Servicing bike in small flat?

[T'boo Ted]

just wondering if anyone out ther lives in a small flat/highrise and what they do to service...well more clean their bike.
Usually I have lived in places that have had good areas for working on bikes and cleaning with hose etc. but have just moved to a new area and am living in a highrise in the CBD.
So I unpacked all the stuff and put together mine and the GF bikes, and finding the balcony a good space to work on with the workstand (so long as I didn't look over the edge...:shock: :shock: . but then thinking the GFs drivedtrain could really do with a clean and re lube... how the hell am I going to do that?
I did live in a small flat nearly 20 years ago, but then I could duck down to work or into the parking area... or a servo car wash...but here can't do any of that...

So anyone have any tips?

 

[BerthaPog]

Assuming the bathrooms out.

If it has to be done in the apartment, get a large plastic/waterproof sheet, if you can pull the edges up, and don't go overboard with the water, it should be OK for cleaning the transmission and a general wipe down.

Other alternative, get one of the mobile washers do dads that either plug-in to your cars cigarette lighter or have a rechargable battery and clean at the end of the ride (assuming you've driven to the start).

 

[greenstiles]

Hi you can get wall mounted stands (a clamp bolted to wall) and use cardboard under it to catch the nasties or even cardboard under an old rug you can roll up and shake outside.

 

[cyfa2809]

Usually I have lived in places that have had good areas for working on bikes and cleaning with hose etc

So anyone have any tips?

Ooooo check you out haha!
Normally to clean drivetrain it means taking of chain and cassette and whatnot and cleaning them in the sink with fairy and hard brush. Bigger stuff can go in the bath if needs be. I normally put down an old bedsheet on the front room floor put never really doing anything that messy. I guess my bikes are generally pretty clean/maintained to begin with.

A case of putting your bike on its handlebars.

 

[tintin40]

[/quote]
Normally to clean drivetrain it means taking of chain and cassette and whatnot and cleaning them in the sink with fairy and hard brush. I normally put down an old bedsheet on the front room floor put never really doing anything that messy. I guess my bikes are generally pretty clean/maintained to begin with.

[/quote]

Agree. Good if you have wooden floors. When i had places with carpets. I would wait for the mud to dry then brush off and hoover up.

 

[cyfa2809]

Yeah me too, got to watch the drivetrain for rust when doing so though.

 

[highlandsflyer]

The bathroom or kitchen area is the best area thanks to the nature of the beast.

Why not invest in a large tarp?

Very little money for such from your large B&Q type places.

I used to do all my washing off of parts in a deep bucket, bottom end of a swing bin.

Frames can be done in the bath, wheels on to protect your enamel, or up ended in a shower, easy enough.

When I worked for the NHS I lived in a smallish room in a nurses home. After having one bike stolen from a bike box in the grounds, I began to hang my Klein from butcher's hooks on the wall moldings. I had never seen Seinfeld.

Boiling up chains by necessity is a kitchen job.

Everywhere I live these days has a wet room, the greatest blessing for bike maintenance, and indeed motorbike maintenance on occasions!

 

[bigmick]

for washing a bike i use a bucket n sponge and a pump up spray bottle to rinse

 

[Deleted member 13859]

i live in a maisonette and all my cleaning of parts gets done in a wash basin i got from wilkos for 2 quid, frames get cleaned with muck off and water in a spray bottle over the bath (but give the bath a super good clean after to avoid problems)

 

[T'boo Ted]

All good tips, the balcony is a pritty big space and works well with the workstand, i think the tarp and pump spray bottle is going to be the way... ha just threw out 2 tarps in the "cleansing" for the move... but wont be doing much mtbing, jsut bike paths and such with the gf to explore the city... got white carpets throughout...