Living room. Duh. /pink

Ok.... Outside on a good day. I live in Dallas, so we still get days in the 60s even in January.

When I've lived other places less pleasant.... The bathtub. The wife is glad I don't do that anymore.

Ok I guess I should have been more specific. How do all of you in cold weather climates where the high temp in the winter averages below freezing clean your bikes in the winter?

Also, would like for this to not turn into a "ride your trainer" thread.

Sorry. Being a smart ass today.

Seriously, I lived in Kansas for 8 years, and Colorado for 10. In those cases, I used the bathtub. Get one of those shower sprayer attachements.

I wont tell you to ride your trainer. I hate those things. Wear winter clothes, ride outside, wash your bike in the shower and apologize to the wife.

Ok, was thinking of that as a solution but wanting to avoid that discussion. Lol!

Careful - you will get oil everywhere on your white tub

I wash and clean outside like the rest of the year.

The two differences between summer and winter are:
* keep the water hose inside so it does not freeze
* the bike need to be cleaned more often (sometimes after every ride because the roads are very frequently wet here)

If you live in an apartment: good luck :)

I wash bikes in cold temps down to freezing and below in my driveway just like during summer.
No hoses, fill a bucket and a big sprayer full of warm water to keep your hands from absolutely freezing.
Wash, dry, lube and most importantly bring bike inside so any lingering wetness does not freeze.
Leave inside overnight and ride again the next day.
Salt the driveway to avoid ice slick.

l built an outdoor shower so have a hot water spigot on the outside. A bit of a PITA as I have to close the nozzle of the hose (6' long so I don't have to coil it and water doesn't freeze in it), go into the basement and open the valve, go back out and hose off the bike, go back inside and close the valve, go back outside and open the nozzle so the hose drains.

Made sure I angled the pipe downwards where it comes out of the house.

I only do it when the salt is bad...I also plan on replacing parts pretty frequently on the bike.

I do have access to an outside spigot. How do you stay warm/dry when you are washing?

i prep and leave a spray bottle of bio-friendly degreaser just inside my front door when i leave for a ride. upon return, give whole bike a good spray, especially drivetrain, with it while outside. leave it outside and let it soak for a minute while i go fill up a bottle of warm water. return outside, rinse it off. wipe and basic dry with old t/shirt and paper towels, and bounce dry just so it won't drip on my floors, then bring it inside. finish wiping/drying/relubing inside. i use old T shirts, floss the cogs, wipe off the brake tracks, tires, chain, then relube chain...done deal. very basic, but i make sure to do it after every ride so that winter road muck isn't accumulating too much. it seems to work well for me.

The weather doesn't seem like that anymore where I live.....

More seriously:

I have a winter/training bike that I let be a little dirty.

While I only do a full clean outside, I will sometimes wipe off the chain and relube indoors.

And then, it seems every week or so it'll warm up enough that washing outside isn't that bad, with warm water in a bucket.

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http://www.jt10000.com/

My bike doesn't need the same level of care in the winter as in the summer. I'll make sure it's good and clean before having it on the trainer. Towels cover the good stuff while working out and a short wipe-down after the workout is down. Repeat for pretty much the entire winter. If I do my minor diligence, I don't have much to clean on my bike during the indoor season.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

1. Stop at heated car wash near my house.
2. Spray bike.
3. At Home, Dry with compressor and lube.
4. Leave near electric space heater if needed.

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I talk a lot - Give it a listen: http://www.fasttalklabs.com/category/fast-talk
I also give Training Advice via http://www.ForeverEndurance.com

The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
http://www.AGNCYINNOVATION.com

yeah, that's the trick. I save components when one of my road bikes gets retired and use those. Riding in the salt is pretty harsh, so I just resign myself to throwing stuff away on occasion. About to finally toss a circa 2004 road bike and re-build a CAAD10 with spare components (10sp SRAM)

Wait for a sunny day, when the sun is overhead on the drive way & go from there. I use water bottles with hot water & spray on the frame, then clean the grime off it. Then I use degreaser on the really mucky parts, clean the chain & then give it a rinse with more hot water. Then I dry it & re-lube the chain. The coldest months are in the 40's but have some weeks down below zero, just for a week at the longest. Then it can hit 50 in no time the week after.

So wait for a sunny day!

Well this is going to sound either very decadent or very dorky, probably both, but... When we built our house, my wife insisted on a dog wash in the mudroom, so the dog doesn’t track dirt into the house. I suggested we make it a little bigger so it could also be a bike wash and she agreed! Works very well, in fact I even use it in the summer, easier than unpacking and packing the garden hose. When I lived in a condo, I washed it in the bathtub with a rag and that worked fine too.

outdoor car wash, just don't spray the gun full blast right at the places that have bearings

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

Simple. Get a Rinse Kit (https://www.amazon.com/...eywords=rinse+it+kit).

I got one and use it for the dog after dog park forays, but works great for bikes, after runs before getting into the car sweaty, etc.

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Gary Geiger
http://www.geigerphoto.com Professional photographer

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