor flat with no access to a handy yard/garden top clean my bike. Hence it is fanatsic. I was spending money every ride on a jet wash and now I'm not. If you fill it with hot water it's great.

It is also brilliant if you load your bikes into the car and don't want to run the cars interior.

However I do think a thorough hot soapy water and sponge is better and I would not pay £90.

A bucket of water/sponge/brush is all well and good but not the greatest when away from hot water…who wants to put their hand into cold water when its freezing outside!?
I use a bucket of hot water at home and a dirtworker away from (well sometimes).

I spotted a pair of the wife's rubber glooves the other day when cleaning bike with bucket of water. Blimey they made such a difference. So I'd recommend Bucket, Water, Rubber Gloves and selection of tooth brushes.

Fairy liquid too none of that Muc Off stuff.

Got a Mobi, and it's very useful. Just don't go thinking it's a pressure washer – it's not. Took mine to Cwmcarn yesterday and there was enough water in one tank to do four bikes – not spotless but pretty good.

The whole point of the Dirtworker is a mobile way to clean your bike, with a built in supply of water.
I think I got mine for £80 or so and it was one of those things that I ummmmed and aaaaahed about and then the first time I used it, realised that it was definitely worth the money.
Get back to car from a muddy ride, get Dirtworker out with a brush or two and it'll do a top job of getting your bike 90% clean. Then just re-lube the chain, stick some GT85 on cassette/mech pivots/pedals etc. stick in the car and off you go.
Main advantages for me were that you don't have to stick a filthy dirty bike in the car and you don't have to spend ages at home cleaning the bike.

If you are thrifty with the spray & use brushes, you can easily clean 2 bikes & just about clean 3. Obviously depends on how claggy the mud is. I cleaned my bike after the WS2 last Sunday and without any brushes, the bike still needs a fair bit of cleaning in the more intricate areas.

Hand pumped pressure sprayers are the way to go…i've been using one for a couple of years now, 7Ltr and it blasts the shiote off my bike at about 40psi!

i really like my dirtworker. Just after you finish the ride is the best time to clean a bike as the muds still wet and comes off easily and this is when i use the dirtworker the most. Every time i use it people come over and ask what it is. Its just very quick and convenient which is definitely a plus point in the cold dark wet winters with limited daylight.

if you've got a garden, or a shed, or a hose pipe its probalby not needed, but for anyone who lives in flat and/or drives to the trails its great.

bucket and water is cheaper, but you can't really put that in the back of the car.

I tried a garden sprayer and it was useless.

I got a 'car shower' from Maplin for £6, modified the shower head using a silicone sealant nozzle to make a jet, and bought a 25litre jerry can.

It works well with a fair amount of pressure (jet shoots water about 20 foot) but because it's so narrow it feels a bit like painting a wall with a 1" brush.

I have cleaned 3 bikes, plus 3pairs of footwear and 3 pairs of lower legs with it in the past.

Ben

was looking on CRC last night after getting bollocked for bringing a speck of mud in the house after a ride, their cheapest jobbie seems to be £80 but only comes with a Car adaptor, bit shit in my view….

Looked about online and you can get a basic Karcher for about £50. Considering that at the minute as I'm currently using a bloody watering can to rinse the bike off and it's rubbish, tried a garden sprayer and found it similarly crap I reckon I need some POWER!! in my washing…

Quite like the idea of a Karcher, can do the car/guttering with it too in theory, might have a nose in focus on the way home tonight…

I've got one of these

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_241043_langId_-1_categoryId_165486

Plenty enough pressure if you don't use the 'shower head' attachment and only £20

Dirt worker = genius kit. We have to drive for most of our rides. Putting bikes back in the car clean is a wondrous advance, and it means much less faffing when I get home too, which was always a source of contention with the rest of the family hem hem. Especially valid if you keep your bikes inside the house.

Only draw back I've experienced – there are air holes in the top of the lid to stop creating a vacuum when the water is squirted out. Fine, but it leaks in the boot of the car. Put a plastic bag inbetween the lid and the water tank before screwing the lid back on.

You can save money by using those garden thingies someone's put a picture of on this thread, or make your own whacky device. I've seen the garden sprayers in use, until you've tried a dirt worker you might think they're ok, but next to a dirt worker they are crap. Bit like painting the Forth Bridge with a tooth brush.

I got mine full price a couple of years ago and it's been worth every
penny. Since then, 6 people who I ride with have got them – all from Halfords where they seem to think they're a rubbish path cleaner and don't know what to do with them so offload them at £25. £25 for a dirt worker is flipping brilliant.

I have one and although i don't use it much (have access to a hose on my normal riding area), it's still a great piece of kit. No point having one if you clean your bike at home but that's not what it's designed for. Try sticking a bucket of water in the back of the car and go for a drive and see how much is left? Dirkworkers main selling point is portability and volume of water imo.

