Cleaning bike.

[Polite]

This may sound strange but.....

I live in a flat with no garden or outside space, I've just come back from a two and a half week tour of France and the bike's filthy. All I want to do us strip it down and give it a good clean. I do live right next to the beach but any other similar predicaments or suggestions?

Thanks.

[Brucey]

take it to a garage with a jetwash and use that (carefully; even with good seals on everything you can do more harm than good if you point the jet into where the bearings are). Afterwards, spray with GT85 or similar to displace water residue.

Or, for gentler al-fresco cleaning, take a soft sponge and use river water or tap water (not seawater) to wipe the bike down, if possible without using detergent. Once the worst of the crud is off it, you can use rags, tissues, and various polishes to clean your bike to the nth degree, and this can be done indoors working over newspaper (say).

cheers

[maxcherry]

You could bath it. Take it outside with a bucket (make sure you have a lock) in the early hours and wash it down.
I don't recomemnd using the sea, apart from dodgey dolphins who will steal your bike strip it down and post it on Gumtree for tuna, the salt wont be helpful

[colin54]

I use a builder's plastic tarpaulin, some newspaper on top of that to soak up the worst of the water and just use a bucket full of soapy ( washing up liquid )water .I squeeze most of the

liquid out of the sponge. I give it a wipe over with a damp cloth afterwards. I clean chain etc with WD40 or GT85 on a rag or paper towel.

I do the above on a bike stand, but it would be just as easy with the bike on it's side or leant against something,I give the frame a wipe with a cloth soaked in GT85 or WD40

afterwards ,seems to work for me ,I've had one of the bikes 20 years and it still looks shiney, though I've read elsewhere here (?) it can dull the paint...modern paints ?

[iandriver]

No one would think twice about cleaning a car in the street. I'd just do that with a bucket and sponge.

[Mark1978]

No one would think twice about cleaning a car in the street. I'd just do that with a bucket and sponge.

Indeed. Make sure the water goes onto the road and not the footpath.

[MartinC]

Do it in the bath. This may not be a permitted option if you don't live on your own.

[freeflow]

Take it to your local garage and jet wash it. Care with distance and angles will prevent water getting into bearings. Otherwise use a couple of packs of baby wipes