What to do with a wet, dirty dripping bike?
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What to do with a wet, dirty dripping bike?
yesterday I rode home on wet roads. I don't have fenders yet, so the road gunk got all over the bike. Once I got home the whole bike was dripping this black, dirty, greasy crap all over the place. I live in an apartment and have no garage, and pretty much the whole apartment is carpet. What do I do with this mess? What do you do with your dirty bike?
Some more details, I won't leave it locked outside, I can't get it to my porch because I'd have to carry or roll it over the carpet and leave a bike poop trail. What I did last night was leave it in the entryway which is linoleum. I left it there overnight and wiped up the bike mucus this morning.
Some more details, I won't leave it locked outside, I can't get it to my porch because I'd have to carry or roll it over the carpet and leave a bike poop trail. What I did last night was leave it in the entryway which is linoleum. I left it there overnight and wiped up the bike mucus this morning.
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Originally Posted by super-douper
... What I did last night was leave it in the entryway which is linoleum. I left it there overnight and wiped up the bike mucus this morning.
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When I was in a similar apartment situation a few years back, I used to keep a few old bath towels around. I'd lay them down on the floor to create a path either to the bathroom (then put the bike in the bathtub to wash) or to the porch. Used to only need about four towels.
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Fit fenders
Wax the outside of the frame, so it will shed dirt easily.
I used some clear plastic carpet covering to catch any drips. Any carpet shop will have the stuff, about 1m wide in a roll.
Wax the outside of the frame, so it will shed dirt easily.
I used some clear plastic carpet covering to catch any drips. Any carpet shop will have the stuff, about 1m wide in a roll.
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Originally Posted by Turbonium
i think you just answered you question but what i do also to lessen the mess on the floor is wipe down the clean water on the frame, handle bars and other components which don't have traces of dirty water. i don't wipe down the dirty water because they have particles that will scratch the bike, so i wait until its dried then i can easily take the dirt off.
maybe I should just dunk the sucker in the pool when I get home, then wipe it down. I'm sure the apt management would be ok with that.
I guess I need to wash the bike really good, all this dirt and black gunk couldn't be just from 4 miles of roadway. Would fenders help? Anyone have any idea how to mount fenders on a suspension fork with no eyelets for fenders?
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Originally Posted by super-douper
Anyone have any idea how to mount fenders on a suspension fork with no eyelets for fenders?
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Plastic tarp for the carpet. Just wipe down the bike with a towel or rag. Since it's wet, the gunk should easily wipe off. Relube pivot points and chain. It only takes a few minutes once you develop a routine. And follow MichaelW's advice about waxing the frame - it does help a lot. I don't recommend washing the bike, you maybe wash out grease and lube that's better left were it is.
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Originally Posted by Stubacca