Regular maintenance in small apartment?
 

Hi, I bought a tricross a month ago and have put several hundred miles on it since I got it. It's my second road bike, the other being a cyclo-tourist but its the first "high-end" one. It's also the first one I use so much since I commute to work (10.5 miles each way). One day I will have a huge house with a wood shop with guitar building center, a full bike shop as well as dedicated movie center, an audio studio, 3 kids, a pool, regular trips to Paris and tour Europe a couple of times a years. IN THE MEAN TIME; I have a small apartement and two bikes in a locker (the tricross and my girlfriend's sirrus) ;) I don't have the space to "shower" the bike at all and can't put it in the tub :D I also can't spill grease on the "carpet" floor. How do you guys in city apartments deal with the issues? How to you clean your bikes and oil the chain without making a mess? Do you recommend other regular maintenance other then cleaning/oiling the chain?

Thanks

I don't live in a small apartment. However, I lost my "bike shop" when I moved into a bigger house. Went from a house with an unfinished basement (perfect bike shop) to a house that had no such thing. The bikes live in the garage now unfortunately, but I don't have good working space out there, particularly in the summer when it's hotter in the garage than it is outside.

My wife won't let me set up a bike shop in the house. However, she has compromised. She lets me keep my tools in a closet, and move the bike into the "breakfast nook" of the kitchen to do work. It just can't live there. I don't "bathe" my bike, but manage to wipe it down from time to time. And if I oil the chain I put some newspaper down. The amount of space that has been given to me is honestly not more than I would have in an apartment (I've lived in many...believe me...) and I manage a great deal of maintenance. You just can't have a permanently established "shop" and still effectively use your space for other purposes as well. You'll have to always put your toys away somewhere.

I just drag my repair stand and tools outside.

My "repair stand" is actually the bike rack on the back of the car. Perfect height!

+1 - I actually was using that even when I had a garage because I'm too cheap to buy a stand. At the moment (changes at the end of the month) I'm in a wee little studio with carpet everywhere except the bathroom, which barely has floorspace. Thankfully I'm on a 3-speed most of the time, so maint. is pretty low-key. When I do need to do more extensive cleaning or lubing I put plastic grocery bags down to cover the area and then an old towel or bathmat on top. The towel soaks up most of the overflow liquid and the bags protect the carpet. If I don't have a decent workspace in my new place I'll buy a may of some kind to put down.

It's good economics. A stand is good if you're working several hrs/week on bikes. Otherwise, it's just another thing laying around unused for 90% of it's life.

The downside of working on your bike outside if you live in an apartment building is the separation between your work place and your apartment where you store your stuff. If you live in an urban area you better not leave your bike or tools out of your sight very long and if you forget something your screwed.

I got the Park Tool Repair stand from Performance for $110 a couple of years ago and it has more than paid for its self. I use it a lot and it folds up real nice. Justs put one those tarps that painters use over the carpet and you are good to go.

Ride down to a coin operated car wash, put a couple of quarters in and blast soap and water on it till clean. Bring a towel to dry and then add oil. If not, then its a bucket and a rag my friend.

That's a great idea... I don't think I've seen one of those around me, but I'll keep an eye out.

I do all of my work in my bedroom, and keep most of my bikes in my room as well (3-4 complete, plus 1-2 in the hallway outside my door). I have a repair stand and a stand alone rack that is designed for 2 bikes but can easily help accomodate 4.

Then again, my room has bike parts strewn across the floor and can be disorderly at times. However, when everything is clean, there is definately enough room. It just depends on what you can tolerate.

Cleaning isn't a huge deal, but sometimes it sucks when your room smells like simple green or grease.

You really need to just accept that you need to devote more space than you might want to bike related things. But you can totally make it work.

tyvek parking mat on the rug. oil chain over newspaper laid out on floor. buy a cheap 'track stand', suitable for most basic maintence procedures.

accept grease in the rug, don't sweat it. you've likely already paid for cleaning the rug after you leave thru a clause in your lease.

i never worry about what my landlords think after I've moved out.

Do you have a balcony you can work on?

I'd be careful about using a carwash's high pressure sprayer as you may be pushing soap & water into areas where it would not normally enter like bearings.

I do my bike-fixing outside if the weather's good. As far as cleaning the frame, I just don't do it. Having dirt on the paint will not cause the frame to break any quicker and the cleanliness on a bike ridden every day won't last anyway.

I adjust brakes, shifting, etc. without a workstand- I just lean the bike up on something and fix what needs fixing. It's not the most convenient thing but I only have to do it every few weeks anyway.

During the winter I try to do my maintenance at times when the bike does not have any snow or ice stuck to it. I bring the bike inside and usually lay it on its side in the living room where it will be hard to walk by until I'm done fixing the bike. (extra motivation to get stuff done quickly, since my sweetie doesn't like to step over me and my bike stuff). We have hardwood floors, but I have in the past used newspapers to catch dirt that falls off the bike if the bike was particularly dirty.