I got mine at Halfords as well (for £50 which i was happy with) but would not want to pay a whole lot more than that.

Very handy if like me your bike goes in the back of the car but not so essential for those that have specific bike vans or use roof mounted carriers.

it was one of those things that I ummmmed and aaaaahed about and then the first time I used it, realised that it was definitely worth the money.

Same for me. Bikes travel inside the car (partly paranoia about being followed home, and I haven't bothered getting roofbars for my current car yet), and I live in a flat with no outside hose. Being able to get the mud off the bike, let it dry in the car on the way home, then be able to wheel a clean, dry bike back into the spare room when I get home is a godsend.

Problem is with getting a cheap Karcher & some kind of adaptor/invertor to run it from is the high pressure it uses.

First of all it's not great for your bike, but possibly more relevant is the amount of water they get through. Aren't most Karcher plugged into a mains hose/tap??
You'd need to carry a 25L water carrier with you as well as the Karcher.

That's why the Dirtworker is so good, as you don't need to worry about the car park you end up in having an outside tap (so long as you remember to fill it up first!).

Splashed out for a Mobi a few weeks back and no regrets.

I use it both at home and in the car (the Mobi comes with a 240v adaptor).

I used to use a "garden sprayer" and it's way better than those. But whether it's £70 better I'm not sure.

Doesn't get the bike spotless, but when you are not finishing a nite ride until 11pm and are off to work early the next day, it means that you can quickly get the worst off rather than let the bike sit for a day.

Especially useful when I drive somewhere for a night ride. I normally just hose down the bike whilst waiting for my stove to boil. So within 5 mins of finshing a ride the bike is cleaned and I've got a brew. Throw it on the roof and by the time I have driven home, the bike is dry, so a quick lube and the jobs done.

I can see the advantage of the Dirt worker in a trail centre car park but I really want something I can use both in the back garden off the mains and in the arse end of nowhere with my cars 12V DC, and I don’t want to pay the earth for a leccy water squirter…

The dirt worker is 12V only so that’s out

The Mobi on CRC is mains and 12V hold 15L but costs £90 so looks doubtful

The Karcher is £50 I think it may be mains only (but can’t seem to find confirmation) and requires a separate water source (either a tap or a water container of some sort). And probably spanks water like there’s no tomorrow.

So there we go, I may just get the karcher and a water butt/container/rain collector of some sort (no outside tap or viable hose route into the garden) and a big bastard tarpaulin for the boot (so no cleaning before loading the bikes), and just wash down at home, as I think I’ll find more additional uses for the karcher perhaps…

Use my dirt worker at home as well with a,

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_211677_langId_-1_categoryId_165657

How about the new Dirtworker Cordless – seems more power options?

I'm getting the Brand X one from CRC for xmas. The wife got it for £70 om their 10% weekend deal.

I've used the garden sprayer for years and it's alright but it's not powerful enough IMO

I just nipped to Merlin and collected my new Mobi v17, mains/car and has it's own rechargable battery power, holds 17 litres.

Can one of the doubters please explain to me how I take a bucket of water and a watering can in the car and in to the middle of nowhere with out it spilling, cos I can't work it out!

merlin mobi wash

jerry can, filled from kettle, lagged with foam?

Can one of the doubters please explain to me how I take a bucket of water and a watering can in the car and in to the middle of nowhere with out it spilling, cos I can't work it out!

Ta-****-Da! Einstein:

http://www.completeoutdoors.co.uk/Water-Carrier-25L

http://www.click4tents.co.uk/Water-Containers/Fold-a-Can-Water-Carrier

£130 for a jerrycan with a pond pump and a bit of hose attached, you was had mate…

Ah right, so I take a bucket and a water barrel and a pond pump and some hose pipe and a nozzle for the end of the hose and some way of connecting the pond pump to the car and then have to wash my bike right next to the car and not care where the muck is washing off to! Now I understand.

Cheers, but I think I'll stick with my expensive tool for the job! 😉

I've got one of these

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_241043_langId_-1_categoryId_165486

Plenty enough pressure if you don't use the 'shower head' attachment and only £20

Nice one cheesyfeet – that looks like it'll do the trick for me 🙂

Looking on the Mobi website there's no reference to being able to run from the mains at all? Has this changed as this was the primary reason for looking at one?

Like I said I reckon £90 is steep £50 might be fair but £130? Are you mental?

Thinking back a couple of years ago a mate of mine bought what I think might have been one of those Halfords dirtworker jobbies, it was toss, 2 DH bikes half a day at a wet but not soaking Aston hill, and not a chance of getting the crap off of both bikes… 15L nowhere near enough water and not enough pressure to shift 70% of the crap stuck to the bikes, rubbish…

Nah: a 25L Jerrycan, and a super soaker would be about as effective and I’d pocket the £110 difference…