The intricacies of bike storage

A healthy lifestyle around the world attracts more fans. It has become “fashionable” to be healthy in many parts of the population, and talking about one's illnesses is considered bad form. Passion for cycling today is becoming increasingly widespread. Almost everyone can master a bicycle, both young and old. But in winter, few fans would dare to go on a bike ride. Most people use a bicycle only during the snowless season. Seasonal storage of this lightweight comfortable vehicle becomes an important task.

The well-known proverb about sledges can be rephrased in relation to a bicycle as follows: “Do you like to ride - love and bring a bicycle to the apartment”. It’s in the apartment, since no other way of storing the “iron horse” in the conditions of our realities will allow us to ensure 100% safety. It’s good when there is a spacious accommodation where you can easily allocate a convenient place for a bicycle. But in many families there is not one bike, but there are many small apartments without any storage room.

There are general rules that should be followed whenever possible.

• The determining factors are air humidity and temperature. Damp rooms are the most favorable environment for metal rusting; this moment must always be taken into account when choosing a storage location. Significant temperature changes also affect the "iron horse" is not the best way. Condensation forms on the parts, microcracks appear on the protective coatings, the corrosion process begins, rubber and plastic deteriorate.
• Avoid rust.It is extremely difficult to get rid of it, this will drastically reduce the life of a two-wheeled machine.
• Direct sunlight should not enter the storage area. Under their influence, rubber and plastic parts are destroyed, varnishes and paints of protective coatings fade.
• The storage location should not be near heating appliances, as this will damage the tire covers and the oil seals of the fork.

If you carefully perform simple preparation, you can safely send the unit to "winter". The bike will be well preserved until spring, even in imperfect, but acceptable conditions, if the owner has no other storage option. Preparation is carried out in stages.

• Washing. First you need to clean the wheel hubs, speed switches, brake levers from dust and dirt, wipe off the old grease from the mechanical components with a soft rag, thoroughly wash the machine, wipe it dry and put it to dry completely. Then rinse with any solvent chain with a tensioner and asterisks.

• Inspection. A detailed inspection of the vehicle will reveal minor malfunctions and worn parts. Troubleshoot should be done right away, and not put off until spring. During the winter, you can forget something, and the malfunction will remain, and the cost of repairs in the spring is always more expensive than in the fall.

• Grease. It is necessary to lubricate the washed components and parts, the chain, the cables of the switches and brakes. It’s nice to change the grease in the wheel hubs, steering column, pedals. At other times, you still have to do this - so why not do it before storage? If you plan to store in a room without heating, it is important that the chrome surfaces, and if possible the frame, be coated with silicone grease to protect against corrosion and cracking of the paint.

• Pressure reduction in the chambers. It is enough to remove the pressure to 1.0-1.5 atm and maintain during storage, while lowering, pump up the wheels.

• Dismantle the navigator, bike computer (if any), removable lights from the bike. Remove batteries from the remaining fixtures so that destructive electrolyte does not flow from them in winter.

• Loosen the seat and steering wheel clamps, reduce the tension of the brake spring cables, lay the lubricated chain on the smallest sprockets.

For lucky bicycles, the owners find a place in the apartment. This is the best option possible with optimal conditions. The only problem is how to arrange the bike as compact as possible so that it does not interfere. You can simply put a bicycle against a free wall in the hallway, if space allows, but this option is only suitable for a small family without children. You can fix the transport on a special hanger on the wall.

The correct suspension is for the frame, and not for the saddle, steering wheel or wheels. If the apartment is quite small, there is no balcony and garage, you can partially dismantle the bicycle, put it in a canvas cover and put it under the bed, on the mezzanine or in the sofa box for storing things - there it will not hurt anyone.

In addition to the apartment, a suitable and the most common storage places are a glazed balcony, a loggia and a garage. These are good options to leave a bike there for the winter.Direct rays fall on a balcony or a loggia on sunny days, so the bicycle prepared for storage must be covered (a dark film, fabric, tarpaulin, thick paper are suitable). It is not permissible for water to flow from the hung laundry onto the machine - this is a direct path to corrosion.

There is not much free space in garages if a car is already being put there. Bicycles are most often broadcast on the wall. You can make the hanger yourself, preferably wooden or plastic, so as not to scratch the paint when hanging. In "Sporting goods" you can find ready-made inexpensive hangers-hooks. The design in the form of a rack is more expensive at a cost, but it saves space, is stable due to reliable mounting to the wall and support on the floor. The rack can accommodate 2 bicycles.

Original ideas about how to seasonal store bicycles will be interesting to any owner. Non-standard pendant is sold in online stores the Cyclos mount, which has already had a lot of positive reviews. Its compactness is noted (resembles a small flower pot).

If there is a closed courtyard or free space in a room (free storage room, a large loggia, an unoccupied vestibule), where there is no need to save space, you can build a wooden stand or a rack of plastic pipes and adapters for several two-wheeled vehicles. In small dimensions, as an option, you can fix it great even on the ceiling in a horizontal position, if the ceiling is high. So he does not reduce the living space. Particular attention should be paid to the safety of such a mount. The suspension must be strong and reliable.

If financial opportunities allow, in a large city you can take the transport for the winter to a specialized parkingwhere it will be stored in a warm box until spring. Unfortunately, there are few such parking lots with bicycle boxes in Russia. Some bicycle repair services, fully loaded in the summer, offer seasonal storage services for cycling in the winter, as there is a lot of free space in the winter.

It is strongly not recommended to store cycling in the stairwell. According to statistics, this is the most common place of theft, so do not risk it. Store in the common corridor and on the landing is also not an option, since this inevitably reduces the total free space, it often causes dissatisfaction of neighbors, and when checking the State Fire Supervision, it can lead to a fine at all, as it complicates an unhindered exit from the premises.

It’s also impossible to hang over the side of the open balcony or on the external wall of the building, this is equivalent to transport being thrown into the street. With this storage, the bike will be in poor condition by spring. It should not be placed in the basement where vegetables are stored. Constant evaporation and humidity will not save even a carefully prepared machine from corrosion in such conditions.

See how to prepare your bike for winter storage in the next video.