Anyone done this?

[HereNT]

I can't just lock my bike up outside this winter, so I've been putting it in the tub. I'm thinking of putting in a hook so I can just hang it from the front tire. My coworkers found this idea laughable and gave me a lot of sh!t about taking a shower with my bike. I just want to make it easier to put away/rinse the bike. I'm a little worried about what my landlord will think when I move out - I'll have to drill through some plastic. I'm not going to ask them if I can put the hook in or not, since I'm pretty sure they'd say no. I'm a little worried about all of the sand/gunk going down the drain too.

Are there better ways to keep the bike inside in the winter?

[supcom]

Wipe down the bike with a rag before you bring it inside. Some plastic sheeting on the floor would protect the carpet. There are bike racks that lean up against a wall that do not require holes or screws into the walls.

Drilling through part of the tub/shower to install a hook without the owner's permission is a bad idea.

[landrover]

Does your landlord have storage?.
If you're done riding for the year, you could store the frame and put the wheels in two wheel bags and keep those indoors.

just a thought.

[HereNT]

What is this 'done riding' you are refering? The problem is the snow getting everywhere on my hardwood floors.

Does your landlord have storage?.
If you're done riding for the year, you could store the frame and put the wheels in two wheel bags and keep those indoors.

just a thought.

[landrover]

oh! ;)


i have a hardwood floor,too.

i purchased a large dropcloth with a leakproof bottom from Home Depot.
I have the luxury of cleaning it in the garage of our building and then drying it with a portable hairdryer.

[rattking]

sand will clog the heck out of your pipes and is really hard to clean out..
i know as i have done some apartment repair
i am still looking for a large tupperware type lid or a few small ones to drip dry the bike on.. i will post it here if i find anything really convenient
later

[xylx]

Don't drill a hole in the plastic shower surround. They'll end up charging you to replace the whole surround. Which isn't cheap. And when they take down the surround to fix it they'll find all this rotten studdage and mold back there that really isn't your fault because they put it in wrong in the first place but they'll sue you for that too anyway. Trust me. I'm a lawyer. And whatever you do in the privacy of your shower with your bike is NO ONE'S BUSINESS. (see. eg. Lawrence v. Kansas)

[jnoble123]

Here's how I solved the problem.

Do you currently have or are you even remotely interested in getting a bike stand?

I ask because I have a Park workstand that I use in conjunction with two reasonably cheap 3 foot by 2 1/2 foot plastic trays. The bike comes in when I return home from work/play and it is immediately placed on the stand. The plastic trays collect the water. Since the trays are roughly 3 inches high I have never had problems with water running over the edges. No fuss, no mess and in addition to the cool sound of water dripping off the bike for a little while you also have a bike stand to make winter maintenance a lot easier.

~Jamie N
www.bicycletouring101.com

[jnoble123]

I meant to also add that since winter tends to bring with it a lack of humidity in the air the water in the tray disappears prior to reuse the next day making it somewhat self-maintaining. Understand that road dirt and stuff that falls in the bucket still awaits eventual clean-up if you feel it's necessary.

~Jamie N

[HereNT]

Thanks for the tip jnoble. I need to get a stand sometime, but space is limited anyways. I'm not sure what the final soloution will be. If I figure it out I'll let people know.

[vrkelley]

My coworkers found this idea laughable and gave me a lot of sh!t
Are there better ways to keep the bike inside in the winter?

It's good to keep quiet about this stuff at work. Coworkers even if they're bikers love to poke fun at anything that's different (for some narrow minds, anything innovative is laughable).

What about a plastic boot-pan that fits inside the tub/shower?

[HereNT]

It's good to keep quiet about this stuff at work. Coworkers even if they're bikers love to poke fun at anything that's different (for some narrow minds, anything innovative is laughable).

What about a plastic boot-pan that fits inside the tub/shower?

