As i seem to spend ages washing bikes i think i might build a little washbay as my driveway looks a mess.There is mud,grass and an oily film all over the place.Any body got a picture of there build so i can get some ideas on what to build.

I just laid several large concrete slabs – loose but on flat earth – and then constructed a horizontal wooden bar with some planks off an old pallet.

The bar needs to be high enough to hang the saddle over it and lift the back wheel off the floor for easier cleaning.

Don’t have any pics handy but I’m sure you can imagine it….

Now build something like the IMO car wash, so you can just sit on your bike get an all over wash(once a week) and blow dried at the end. I’d pay for that service. 😉

I got the blokes who put our fence up to put stones down so the water and crud drains through.

The fence is going a bit green, so I should coat it with something.
(old pic btw)

What about the gravel idea but with a simple bike stand installed – I’m thinking it would be stable enough to wash the bike, could be installed allowing 360 degree access to the bike and would be simple enough to rotate the wheel that’s in the stand to wash it. You could install the stand on an existing fence post …

Stand

… or install one on the floor with a bag of postcrete

Something like this but for one bike.

… or even install something like this on your fence post

Drop down bike rack

Oh I did have a pic.

The bike hanging is quite small like a 14/15″. A big All Mountain bike just fits under the bar but still hangs off the ground enough to spin the back wheel OK.

I dug a blumin big 6’x2’x2′ hole, tipped about 1.5′ of broken bricks. covered that in heavy duty polythene, stabbed some holes in it then filled the rest with 50mm pebbles. I set a railway sleeper at the back and bolted an old workstand to that. Probably a bit overkill with the soke away but next doors garden is a bit lower than mine and didn’t want to upset them. Works a treat and deffo worth the toil of digging the hole out. I’ll post a pic tomorrow.

there is some good ideas there
🙂

Depends on what you have but same as namastebuzz though using a bit rope slung between two hooks on the house and garden walls? Not much work in that, it’s the drainage that is harder (6x2x2 is a heck of a hole to dig).

Who have you put in that hole?

I dug a blumin big 6’x2’x2′ hole, tipped about 1.5′ of broken bricks. covered that in heavy duty polythene, stabbed some holes in it then filled the rest with 50mm pebbles. I set a railway sleeper at the back and bolted an old workstand to that. Probably a bit overkill with the soke away but next doors garden is a bit lower than mine and didn’t want to upset them. Works a treat and deffo worth the toil of digging the hole out. I’ll post a pic tomorrow.

Edit: Ok so exagerated a bit on the size of the hole but it is deffo 2 foot deep

Redted, nice I’ve been thinking of doing something similar. In fact all the ideas on here are good. Time to get the digging head on..

still to be roofed with clear sheet but all done…
hot and cold taps on side of house,
slight slope into a meshtop gutter,
filter at end of gutter so (roof) drain wont clog,
wooden homemade front wheel holders,
outside airline socket,
all washstuff in a big box at side,
now floodlit for winter! 😮

Ok coastkid that trumps all. Get the roof on and a shower in there.

Time very well spent and makes the job of cleaning your bike almost pleasureable. Just remember if you do a similar one to mine, and clamping by the seat post,when you dig the hole, you need to allow enough overhang for when you turn the bike around.ie.the seatpost is not the middle of the bike. luckily a mate pointed that out as I was digging it!

Basic tip…make sure you have a good LIGHT installed for those dark winter evenings. I used to have a crappy dull outside light & often found once in daylight again that the bike wasn’t as clean as I’d thought!

Coastkid, That is serious dedication,nice one!!! Good idea with the floodlight. At the mo, I have to put my helmet (including Vision 4) on top of my van to shine down.I think the missus would dispair of me if I built a roof over it though.

You dont need a stand / clamp to hold the bike. Just turn it upside down. That way its easy to rotate the wheels and gears and clean them.

My garage started life as “loose box and carriage house” according to the house plans, so has water and drainage. Until we needed the space for girl guide troop camp stuff, I had an old bath from a skip perched in there with hosepipe sprayer. Needed one wheel off to get the bike in well enough to minimise overspray, but worked well. These days I take the manhole cover next to the wall up and stand the bike there, the muck just drops straight down. Amazing the difference hot water makes too if you can get it.

The trouble with putting your bike upside down for washing is that enivitably the saddle and handlebars are on the wet, gritty floor – your saddle gets mucked up and you run the risk of scratching things like your brake levers, gear shift indicators and anything else attached to your handlebars.

i liking the home-made wheel block thingy for holding the bike up….. might have to make a couple!

Crikey. This post has highlighted a problem I didn’t even know I had 😆

these are good-http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_522911_langId_-1_categoryId_242557