Put cardboard down on the floor and work on that.

Yep I do that even in my basement with my workbench. And my trainer is also my best friend as the all around Mr. Fixit stand. :) I just take care to lube the chain outside - even in the street as I just had the driveway redone.

Not a good idea. Pressure washers put out a huge amount of pressure----enough to remove grease from headsets and bottom brackets. Much better off with a bucket and some brushes.

Don't a lot of car washes also add some wax to the soap to add to the luster-factor? I would think that you'd probably want to avoid that, too.

Getting great ideas! :) So far here's what I gathered:

- I have a small balcony that I can work on. But when I bring the bike inside and hang it upright, can the oil drip? The balcony leads right into the carpet living room, can the oil drip while moving it? When I was at my parent's house we'd use motor oil on the chain :P and it dripped.
- I can't stain the carpet. It will at least piss off my girlfriend and I don't like to do that ;)
- A stand is pretty much a must as I understand but I do have a cheapo trainer! I guess it suffices?
- A rug or car mat is a great idea! As well as cardboard and newspapers. I can probably use a combination.
- Well.. bucket and soap :( darn; I'm lazy.

Any other type of maintenance I should do daily (or weekly, monthly)? I always do a quick check of the brakes and the tire pressure but that's pretty much it. Is there a checkup list to follow or guidelines? Like for car maintenance, at 5000mi change the oil, 6000mi change the breaks, 7250mi change the engine etc.

Oil should NEVER drip from your chain when you're done servicing. I'll address the conceptual problems here in the order I see them.

NEVER use motor oil. That's a huge bicycle no-no. Motor oil does indeed drip, plus it just isn't formulated for a bicycle chain. It will cause everything to be even dirtier in very short order. Use a chain specific lube...some of the more advanced lubes have cleaning properties that I don't understand, but they say it's so.

When you lube a chain, you should very sparingly apply the lube by the drip and listen carefully as the noise smoothes out. Then you should take a rag and whilst spinning the drivetrain wipe off all the excess. Excess lube does drip (though not like motor oil) AND it attracts dirt and grime. You don't want excess lube on the outside of your chain anyway, just inside the links where it counts.

You will need, likely, something on the floor to catch the mess from this AS YOU ARE APPLYING. Mind you, if you apply sparingly, it won't be a big mess. Once done however, your drivetrain should not be dripping.

Some of your questions are great for the Mechanics forum. Brakes and tire pressure really are the most you need to check regularly. Everything else depends on use, environment, and quality of components. One of the advantages of the derailleur equipped bike is that all the mechanical parts are readily visible, and thus for the tinkerer/home mechanic, needed maintenance is usually fairly obvious.

I typically watch for wear and tear on most things, and pay attention to how crisp your drivetrain is working for you. Once a year I usually recable since the insides of housings are difficult to diagnose without taking everything apart anyway.

I strapped mine to the porch railing out front.

The high pressure is probably not a good idea. I only use these coin-operated car wash to clean my car engine, but I normally turn the dial to the low pressure one, but YMMV with options available.

Since I have a house I normally just hose down my bike in the backyard. To clean the chainring and cassettes I use a can of Carb + Choke Cleaner. Its for cars but it works well also for removing that gunk. I usually spray it on and everything drips off, then I just hose it down.

Takes about 10 mins to clean; Do the above then let to air dry while making a sandwich, then come back a lube the chain.

I've been spraying my bikes clean at the carwash for years. I do however break my bikes down, lube and repack everything at least once a year.

An old t-shirt on the floor works wonders when I'm cleaning and lubing my chain. That stuff rinses off, you know.

Don't hose down your bike, give it a wipe with a clean rag and some Bike Lust. You'll also be able to give your frame a closer inspection for rust, corrosion, cracks, etc.

Also, dish soap and dabbing and a lot of water will get filthy black grease out of a nylon rug. Learned that one after changing a bottom bracket out.

outdoor trash bags on the floor with some big old ratty towels on top, shower parts separately, clean chain in 2L bottle with solution.

I use my mag-trainer as a maintenance stand, and I have some ratty old towels that the puppy has chewed up which I use for catching drips and such while cleaning.
I use a Finish Line chain cleaning tool, and that creates quite a bit of dripping, so I double up some shop rags on top of the towel where the cleaner solution drips. Once I'm done with that, there's nothing too messy about just lubing the chain and cables and small parts.

We have a bike co-op here where you can take your bike to work on. They have tools and everything there from what I understand. There is a membership fee, but I think it's about $35/year or some nominal amount. http://www.durhambikecoop.org/. You may want to see if something like that exists near you.

I actually have a nice detached garage under some shady trees which serves me perfectly.