medic75

I began winter commuting in 2018. I do so on a big box store bike that I really don't care about. A quick spray down with the hose at work each day is all it gets. I have no way of cleaning it at home, so it sits in a somewhat heated (warmer than the outside) basement with the salt laden slush dripping off of it until it dries. Corrosion has taken over potions of this bike. I am sure that the spoke nipples are permanently part of the wheels at this point.

I recently purchased a fat bike that I do care about, and I am terrified of rust and corrosion. I have no way of cleaning it once it is home - short of putting it in the bath tub. How do you keep your "good bikes" in good shape during the winter?

wolfchild

Don't worry about rust, most steel frames will outlast you....I don't really do any special cleaning. Spraying a bike with a water hose or washing it in a shower is a bad idea because water and moisture will get inside a frame and stay there for a long time...Serious rust usually starts inside the frame and not on the outside...I usually just wipe the dirt and salt with a dry rag. The only thing I rinse regularly with water is disc brake calipers to get all the salt out of them...I recommend spraying some rustproofing oil inside a steel frame and don't worry too much about the outside. I have two steel framed bikes which are 12 years old and have been ridden in the worst winter conditions and the frames are as good as new. Both of my frames have been treated with rustproofing oil on the inside.

bpcyclist

I live right in the city and my building has no outside hose situation. I keep a towel I don't care about in the garage and wipe the bike down fairly well after a ride, more so in the wet, obviously. Once a week, or, after a long ride (100 miles, say), I carefully place it in the shower under pretty warm water. Rinse everything down, Run my hands over the brakes, pedals, tubes, saddle, quickly, just pulling off the stuff that isn't coming with just the warm water. Personally,, I do the rear end first then the front.

When the water starts to run clearer, out comes the bike onto some crappy old towels. A quickie dry job with one of those and the bike is done. Took 14 minutes today. Another 5 to clean up the tub/shower/bathroom area. So, about 20 minutes once a week and the bike stays looking pretty darn good for this time of year. That's my urban living solution. I'm sure other people have other ideas.

bpcyclist

Out here in the Land Of The Endless Rain (Portland/ Seattle), we put our bikes in a greaaaaat big shower every time we go for a ride, pretty much every day from early November to May. It rains literally for weeks on end here with no break. No serious, legit Pacific Northwest rider stops riding in the winter--none that I know, anyway. We just gear up and go. And I don't think our bikes are in any worse shape than those in Boston or Manhattan.

wolfchild

Here we have something a lot worse than rain and it's called road salt and it can be very corrosive.. During some bad winters my bikes are getting " salt spray baths " for days on end...On dry winter days the air sometimes has a salty taste, when the wind blows around all the dried out salt that's on the roads.

medic75

Yes, what wolfchild said - SALT. That is my concern. I have included a couple photos of my commuter for reference. While my fat bike doesn't see much road use, it does get attched to the bike rack and gets covered in all of the stuff that my vehicles tires kick up.

rumrunn6

bucket, long handle soft brush, check the big box auto cleaning aisle. warm water & dawn dish soap

I've since replaced the long handled brush cuz it got too greasy & I stopped using wet lube. the long handled brush is really the most useful one for me. if I stay on top of my cleaning I don't have to use the others & solvents

rumrunn6

why is that? I don't understand. do you live in an apartment?

parkbrav

Every week or every two weeks, depending on the weather, I take my bicycle outside and wipe the whole thing down, first with a PARC tool and then clean the chain with solvent and then wipe down with Clorox wipes. I believe I learned about this method from other posters.

I would also suggest regularly checking the PSI on your tires to make sure they are not too over-inflated and not too underinflated.

Phoenix800

My main problem is road salt. After each ride I rinse it off using my wife's watering can from her flower garden. I fill it up with warm water and then shower the bike with it. My bike then gets stored in my garage that is at 40F. The next day, the bike is dry and I spray down derailleurs with PB Blaster (penetrating oil) and lube the chain. I also spray the spoke nipples once in a while.

noglider 

I've lived in apartments for most of my life. You don't need any special facilities or a lot of space. You can spread newspapers on the floor. Or you can mop the floor after you're done. Use a bucket and some soap and water and then maybe some metal polish if you like. Sometimes a solvent such as mineral spirits helps cut the worst of the grime.

