Wanted to know what people do about storing dirty bikes at home and/or in the car or van. obviously more aimed at those in flats and houses without outside space.
cheers Tom
If bike/tyres are still wet/muddy when I get home I hose it down, lube the chain and then wheel it inside.
If the mud has dried I might be able to get away with just taking it inside, as long as the mud is dry it can be hovered...
In my car I put the frame into a duffbag and the wheels into a couple of wheel bags. This does well to keep the dirt out of the car and also helps protect the leather upholstry.
I have an old tarp down to store the bikes on indoors. I still have to make a dash from outside and over cream carpet to get there though!
Its a royal pain in the @rse to clean up after myself every ride, so am currently trying to think of some sort of home made bike bag option to get it through the house.
we have an old shower curtain in the living room which is pinned to the wall and runs across the floor so the bikes can stand on it and dry/ drop mud, as well as not ruining the cream wall. works OK and plus point is close to the door so no dash across the house:
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8347/8179867304_87a9497cca.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/77208531@N02/8179867304/ ]Living room student style[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/77208531@N02/ ]northdownsouth2012[/url], on Flickr
The car is covered in a couple of charity shop towels which can be shaken out/ washed when needed.
Big plastic tarp in the back of the car - a fiver form b&q.
But now I've given up on bikes in the back of the car, and just sling them on the roof, which with Proride 591's is a piece of piss. I'll take the hit in fuel economy for sheer convenience & lack of damage to the car interior & other bikes (quite often has two in).
In the past when I've had no house-interior storage space (they live in the cellar now), I used a bucket of water to clean them off before locking them up temporarily to drip dry as much as poss. Then I put a plastic sheet down on the floor & against the wall in the house/flat (rented) and put the bike(s) on that.
I do the same as Portylone,went night ridin t'other night & the tyres were full o dog shit when I came back,so didn't really wanna wheel it in ...
So, if there was an appropriate bike bag option that could be used to zip them up and keep the crud in one place whilst also offering dome protection to the bike and car body work and upholstery there may be some interest. . . . price dependent. i know there are bike bags out there but if it were more specific to mountain bikes and not one that necessitates taking both wheels of and twisting bars and stem etc.
So, if there was an appropriate bike bag option that could be used to zip them up and keep the crud in one place whilst also offering dome protection to the bike and car body work and upholstery there may be some interest. . . . price dependent. i know there are bike bags out there but if it were more specific to mountain bikes and not one that necessitates taking both wheels of and twisting bars and stem etc.
A padless waterproof bag is what I was thinking of. Turn the bike upside down outside, wheels off and bars turned, bag over the top of the frame, turn it all up the right way and drop the wheels in to transport in car, carry indoors etc...
So, if there was an appropriate bike bag option that could be used to zip them up and keep the crud in one place whilst also offering dome protection to the bike and car body work and upholstery there may be some interest. . . . price dependent. i know there are bike bags out there but if it were more specific to mountain bikes and not one that necessitates taking both wheels of and twisting bars and stem etc
I think that sounds like a good idea in principle but it seems that the majority of folks that transport their bike(s) inside their car need to remove a wheel (or sometimes both wheels) and potentially turn the bars & forks a bit (without loostening them) in order to fit the bike(s) in the car so you may find that it would be of more use as an inside the house storage place rather than for use in a car.
I can fit my bike fully built into the back of my car with the seats down but need to manipulate the steering a bit to get it through the hatchback opening & I'd need to be sure that I could still do it with the bike bagged.
Not trying to be negative, I like the idea, just wanting to assist in ironing out potential issues.
I would go for something like that. I live in a small flat - and the only way to get a muddy bike out back to clean it properly is to take it through the hall and living room. A bag I could leave by the front door before a ride, then pop my bike in when I return - leaving me the option of delaying cleaning to a more convenient time, would be a very good thing IMO
A cheap plastic groundsheet and some duct tape sounds like the answer to me.
I developed this a couple of years ago for just such an application, front wheel off, rear wheel stays on.
[url= http://www.duffbag.com/blog/2011/05/13/duffbag-monster-bike-bag/ ]Duffbag Monster[/url]
Sounds like a job for [url= http://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-accessories/b_w_international_bike_tub_black_no_bh96260_96260_/njNA_v3l2BRa, ]BIKE TUB!!!![/url]
Not got one myself, but can't help thinking they would be ideal for those 'sneak my muddy bike into the B&B' moments.
@ Duffman - that is basically what I was looking at doing, I have not seen them before though, they have been available for a while right?
Why not a portable pressure washer at the trail head??? Like one of these.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/SearchResults.aspx?Search=Pressure+washer
I clean it strap it on the back of the car drive home , it's air dry by the time I get there and all I have to do is lube the chain and all while taking it through the house.
About every 4 rides I give the bike a very good once over in the garden etc.
there a bit of an cost at the start but I'm on my second year with my mobi v17 and its been a god send.
I use a waterproof motorbike cover,plenty big enough.put it on with bike upside down then stand bike back up and all the shit stays in bag 😉
I use one of those 'one tonne' bags that you get sand and gravel in. Dirty bike goes straight in the bag in the car and then the whole bag can be taken out afterwards with no mud getting anywhere.
My trick is not giving a shit about the back of my car. Been taking a very very muddy trials m/cycle in the back recently. Can't wait to get a proper rack for it, though.
I also use a Hippo bag which does an ok job, just wondered if there was scope to create a more specific bag, but it looks as though it has already been done with the Duffbag.
duffbag - I have the Monster - [url= http://www.duffbag.com/ ]link[/url]
EDIT: I have just seen Mr Duffbag has posted above, I can tell you it works very well. The handles are well placed too for lifting and maneuvering the bike into the car
Why not a portable pressure washer at the trail head???
£100 ?
Have to say when I want to clean the bike I bring a bucket, sponge and water inside a couple of old 9 pint bottles from the micro-brewery.
used to just use my bike bag (big one for plane travel) and stick my bike in there before putting in the car. out it came to wash it in the garden and back in to store in the house. sounds a pain, but had nowhere else to store it as it was a shared house and had to keep the car spotless (company car). took the pedals off an the whole lot went straight under the bed no problem. infact stored 2 bikes that way for a year till i moved out to somewhere with a spare room. bit of a PITA putting pedals on/taking off but meant i had them stored safe and didn't knack the company car
When I lived in a flat in the middle of Bristol I used to use a portable jet washer (Mobi-washer) to clean the bike after a ride in the car park before I put it in the van. That way I could quickly get it from van to flat once I got home to reduce the chances of being spotted by a bike thief in Bristol. We used to keep it in the spare room on some old curtains as by the time we were home it was clean and dry.
Could be a bit of a faff at the end of a ride, but better than cleaning an expensive bike in the car park in a dodgy part of town.
Tom KP
stumpytom - Member@ Duffman - that is basically what I was looking at doing, I have not seen them before though, they have been available for a while right?
@stumpytom Yes they have been out about two years, they sell quite well but have not made me rich 😉
I tend to design and make things that I would use to solve problems that I have i.e. muddy bikes and gear in cars, I figure that if I use them then other people will too. Kind of works out but probably could do with being a bit more scientific with my methods and marketing 😀
I used to use an Evoc bike bag for this purpose, it was a PITA and I made the switch to Access self storage instead.
That duffbag looks ideal though, had no idea someone was already making the thing I needed!
I use a cheap bike bag, and if its really muddy ill take a small manual pressure sprayer. Can be a royal pain to strip the pedals after every ride, but its better than getting earache from the Mrs.