Polaris OBark

A damp microfiber towel is all you need to clean a bike unless it is caked in clay-based mud.

Of course, it helps if you use wax or some other dry lube on your chain. Then it needs no cleaning; the main issue becomes keeping it dry while you clean the rest of the bike. With a damp microfiber towel.

Mojo31

Be careful with the head set in the shower. They can be kind of sensitive.

woodcraft

But then, 'house', 'outside hose', and 'self serve car wash' likely don't apply to NYC apartment life...

J.Higgins 

Precisely. I have never lived in NYC, but I have lived in an Italian city for a few months. Stayed in a hotel, and rode a beat-up old Rudge, for which I paid very few lire. My room was small. My bed was small, which is another story altogether - my feet hung about a foot off the end of the bed, and I'm only 72" tall! Anyway, they didnt like me keeping my bike in the room. The bike would bump up against things and leave a smudge. I kept the chain going with a wad of paper towels to clean it and a can of motor oil. Eventually the maids got P-O'ed and complained to the hotel manager, and he came to see me. I was young and belligerent, but I quickly put the situation to rest and chained the bike to a lamp post behind the hotel. When I woke up the next day it was gone.

eduskator

That's what she said, right?

Reflector Guy

I do it that way too if the bike gets dirty after I've drained and rolled up the hose at home already. Mount the bike on the cheap Allen bike rack and drive it to the car wash.

I use the Low Pressure setting.

rumrunn6

it's New York City in February. with recent storms & cold weather, I'm guessing there's some road salt everywhere mixed with droppings from all kinds of commercial vehicles. near me, in Waltham, on route 117, right near the bridge over route 128, there's a storm drain that overflows w/ what I'm guessing in household raw sewage, from the smell of it. used to bike commute that way & it never failed to gross me out when there was a lot of extra water on the roadway there

prj71

Even if one lives in an apartment...I'm sure NYC has a self serve car wash.

rumrunn6

was gonna suggest that myself

just got one myself. but the OP might need more fire power & depending on what floor he lives how would he handle the logistics? I can run inside fill it up & leave the bike unattended. the other day I had to fill it twice. even if he gets a bigger one, does he want to lug the jug & other cleaning supplies like a towel, etc up & down steps or elevator?

Mojo31

As if the smell of ambient bum piss and poop in that city is not enough to gross you out.

rumrunn6

I here ya, but I didn't want to go "there" & insult where the OP lives. I lived in a northern borough & worked in the city & my memories are mostly all good

Reflector Guy

I thought that was mostly a San Francisco thing?

msu2001la

I'm sure NYC has them somewhere, but if the OP has to ride several miles on slushy winter roads to get to/from, it seems kind of pointless.

I live in Chicago and this definitely isn't an option for me. The closest spray wash is over 4 miles away.

prj71

I guess if you don't have a car to get it there and back home then that would be a problem.

delbiker1 

Very dirty if it is rainy or wet, on the road or not. Throw in some wet gravel and we are talking caked on, very gritty filth. If snow and ice was recent, the road salt really needs to come off.

tempocyclist

^ For sure. In winter or in the wet a road bike can get very dirty.

Unfortunately my bike doesn't fit in the shower, but if I had a big "walk-in" shower or a bath tub shower, I'd be very tempted to use it as a bike wash!

bbbean 

I do occasionally, but only when the wife isn't home.

GlennR

Safe to assume you rent?

Branko D

No. Sometimes I will wash a wheel in the shower after a messy tubeless setup, but generally no. There's just no need to do that with a road bike imo, it just doesn't get that messy.

What I do when a wipe with a wet rag won't do is possibly worse; I get it in the kitchen/living room (the floor is tiled), spray some soapy water, and then a bit of clean water and wipe it all with a rag then relube. Then clean the floor afterwards. Wife doesn't really object because, well, I clean her bikes, too, and clean after myself when I'm done.

delbiker1 

Perhaps you are a fair weather rider, nothing wrong with that. Living in a beach area, even if it is dry, when the wind is up, sand gets blown and kicked up into the drive train and other areas. It gets to the point you actually hear the the grit, if it gets bad enough. That has got to go. I know of no way to get that off and out of the chain, gogs, etc. without a hose or some way of using water with a bit of pressure behind it. Using just a spray and wet cloth is likely going to affect the surface of the finish of the frameset. It's like wiping it down with sandpaper, JMO, of course. Personally, I will do it in the shower before the kitchen or other living space, any day. Wash those troubles down the drain. However it gets done, I prefer a clean, quiet bike.

phrantic09

I would hope there’s not raw sewage in storm drains. Especially in the western burbs.

I’m partial to the smell of hot garbage in July

BTinNYC

Hah! You've never seen the NYC roadside piles of grey-black mung that 2 weeks previous was fresh snow. That plowed stuff becomes filthy oily salty blech, and that's on my road bike, shoes, etc.

I know, I know. New Yorkers are nuts.

sdmc530

I did this just last night. BUT it was a bare frame and I was prepping it to be get painted so it has no components on it. I was just getting clean before paint prepping. My wife still was less than happy with my decision.
I probably wouldn't try it again.......couch seems like a poor place to sleep.

prj71

This thread reminds me why I don't live in NYC or any big city.

Mojo31

Can I get an AMEN!?