Welshboy

Road salt can be a bike and/or component killer if you don't hose your bike down and lubricate/grease. One winter, I almost reduced my Giant Defy to scrap value due to neglecting to wash it down and it's still got a stuck seatpin that will remain in there until it gets thrown into the furnace. Nowadays, I hose my bike down after every ride and spray lube the chain. I must admit to not checking my seatpin as often as I should though and will check them all tomorrow.

rumrunn6

Miele Man

When my bike gets a lot of snow/ice buildup on a ride I stick it in the bathtub and give it a good cleaning. Just be careful not to get water inside the cable housings if you plan to take it outside in the cold later that day/night. The moisture can freeze and prevent shifting or braking.

Cheers

wolfchild

I honestly think that it's a waste of time and overkill to wash a whole bike after every ride....All you really need to do is lube the chain and maybe rinse your disc brake calipers once in a while with some water to get the salt out of them and that's it.

wipekitty

Up in Wisconsin-land, I washed my good winter bikes in the bathtub (making sure to dry them thoroughly). Outdoor washing was not an option - anyone who keeps a hose hooked up November-April is asking for a busted pipe!

The kitchen is fine as well, but then I have to mop. I hate mopping.

Baby wipes are also convenient, especially if it's just a bit of mud or road spray rather than three inches of frozen-on gunk. I use them for summer cleaning, too!

gecho

I usually setup my repair stand in the entry way and place 2 boot trays under the bike to catch melting snow and water I used for cleaning. I also use the boot trays when doing maintenance to catch greasedirt clumps falling off the drive train, get that on your socks and you'll have grease streaks on the floor / carpet.

For the most part if its warm enough that my bike needs a cleaning, it is warm enough to wash it outside. If its too early / late in the year to have the garden hose hooked up, I'll use one of those hand pump 2 gallon chemical sprayers for rinsing.

Miele Man

I don't wash my bike after every ride, just when there's a lot of snow, ice or slush built up on it. Sometimes I get a 2+ liters container and fill it with really hot water and pour that over the areas of the bike that have a lot of crud on them before I bring the bike inside. I lock the bike outside and then come in to get the hot water. It's really useful for getting most of the stuff out of the recesses on knobby tires. It's surprising how much stuff can drip off of two knobby tires and a bottom bracket shell area of a bicycle. I'd rather have that fall off outside than inside.

For the times the bike needs a more thorough cleaning, I was it in the bathtub.

Cheers

EviLDORK

A good alternative to cleaning in the bathtub is using a pump sprayer (like those typically used for gardening) filled with hot water from the bathtub. This lets you quickly melt away all the salty ice outside without having to clean it out of your bathtub or kitchen. I don't wash it like this after every single ride, but about every week or 50 to 100 winter miles. Sometimes I use soap and sometimes I just rinse depending on how dirty it looks.


I do wipe the chain down after every single ride in the winter. I apply new wet lube frequently.


I'm trying to keep my spoke nipples lubricated by giving them a drop of wet lube after cleaning. This is an ongoing experiment.

ridelikeaturtle

A flattened cardboard box underneath will save your floor.

After a particularly dirty spin, I will:
* knock off big chunks with water, then let it dry (you can skip this if you have to)
* wipe off whatever's left with a rag & WD40
* take off the cassette and wipe it all down w/a rag & WD40
* pay special attention to get gunk out of the headtube, brakes, BB and crankset areas
* clean & lube the chain

You shouldn't have much problem doing this in your kitchen on a bike stand, except maybe the water part, but you could skip that and just wipe down more with more rags & WD40. I use WD40 for general cleaning because it shifts any road grease, lightly oils everything, and displaces water... and it smells nice.

parkbrav

ridelikeaturtle is making think, are there pressurized water-spray bottles that might be convenient to store in an apartment and convenient to use, and at the same time not damage a bicycle paint etc.?

Welshboy

I've also considered this as the wheels on my Giant Defy creak badly (I'm on my second pair) but wouldn't the oil in the lube get onto the inner tubes? I think oil on the inner tubes is considered a bad thing but perhaps there is a gentler 'oil'.

EviLDORK

I use a pressurized water spray bottle stored in my apartment. It has a 2 gallon capacity, but I rarely need more than half of that to clean my bike. It's much easier for me than using either a bucket, a garden hose, or the bathtub.

There are lubricants made for specifically for spokes, but I'm just using what I assume to be the next best thing. Most lubricants are too inert to attack your inner tubes much, but I haven't seen any evidence of anything seeping past my rim tape anyway.

parkbrav

I understand, I will look in to the pressurized water spray. There's no garden hose at the apartment, and even if there was, chances are the water hose would be shut down for the winter (preventing the pipes from freezing).

Le Mechanic

This is how I was cleaning my bike indoors last year. I've since moved, but still a viable option if your options are limited.