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Winter riding - good fun but major pain in the arse cleaning bike and kit. Getting the shit off your bike straight away when it’s still wet seems to make perfect sense - a few mates do this after a ride when itself seems like a PITA at the time but less so than doing it when you get home or next morning. Wondered how many others do this…if so what do you use and are there any deals on right now?
Yes, I use a 5L battery powered washer from ALDI. Its probably no more powerful than a weak hose but takes wet mud off easy as you say!
Worx hydroshot with the short lance and a 20l drum of water. Takes a couple of minutes tops.
The hydroshot has replaced my mains jet washer for use at home too. The snow foam attachment and wheel brush attachment work well and the unit connects straight up to the water butt.
Mobi V15 over here. Filled with water from the hot tap it's enough to get a bike cleanish and warm cold hands several hours later.
Yes, we use a 15l Mobi too get the worst off while it's still wet .
2l garden manual pressure sprayer gets the worst of it off. Do a proper job at home if I want it actually clean.
25l drum with one of the water pump/jet washer kits off ebay/amazon - just plug into the 12v socket. Can rinse off at least 3 bikes with it. Full wash at home.
My Worx is one of the best things I've ever been bought.
+1 Hydroshot, can't believe I didn't get one sooner. My own bike and my 2 mates' all clean in 5 mins, using water from a stream by the trailhead.
Brilliant thing.
Used to but dont bother now
Found that after washing then putting a wet bike in the car just made the boot wet, at least with a muddy bike i quickly wipe off the worst of it in the car park and then place the bike in the boot and a minimal amount of mud will fall off which is easily swept up when home
Now i wash once im at home where i can take my time, have all the cleaning and lube stuff i need plus give the bike a quick check over, bonus also is i have a outside hot water tap so cleaning is much easier and i dont get cold hands!
Another Worx Hydroshot user here. Rinse the bike off before putting it on the roof carrier. Get dirty drops of water on the car - but not the huge lumps of mud I used to get which made a right mess.
When I get home I just degrease the chain and relube it ready for next time.
I love it - if it’s just me I have a 10 litre water container from the local camp shop. At a push that’ll clean 2 bikes of the worst of the mud. If more I have a 20 or 25 litre container (can’t remember which it is).
Yes. Mobi 15 here
OG dirtworker here from yonks ago.
Mate uses a 5l water container and a 10quid eBay special pump.
Both get the worst off no prob.
Another Mobi user here, use it all year round as my bikes live in my flat and a previous neighbour complained to the management company about mud by my car (which wasn't mine but from a kid cleaning his football boots!). I find it a good way to cool down too before getting changed, stops the sweaty cling of clean clothes nicely.
Another Hydroshot user here.
20L tub washes two bikes and associated kit straight after the ride nay bother.
Less hassle than getting the hose out when we get home and saves flooding the garden and wrecking the washing machine.
Another plus one for a Hydrshot, short lance and a 20l container. Have also chopped the hose down by half so it's slightly quicker to get going with the squirty squirt! The washer goes into a small supermarket bag for life and the battery plus charger for into a 1l dry bag.
Mobi V17 here too, battery died pretty early but it still runs off the cigarette lighter socket no dramas. I have a van these days but it’s still useful to get the bike clean so it just needs a quick dry off and lube when I get home. I take an extra couple of 5L water bottles, the 17L does a great job of getting the bike clean and the extra couple of bottles top it up so I can rinse all my muddy bike gear (kit and shoes) off before I put it in a bin bag ready to go straight into the washing machine without the mrs going batshit mental at me!!!
Yep. We’ve got a very (very) old Mobieasher (V17 I think) that still gets used. I’ve had to replace the hose and gun and have lost the mains charger but it still works with the cigarette lighter lead even the battery still lasts a while. Handy for cleaning off bikes but not great for really filthy glued on mud.
Used to have an eBay special with a 25ltr drum that ran of a cigarette socket in the old van. It worked well. Until it died. I’m interested in the hydro shot.
Worx and a 10L container, then a wipe before it goes in the car. Nearly always good enough, sometimes need to do the drive chain with a bucket at home.
My mate's got a Hydroshot and it's better than the Mobi (at twice the price) but doesn't have the water tank. If you need to carry enough water for several bikes the Hydroshot is the better choice IMO.
Yet another Worx user, and wouldn’t be without it in the winter.
I have a heavy weight zip tied to the end of the hose to stop it coiling/floating up. Leaves all the mud in the woods, and not down the side of the house. Proper hot wash once a week or so.
I also do our shoes at the end of a ride with it too, cleaned in a minute and dry by the morning - as opposed to crusty all winter…
Always do mine in the forestry car park (not in the street outside mate's houses, that's a bit rude 🙂 ), makes sense to leave the mud where it came from, not washing it down a drain.Had a Hydroshot for a few years, but it recently stopped sucking water (checked all the usual suspects, even stripped it's internals, still not working), so bought a Ryobi that I origanally wanted, but wasn't being made at the time. So much better built, quieter running, but the enormous lance is a handful (may try shortening it sometime), and the hose seems to drain back in a matter of seconds (fixed with a pair of non return valves for a few quid from Amazon, but need to speak to Ryobi in case it's a fault). This thread's just prompted me to get the Worx fixed, so gave it one last go before I contacted them, and bugger me if it didn't work.Oh well, got a spare now.
I've got a Hydroshot. Really good device, often use it at home as it has a standard hozelock fitting and its much less faff than setting up a mains pressure washer.
I used it all the time at the trails when I had a van but I only tend to take it with the car if it's obviously going to be really filthy. If you do use it you end up with dirty water dripping in the car as I find I never do a 100% job as I'm inevitably in a rush to load up and get back.
Oh, and if any of you Hydroshot users are suffering with the nozzle dribbling, it's usually a simple fix, Clamp the base lightly in a vice, remove the allen bolt, carefully lift the outer off (there's a sprung detent ball, and sprung seal in there), wipe it all clean,grease the detent ball to stop it falling of, Hunters silicone lube on the seal, and re-assemble.
OEM Dirtworker from waaaay back. Works fine. Clean bikes and leave to dry while getting changed.
Before that I used to just drive to tesco for a 2 quid cold water blast with them still on the back of the car...
Given all the tree diseases around it makes good ecological sense to wash your bike where you ride it and leave the mud (and spores) where they belong.
Before that I used to just drive to tesco for a 2 quid cold water blast with them still on the back of the car…
My brother once used the jet wash at our local Morrisons while the bikes were on the roof, he had to buy another go to clean the car so he could see to drive home! 🤣
Squirty garden sprayer thing here, cheap, not enough pressure to get past seals and no battery charging to worry about, will easily rinse fresh mud off.
I do sometimes use a car cleaning brush on a (cordless) drill as well, not often necessary though.