timmhaan

i need a few tips on how to clean bike parts without access to a garage, hose, and without making a mess. i live in a small nyc apartment and have to do everything in my bedroom. so far i've gotten by with just surface cleaning with a rag and some spray cleaner, but i really need to clean my drive train throughly. it's caked with oil, dirt, etc... and i can't really ignore it any longer.

a2psyklnut

Befriend a mechanic at a bike shop, bring him a six-pack and a pizza and ask him to stay late on evening. Then you can use their stand, and equipment!

Other than that, I'm at a loss!

L8R

K6-III

Get a plastic mat and have everything drip onto the mat. When you're done, clean up the mat, roll it up, and put it away.

djbowen1

I would go to home depot and get some of those plastic sheets that you put down to paint and use 1 or maybe 2 of those, they should be dirt cheap like a dollar or two.

timmhaan

good idea, i kind of do that already though. i guess i was more looking for advice on how to soak parts, what kind of cleaners to use, and most importantly how to dispose of them properly. i'm not sure how good it would be to be dumping harsh chemicals down the kitchen sink.

55/Rad

Get yourself a plastic container like a cat litter box and use Simple Green to clean the parts in the box. Filter the dirty Simple Green through a paper towel and flush the remaining solution down the sink with warm water and a grease cutting detergent like Dawn.

55/Rad

seely

The dishwasher is an awesome parts cleaner.

RobotSonic

good mats are the floor mats made for minivans because they are nice and long

djbowen1

i would buy a deep buckes for parts washing, like the ones that chemicals come in, i think they are 10 gallon? i may be wrong. if you go to an outdoor type store you can buy a round pad that is made for that size bucket specifically and use it as a seat while not in use.

Michel Gagnon

A tiny screwdriver or hair pin is great to remove cake out of cogs and chain parts. Once that is done, there is little left to clean. Put yesterday's newspaper under the whole bike and discard the mess afterwards.

geebee

Once you get the drive train clean if you wipe it over after each ride ( paper towel works well ) it will never get real dirty. I clean my bike in the lounge! after each ride because its wiped down all the time it doesn't make a mess.

bpohl

I live in a small downtown apartment, too, and I just go out in the hall to do all of my handy work. I guess it only works since we have carpets here that show absolutely no grease, and they clean them all of the time. For cleaning, I use the Park cyclone chain cleaner, which makes very little mess. To clean dirt off the frame, I use a regular old orange cleaner like Windex, or whatever.... I guess that only works if your farme is not absolutely CAKED in mud. Mine is usually just covered with road grime.

supcom

Use an SRAM powerlink so you can easily separate the chain. Wipe down the chain with a rag, then remove it and drop in a jar with Simple Green (or whatever degreaser you like). Agitate every now and then while you clean the rest of the bike. After about 15-30 minutes take the chain out and rinse it off in the sink. Dry off with a rag and reinstall on the bike. Keep the jar in the sink to avoid spills. Cap the jar until next time.

To clean the rest of the bike, get an exercise mat, chair mat, drop cloths, etc. to protect the carpet/floor. Best to use a foldup stand if possible and clean the bike with your favorite cleaner in a spray bottle. Use wet rags to wipe the cleaning solution off the bike and keep the mess to a minimum.

Alternatively, ride out to the suburbs somewhere with a self serve car wash or, even better, to a friends house and clean away.

slvoid

I live in NYC too and I know what you mean. My commuter I bought from gotham bikes which gives me free tune ups for life and $40 off their $70 super tune up which includes taking apart the drive train and cleaning everything for me.
In the apartment, get a couple of layers of old newspaper, unfold it, lay it under the drive train, pop the powerlink on your chain (or whatever you use), drop it in one of those little tubs you buy at the 99 cent store with some degreaser and water, leave it in there for a while. Take the drive train apart and drop all the cogs in there. After about half an hour, get an old tooth brush or a piece of old cloth, put on dishwashing gloves and scrub the gears and chain clean of any gunk. I lay down a couple sheets of bounty on a pile of newspaper, dump the chain and parts on it, pour out the water in the toilet, rinse the tub and refill with warm water, dunk the parts back in with degreaser again, let it soak and clean it again. Then repeat and let it soak in a few baths of clean warm water.
Wipe the parts dry and let the chain sit over night then put it back on and relube everything.
The degreaser'll probably leave a nasty ring of grease in your toilet bowl, I just drop some soap or washing detergent in there while my gloves are on, take some toilet paper (not bounty, that stuff doesn't break apart in water) and wipe the sides clean and flush.
To clean your frame, take a garbage bag, cut it down the sides so it unfolds, then put newspaper on top of that, take a rag and a bucket with water and degreaser and wipe your frame till it's clean. Repeat with clean water, wipe dry. Then just bag everything into another garbage bag and dump.
Or you can just get a large bucket, a friend, and do it outside on the street if you live in brooklyn, staten island, or queens. Just have a bucket of clean water handy to rinse down the bike when you're done.

brokenrobot

I use 8-for-$1 cotton washcloths from the dollar store for most of my surface cleaning; they hold up a lot better than paper towels, get clean with the laundry, and catch dirt better than sponges. I even use them to clean my chain after lubing; I just loop the cloth around the chain and run the pdeals through a few loops to catch the extra lube that would otherwise collect dirt (though the lube cloths get thrown out - you don't want grease like that in your laundry, and oily cloth is a good way to start household fires, as it'll self-combust).

If you use a good dirt-shedding lube, your drivetrain really shouldn't collect too much muck; I find that I can keep mine in pretty good shape in my tiny apartment with the above procedure and an occasional surface cleaning of der. pulleys and chainrings.

-chris

bg4533

I live in a similar situation, small apartment with no hose. For maintanence in the house I throw down a big blue tarp. I went mountain biking a few weeks ago after a big rain and everything was caked in mud. I took the bike through a do it yourself car wash and sprayed it all off. You just have to be careful not to squirt at the bottom bracket and other bearings. The bike was a little squeaky after that, but I greased everything back up before I rode it again. I am sure a lot of people don't like the car wash idea, but if you know the hassle of cleaning a muddy bike in a carpeted house you might consider it.

randya

I saw a video clip at my last safety training class about some guy who was using solvent to clean auto parts in his apartment bathtub. Between the lingering fumes and the dirty rags, he caused a small explosion, blowing the door off the hinges. Fortunately he wasn't hurt. But be careful doing this inside a confined space. My advice is that taking it outside somewhere would be the smart thing to do...

orguasch

you don't want to do this, right?
I also live in an apartment building here in Toronto, and i can clean my bike easy, you just have to have a very good imagination, its not rocket science , there was one suggestion you can clean it in the stairwells, nobody will complain

cowdotpat

I used to be in your situation. I made a wooden frame to sit across the bath and used to hang the frame with wheels off, over the bath (If you have a shower rather than a bath this is a rather unhelpful post, sorry but in the UK there is a stupid tendancy to build houses with baths but not showers). It was easy(ish) to clean it over the bath and the wheels seperately in the bath using the shower attachment. At least I then had a clean bike to maintain, less likely to be flinging dirt as I spun wheels to make adjustments. I took it outside to spray lube.