During the spring, summer, and fall I was fairly religious about cleaning my bike. It got a wash just about every weekend and a chain lube every few days. But since the winter came, I've been neglecting my baby. It's covered in road salt, dirt, mud - you name it. This weekend, the Fiance is heading out of town so it's bike weekend for me. The temperature will be in the teens, so I won't be riding, I'll be CLEANING!

I live in an apartment which has no access to outside water during the winter. It will be well below freezing outside. I have access to an unfinished basement and with the fiance out of town I could also possibly make use of the bathtub (after the majority of the dirt is removed in some other manner) so long as whatever mess I made could be cleaned up!

So, how should I attack this? My plan is to go to Home Depot and buy a lot of simple green and brushes. I may also buy some sort of large tub. From the bike shop I will be purchasing a new chain, supplies/tools needed for removing the cassete (what do I need for this?), and grease for the bottom bracket. I will be disassembling the whole bike for this cleaning... If it matters, I have a Park PRS-20 professional repair stand to use during this process.

Tips on how to work out the logistics of an indoor, winter cleaning?

Step 1 - I would bring the bike inside overnight to warm it up, take the bike and a bucket of hot soapy water outside the next morning and scrub that thing down once quickly.

Step 2 - Then I would put generous amounts of lube all over everything and be done with it.

Alternmate Step 2 - If you really wanted to do the detail cleaning, at least you'd have a good chung of the grime off before you started soiling up your tub. The thick globs of grease, grime, road salt, dirt etc. will clog up your drain right quick if you don't get most of it off first. But the tub will work - be prepared for a b!tch of a time getting grease smudges off the porcelain. Oh, if you have a plastic surface on your tub, forget it.

Put on your watergear and go theu a car wash

On a more serious note, a do-it-yourself car wash would work great. High pressure sprayer and stuff.

Personally I wouldn't recommend cleaning it in the tub... Grease is such a PITA to clean off stuff. If you do, get a tub of hand cleaner from an auto parts store. Gojo is a good brand (get stuff without the pumice). It does a wonderful job degreasing your hands and sink/tub/etc when you're done. Simple green is good for cleaning the bike itself.

Having a quick link on your chain will make cleaing your bike a lot easier. Search for Raiyn's chain cleaning method which I think works the best and is easiest.

I live in an apartment too, and have a small outside porch area to work. After each wet winter ride, I take off the chain, I fill a small bucket with warm soapy water and with a long handled brush give all the affected parts a quick once over. Only about two minutes time tops. Then rinse off with a water from an a 2 liter soda bottle with a fliptop cap from a dish washing soap bottle. Squeeze the bottle and you get a good enough jet to rinse off the bike. The pull up nipple type top from dish washing soap doesn't have a good seal and leaks. The fliptop type cap fits good. Target has the flipup style and I'll post a picture when I get home. Bounce the bike on it's tires a few times to get off some water and roll it into the tile kitchen floor to dry. Rinse and hang up the chain, towel dry parts, whole thing is done in five minutes. In the morning put chain back on, quick lube with Triflow and I'm good to go.

Set up the bucket and bottle of water before you leave and it's a simple quick process. Any more complex and I would never do it. Water dosen't have time to freeze and you can avoid an intense one time clean up until warmer weather.

A car wash pressure hose will be OK as long as you keep the nozzle away from bearings. A toothbrush and cloth are useful.
Most modern bottom brackets have sealed cartridge units which are non-maintainable. If it works, leave it well alone. Some high-end ones have replaceable industrial cardtridge bearings. Older ones are cup and cone.
When the bike is clean, dry and warm, apply a few layers of car wax.

whoa....

I only use WD40 to clean the bike in the Winter!

I found out the hard way, I would never use a Hose to clean. Water and (gunk) will get in your cables, springs of your derailleurs, FREEZE! Course if you want to replace things, LOL kidding

I would wait till warmer weather before using a Hose, Pour water out of a bucket, or do as I do, NO water, just rags and WD40. Then relube.

I put the bike in the tub, grab a watering can, some degreaser spray and some rags. Maybe ten minutes for a decent cleaning.

Derek -- I just cleaned my bike inside for the first time and I used a 5 gal. bucket from Home Depot and warm soapy water. With the bike in the repair stand I put the bucket under the section I was washing and using a rag washed the area and then moved on. I had a tile floor area to work on, but if you don't I'd buy a plastic tarp or a heavy plastic sheet to work over.

For simple road grime, soap and water worked well. For oil and grease and tough stuff I used Simple Green which did a good job. I'm not sure my bike is as clean as it is in the summer when I can use the hose and a lot more water, but it looks reasonable.

Coincidentally I changed my cassette this past weekend and found it to be pretty easy. You'll need a chain whip and the correct freewheel tool, plus a large adjustable wrench. You'll want to make sure you have some grease to lightly lube the freehub before you put on the new cassette. I wiped a little bit of crud and the old lube off the freehub with a rag and mineral spirits before relubing and installing the cassette.

Once everything is clean just relube everything, check all the fasteners to make sure everything is tight and check any other parts for excess wear. Good luck.

by the way, I don't actually clean my bike in the winter, I just put a lot of lube very frequently, sometimes squirt wd-40 to clean the cassette and chain and periodically wipe down the rims for better braking.

But how long to clean the tub?

whatever you do, don't use a powerwasher! it shoves water and dirt into your bearings and ruins the slick coating in your cables, not to mention getting water inside your frame. it sounds dumb, but plenty of diluted simple green and paper towels is all you need to get crap off your frame. it takes a long time to completely rebuild all the bearings on your rig - BB, headset, hubs, pedals. and if you are doing it for the first time it will take twice as long and cost you a chunk of $$$ for tools, new bearings, replacement cups/cones, etc.