Yeah, my coworkers all think that I'm insane. I showed them SamHouston's (in SS/Fix) pics yesterday to show that I wasn't alone. My boss was giving me crap just for riding in - it's all sand/salt on the streets right now, nothing dangerous for handling.

The main problem with the shower is that the bike doesn't really fit, and I have a ton of sand/salt sitting in the tub in the morning.

I am going to hit big k-mart today to see what they have for plastic sleds - I think cutting two sleds up so they fit into eachother might work... I don't want a gap, because a lot of snow builds up around the BB. I'll probably need to buy some duct tape too - hard to believe I don't have any :)

[r-dub]

I've gotten secure bike racks installed at three different jobs (used to do tech consulting) by refusing to leave my bike minimally secured and insisting that it stay in my office until there was a better solution. Back in those days I could make some pretty amazing demands...

[brokenrobot]

Except that it seems to be a dry winter here, I was considering getting two of the plastic troughs that one uses in wallpapering and simply setting my bike's wheels into them, so that water running off the wheels and downtube would be contained and I could still lean the bike up against the wall as usual... A length of plastic raingutter and a couple of caps to match would work, too. Sort of the same idea as jnoble's, but without the stand.

Of course, if it keeps not snowing ever, I won't need to worry about it.

[wasted weasel]

i can leave mine locked outside, but regardless in your situation on days when the bike get's really messy and caked with road grime I lay my bike down on it's side (outside) fill a pail with hot water and a little dish detergent. Then pour about 1/2 the water over the bike and grab a toilet brush and use the remaining water to give the bike a quick bath out in the snow (just to get the salt off it... that is usually my main concern, I only do this about twice a month).

then you could bring it inside.... not so much dirt crusted on it. Although maybe it's me, but there is something sickly satisfying about seeing my bike just covered in filth (commute bike that is, I'd cringe to think of my Lemond roadie in such a state)

[HereNT]

My solution ended up just being an old blanket that I let the bike drip dry on. I leave it outside at work.

And the layer of filth is simply insane this year. I guess I've just gotten lazy this year.

[peregrine]

Thanks for the tip jnoble. I need to get a stand sometime, but space is limited anyways. I'm not sure what the final soloution will be. If I figure it out I'll let people know.

I've got the same problem HereNT. I rent an appartment, the space is limmited, the garage is shared (not really an option) so I've been keeping my bike on the terrace as close to the wall as possible. I feel really bad about it though because it's not an enclosed space and temperatures have dropped lately, it's windy and there's some kind of precipitation almost daily - rain, snow, freezing rain, freezing fog :rolleyes:

Keep us posted if you figure out something.


edit: oops, somehow I've missed your last post. I guess the blanket would work, although I don't think my roomate would be happy about it :rolleyes:

[swwhite]

The bike stand idea is better than my idea, but here is my idea.

Get a 5X7 platic tarp from the hardware store. They are cheap. Any plastic sheet would do but I suggested the tarp because of its toughness and cheapness.

Optionally, get some rope and put it around the edge of the tarp, fold the tarp over the edge, and duct tape it around the rope. Something like that. The goal is to make a little lip around the edge of the tarp so that when you set it on the floor (rope side down) the edges are higher than the middle. This is so that if water gets on the tarp it will not run off the tarp onto the floor.

Get a piece of green fleece from the fabric store (or some nice color of your choosing). Cut it so that it is the same size as the tarp.

Find a nice prominent spot in your apartment. Put the tarp on the floor. Put the fleece on the tarp. Put the bike on the fleece. The fleece will absorb the dripping from the bike so it doesn't run all over the place, and the tarp will protect the floor. When the fleece gets too dirty, pop it in the washing machine.

Get some spotlights or accent lights or hardware-store task lights and set them up so the illuminate the bicycle, probably from above. The idea is to highlight the bike as a piece of sculpture. On the green fleece, it will look like it is resting on a piece of grass on a summer day. (I guess this whole idea is based on the assumption that you have a kickstand.)

