Looking at getting a mobile washer as the filth is getting a bit much at the moment for the car and I don’t like using the big washers. Living in a block of flats not ideal for muddy biking!

Seen quite a few negative reviews for the mobi kit, don’t really want to spend £120 on something a bit cheap and leaky. The Nomad is very expensive though… is it worth the extra?

Can’t find many user reviews on them that aren’t press releases. For £200 I was expecting brass connectors etc, but it’s all plastic. Seems better built than the mobi though and spares easy to come by by look of it – so anybody got one?

Save yourself some cash and get one of these and a wash mit. It will deal with 90% on the mud and the mit will deal with the rest. Just put water in it, pump it up and away you go.

My Nomad is great one of the best things i bought.

Started this thread a few months ago but still haven’t splashed the cash. Check out the comment I made on my Dirt Worker.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/nomad-portable-bike-pressure-washer-anyone-use-one

Yeah found that thread – not many people seem to have actually splashed! It is a lot of cash just to keep bikes clean, but i’d rather have something proper, not leaky etc as i’ll get a lot of use out of it and it’ll live in the car quite a bit. You’d have thought they’d give a longer warranty on them but if the service is good that’s a bonus, parts seem to be a bit of a problem with mobi’s.

I like mine, but I have the 12v one (without the battery) that was £110 or so. Put it this way: I had one of the original yellow dirtworker washers in my car when it was stolen 2 years ago, and replaced with the current Nomad without hesitation.

Not sure how I’d feel about value of the 18v one though – it’s more money for something that’s heavier. Being able to use it away from the car might be handy, but I don’t ever feel the need for that.

I use it for washing the car as well as bikes. Connectors, etc seem to be well made. Their aftersales is great too – I thought something had blown inside and sent it back, turned out it was the 12v socket in my car. They returned it with a nice note saying it was all OK, had replaced a load of seals too.

I have a real cheapy one I got off ebay. Just a pump and hose needed to buy a jerry can to hold water and also only powered off the car does not have its own battery. It cost about £30 and I thought I’d try it out and if its works go for a more expensive all in one model later. But its lasted a couple years and still works like new.

I find it very useful. When combined with a brush, I can get one very very muddy bike very clean with about 6 litres of water and 2 very muddy bikes reasonably clean with 10 litres of water.

Using a brush is the key just relying on water power alone to shift the dirt uses up much much more water ~10 litres of water for one bike.

Well i’ve taken the plunge, dropping £200 on a pressure washer hurts but hopefully it’ll be worth it, i’ve needed one for a while & want a cordless one. Not faffing about with a garden sprayer – i’ve tried those and they don’t do the job really.

Dropped them an email and pretty much everything seems to be available as spares so hopefully will have a decent lifespan. Will post up a bit of feedback when it turns up.

Thanks for the update and look forward to a report once it’s been put to the test! 🙂

Edit: what’s the delivery time, ie are they actually in stock?

I’ve been using this one for a few years now

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/brand-x-x-90-pressure-washer/rp-prod58018

The connectors are a bit fragile but as long as you’re not totally ham fisted you’ll be ok. Replacement parts are available from CRC. Much better than any garden sprayer despite what anyone will tell you. I used a garden sprayer for years and this is night and day if you ride anywhere that’s genuinely muddy. Plant sprayer would be fine for trail centre grime but proper muddy stuff needs a proper washer in my experience.

And I bought the airace one which seems pretty good and the connectors seem pretty sturdy. The wiggle reviews like and and one compares to the dirtworker:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/airace-driving-waterman-portable-pressure-washer/

And I bought a car jump battery to run it away from the car, as I needed it for the car anyway:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clarke-910-Jump-Start-Compressor/dp/B004M418SS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385396651&sr=8-1&keywords=Car+clarkes+910

I bought one about 2 yrs ago love it the fact that I can use it anywhere without having to connect to a power source is great. Used it at loads of races especially exposure 24 this yr was invaluable. Also if I drive anywhere to ride (which happens a lot after dropped kids at school) I just chuck it in the van & soon as ride is finished clean bike which is a huge deal for me as I usually have to then rush off to pick up the critters.

The battery nomad uses the Ryobi One+ batteries, which obviously can be used with their power tools.

Wouldn’t be without it. It isn’t a case of being too lazy to wash a bike but more that it takes bloody ages to shift the claggy, clay based mud we have here from all the nooks and crannies post ride by hand which isn’t practical travelling with bike in the car and having to keep bikes indoors.

To wash by hand takes 2 buckets and a decent amount of time (most of the effort is spent spreading mud rather than actually getting it off it is so claggy!) with a brush whereas the Nomad can get the worst off in under 5 minutes. I tend to either give the bike a rub down or brush wash the next day to be squeaky clean but having been spoilt as a present from the wife I now wouldn’t be without it.

The seals wore out within a year or so and Nomad replaced them FOC.

Had a Nomad for 2~3 years and have washed car as well as bike with it. Needs about two fills and one battery charge for a thorough bike clean, more for a car though. I use it with a charged spare battery. Pressure doesn’t seem to high to worry the grease out of bearings. The other great advantage is that you can fill it from a tap and use the washer at times of hose pipe bans without being harassed by the water police. Nozzle and hose stow away in pouch attached to the bucket part – very neat. It also has a crude filter so you can refill from streams. All good so far.

I had a Mobi (after a cheapie brand-x died) and it’s excellent. Stays in the boot of my car and gets re-filled before each ride – absolutely no probs with leaks at all.

There was a fair amount of p*ss-taking when I bought it, but one ride later 2 mates were literally queuing-up to use it after me. Best winter riding accessory IMO.

Cinnamon-girl, I ordered it and it appeared the next day so pretty quick.

Got its first outing today and I was pretty impressed, I think 4 bikes to one fill is optimistic though. Didn’t wash the bike last weekend and it was absolutely caked in dried on mud, quick rinse, soak in muc off and wash had it clean. Made short work of cleaning up post ride as well, emptied the tank though on two washes. Reckon a proper slick and span clean would need one tank per bike.

Seems really well put together, decent battery and fittings. Pressure is good, I wouldn’t call it a pressure washer like a regular mains one but there’s enough grunt there to shift muck pretty easily without feeling like every bearing is emptying itself of grease.

i have one, we use it everytime we go out. i take it in the van and carry an extra 6 litres as well. enough to do 3 bikes and one dog easily. saves bringing most of epping forest home in the van

nick – thank you for your feedback and sounds as though you’re happy! 🙂

Am definitely tempted.

I use a Mobi Washer and heard a lot of people saying they break but mine’s been fine for several years now. I got it on offer somewhere for like £45 in the end though, don’t think I’d pay full whack for one as that seems a lot for what it is.

I don’t think they really totally replacing properly washing your bike though- ideally I’d say you can do maybe 3-5 rides washing with the pressure washer and then you need to do a ‘proper’ wash.

I wouldn’t go without one now though as they’re great for winter use when it’s freezing and you cba cleaning.

I have one, bought during the hosepipe ban, it does what it says on the tin and works fine for watering the veggies too. Make sure you grease the joints that fit into the hose (both ends) or the rubber o-rings go saggy and you don’t get a seal. (Nomad sent me spares FOC on request).

Does the Nomad work at low temperatures?

Thanks. 🙂