I totally agree with the WD40 guys! Do not use water. I spray the chain with wd40 while holding a rag behind the chain to catch the overspray and the crap that falls out. Then I wipe the excess off and move onto the next section of chain. Then I take the end of the rag and slip the edge into the rear cog set and go back and forth like I'm buffing a shoe. The ratchet with make this go fast the more you get used to doing it. Do this for every space. Then I turn the now WD40 sodden rag and flip it over to the "unused side" and wipe down the frame and other parts. I used to be careful on the rims but found that a couple rotations with real braking takes care of the residue that doesn't evaporate off.

I clean mine while hanging the back half in the tub at my apartment..

I personally don't care how it looks in the pipes after it goes down the drain.

I do clean the tub up with COMET w/ bleach and a scrub sponge to get it clean when finished.

Thanks for the suggestions. Here's my comments on some of the solutions:

Power Washer - I've done this before, but it really does more harm then good. If you use a car wash powerwasher, use one that has a mist setting.

WD-40 - This isn't a lubricant. You really shouldn't use it on your chain. Lots of people do, I know, and if you think it works, go for it.

My plan is to hit up Home Depot for some Simple Green and a large tub. I'll do a quick once-over outside, trying to get the majority of the caked on mud off outside. Then I'll give it a quick drydown and bring it inside. I'll use the basement if it isn't too cold down there. I'm going to set the stand up on a bunch of newspaper and go to town with a spray bottle of simplegreen. I'll have the chain off for this and will remove anything else I think i can easily enough put back on. When I re-assemble the bike, I'll put fenders on it to keep it from getting this dirty again.

I have a shop so I don't have a problem with cleaning space or methods. But, here's a possible solution for you:

While you're at Home Despot, go to the bath tubs and look for "bathtub protectors". When I did some re-modeling, I used them to cover customers' tubs. They are black plastic, cheap, and fit into your tub like a liner. They look kind of like a watering troff for livestock. You can get in there with the bike if you have to. Cut a hole near the drain (no bigger than a quarter) so when you empty it the waste won't smear the whole tub and leave a hard to remove ring. You'll work hard trying to remove that. Cover the hole with electrical tape or duct tape til you're ready to drain it.

Be kind to the salmon - put your oily rags and such into your Homer Bucket.

A note on your fender plan:
Fenders are good. Big fenders are gooder. You will need clearance so take a close look. Big fenders with large - really large - splashguards are the only solution to road grit in the works of your bike and shoes. Something else at Home Despot for you: Cheap rolled stair tread material. Rivet that on to your really big fenders. For the front, start at about ten o'clock (yes, up under the fender) and take 'em to within 2" of the ground. It should over hang the sides about 1". Really. It's the front one that counts the most.

I have Planet Bike fenders on my Trek 520. The toy flaps are useless, totally useless. They're gone as soon as I get to it.

My 830 is a MB but I have 1.5's on it. I kept the 2.5" fenders and did the above. Odd looking but very effective. A great battlebike!

Thus sayeth the Mudflap Meister

For a real good end of winter cleaning:

I like to clean my rims in the bathtub with the showerhead running warm, a small scrub brush, and dish detergent. Concentrate on the rims only. Then I use a metal cleaner (not polish!) to shine the rims up (and sometimes spokes) and get road film off. This really helps braking too, especially if you clean the surface of your brake pads at the same time with alcohol and roughen the face with sandpaper.

I use a dry rag and toothbrush to remove the dried, rough dirt from the frame. Then I wash the frame with hot, soapy water and a slightly wrung-out rag to get the grease off. After drying I apply car wax. By this time, it's usually time to go to bed. :-)

I'm presently rebuilding every component on my bike, with the ultimate aim of having a beautiful shiny old bike that sails along with nary a touch from me on the pedals! The bike should be happy to be a bike. :-)

Use a gatorade squeeze bottle. Soak the bike once with plain water. Then soak it with soapy water. Brush it is bit with an old bottle brush. Soak it again with plain water.

I did thi syesterday, and my bike is squeeky clean.

Follow this with good lubrication on the moving parts... something other than WD-40. WD-40 is really a water displacement spray that is supposed help parts shed water. But it is not a good lubricant.

The other thing I like to do is wipe the painted frame parts with a liquid auto wax. Wait about 10 min and buff off. This helps shed water and dirt the next time around.

WD40 is a decent idea for cleaning a lightly dusty chain, but the way my chains get in the winter, I'd need a king sized can every time I cleaned. Even after just a couple of days of riding the chain is literally crusted with gunk. It really needs removing and washing in multiple hot water and soap baths until the baths don't turn black when the chain is put in, then I shake dry and WD40. Then when that dries, a very light oil.

In the summer I can get away with a WD40 hosedown, dry, and oil.

One more word on WD40... I never use it on my Chain or Derailuers, I use it to clean the FRAME, Rims, and such.

I use degreaser with a Chain cleaning gadget (you know the type), I also use degreaser (not all the time) on the cassette and chain rings, then I relube... every weekend in the winter!

Sorry I didn't reply sooner but my Ipod wanted to drive me crazy when I got home. For apartment folks with no access to a garden hose, this dishwashing soap top has the same threading and makes a god seal to a 2 liter soda bottle, to jet rinse.

Good tip. I never knew that. The possibilities are endless!

For cleaning my bike in the winter, I go with WD40. I only bother with drivetrain, rings, cogs, BB, chainstays and other parts that get that gritty black roadspray. for the top of the bike I just wipe it down with a dry rag.