[GrodyGeek]

Plastic sheets are a good idea. Also a Fleet Farm or other farm, feed, seed, implement, or hardware store might have these black tough bins I use. They are about 3 feet by 2 feet and about 8 inch deep. You might even fit it into the shower and that way the crud doesn't go down the drain. Just pour off the water and dump the wet sand outside or something.

[librarian]

I too have hooks in my tub/shower that I hang my bicycle and or waders in to clean them. To keep the sand out of the drain I cover it with a thin green scotch brite dish cleaner from the dollar store.

If it a tub with a shower in it chances are the chances are the roof is plaster not plastic. A dab of spackle before you leave is all you'll need.

Always hang a bike by the rear wheel. And finally there is a good bike cleaning article at http://purpleextreme.com/cleaning.html

[CastIron]

At work I just got a Waterhog commercial door mat (appropriated from elsewhere) and put the bike on that. To deal with grime from the melt-off I put a cheap rag/towel/cloth over the worst parts on the rug. It's working swimingly.

[Drakonchik]

I can't just lock my bike up outside this winter, so I've been putting it in the tub. I'm thinking of putting in a hook so I can just hang it . . . . I just want to make it easier to put away/rinse the bike. I'm a little worried about what my landlord will think when I move out - I'll have to drill through some plastic . . . . I'm a little worried about all of the sand/gunk going down the drain too.

Are there better ways to keep the bike inside in the winter?

Bike stand and pan is probably best, but. . . .

I put in extra shower curtain rods in my show stall so I can hang anything wet and dripping over the tub. The rods are the telescoping kind. I socket the ends of the rods against two oak 3/4" X 4" planks. The planks press against the wall, just above the edge of the stall, pressed and lodged in place.

I've never hung my bike this way, but it would work, assuming you're using a stainless steel rod.

The best part is you can quickly hang your sick, dripping outerwear and deal with it later.

I don't think the grit is a problem for the drain -- hair is worse.

[James H Haury]

I use a bucket with warm water and soap and give my bike a sponge bath with a rag and then polish it when it is dry .Showers are for sharing with your spouse not your bike. Your bicycle might get water in someplace that will do it damage.

[Stacy]

I'll have to drill through some plastic. I'm not going to ask them if I can put the hook in or not, since I'm pretty sure they'd say no. I'm a little worried about all of the sand/gunk going down the drain too.

Are there better ways to keep the bike inside in the winter?

Here's a bke hoist at Costco for $15 http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=33784&whse=BC&topnav=&browse= Maybe this way you could make (mendable) holes in the ceiling instead of the plastic?

I keep my bike in the kitchen. The floor is dirtier since I began doing this but I just clean more often.

Stacy

[HereNT]

I just took a photo to show my current low-tech soloution of an extremely dirty blanket, but for some reason my computer isn't recognizing my flash card...

Kind of weird to see replies to this a year later...

[Severian]

Here's my method. I've got 2 bikes and one of those floor-to-ceiling racks.

Rack:
http://www.performancebike.com/product_images/150/37_1246.jpg

Under this rack I have interlocking waterproof matting that I got at a local hardware store. Much cheaper than you'd find online. The source of this matting is a website that resells Martial Arts matting. Which my dojo uses on our floor to keep people from getting massive bruising when we throw eachother around.

Matting
http://www.judosport.com/Images/mat004.gif

The matting is a foam-rubber type that is relatively easy to cut with a standard safety-blade. It's washable with a mop or hose, and best yet. If you're in an apartment you don't have to worry about leaving it there, since it is eminently portable.

[frankiee]

I could not tell if you are in an apartment or not.
I have no garage so I bought a 4 by 4 by 6 1/2 ft. shed to put my bike in.
I have a small heater that I put on for an hour to melt the ice or dry it after a wash with the hose.
At school I just leave it outside and if it freezes then its a pain to ride but I survive.
Would your landlord object to you getting a small hut????

[silversmith]

Kind of weird to see replies to this a year later...

2004 - 2005 - 2006

Happy New Years!

I got my ride in today......................