Washmy.bike

After reading a comment from @Hoke in the Brompton thread about these guys – I decided to look them up. Those of you that have ridden with me will know that I am pretty much their ideal customer – I ride loads, usually without mudguards, go into the square mile every day and, most importantly, own a phalanx of UTTERLY FILTHY bikes that I can never be arsed to clean.

Yes, their website is a shambles currently – location map doesn’t actually show where they are, pricing can’t be seen until you register, passwords emailed as plain text, FAQs are either blank, duplicated or in Latin(!)… etc..

https://washmy.bike/

BUT.. after finally tracking them down to a vague street address via Facebook (which I don’t use – another step in the journey that nearly made me give up) I handed my bike over to a lovely guy who spent the next 20 minutes making my bike look clean enough to eat your dinner off - for the princely sum of £7. Funnily enough, I dropped half a sandwich on my handlebars an hour later so I actually have eaten my dinner off it since then – and I’m still alive.

Anyway, why am I starting this thread? I own shares in them – no, not really – I simply didn’t have any cash on me to tip him and he seems like a good bloke doing a great service that I’d like to see survive in this harsh climate (at least long enough to get my other bikes cleaned!). So consider this a promo in lieu of a tip…

[disclaimer – if he fucks up your new Chris King hubs by blasting steam into them, don’t come crying to me!]

Your review sounds ace and I was ready to give it a try.

Clicked on their website, got confused, and gave up.

Yeah, I'm not surprised - even after registering it was still a battle to work out what's what. You can skip the whole process and just rock up to any of the locations they post here though..

https://www.facebook.com/WashMy.Bike/

Same here. Saw their website ages ago, thought it looked good. Not a single price listed anywhere. Funny way to not do business.

Introduce my mate to wash her bike as she is super lazy but she also wants to have a cleaner bike and she decided to give it a go today in Greenwich, it was the same guy who washed/steamed my Brompton and did another fantastic job with my mates bike.

Same as @Rod_Munch don’t have any shares with this company, just free promo from my side I guess as I think the old chap is super nice and friendly and for £7-10 was wash everything under 20mins to get it blinging again it’s not too bad either (plus it’s good entertainment with the excessive steam from the van when cleaning the bike)

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Does he have lovely complexion?

I'm waiting to find a time when they are near me to give it a go. My bike needs a good old clean

Pricing for any/service

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Sadly not, but very energetic for a guy for his age.

Check the Facebook or IG page for location and time.

Many a time I've dreamed of this service in the post-ride pub, with an absolutely filthy CX bike outside. Sadly, not in Leeds, so I'll continue carrying my bike up a flight of stairs & through five doors, trying not to get any mud on the carpets, until I have enough time/light to clean it :(

for a guy for his age.

pow, right in the kisser

you have made me laugh 2nd time in 2 days xoxo

😗

what's the air freshener all about?

Just a little branded scented cardboard thing (like those awful tree ones that smokers used to hang from the rear view mirror in their cars to make them smell like vomit instead) that he attaches to your handlebars once he's finished. The coffee one is actually quite effective now that it hangs above my Sidis in the basement..

I can't imagine he's charging nearly enough TBH.

Had a £7 one today. Impressed, and my bike has never sounded quieter or looked cleaner.

Took a bit longer than I expected, but I managed to pick up my daughter from school on time.

He probably spent about 20 minutes cleaning it, so £7 isn't a great deal for his time

£7 isn't a great deal for his time

I'd say it is a great deal. :)

Great idea, first year or so he'll just be happy to cover basic costs whilst building up a reputation. For most things like that you need to be averaging £25 an hour in labour alone in order to cover all the unforseen costs that go along with running a business. At £25 an hour he might just scrape £8 an hour to himself .
But always better to be busy all the time with customers at a manageable price point than asking too much and being under utilised

I’d say it’s better to find out early that a business model is unaffordable. Especially one that’s so easily copied and requires comparatively few skills.

Building a reputation could be reasonably quick and not linked to a price hike down the line by offering discounted trials to new customers.

His danger is that he sinks a big loss over a long period only to find out people aren’t willing to fork out £25 a clean, reputation or not.

I actually wanted him to clean my bike this weekend but realised he was all the way at sigma sport, agreed with most of the comments, £7 is silly cheap for what he does and I don't see how he turns a profit unless he ups the price a little. I usually pay for the £10 option as I feel he (and my bike) deserves it. I initially thought it was taking super long too for 20mins for a steam clean, but as most people said, £7 for a proper clean and oil isn't too shabby.

Anyone had a bike with discs and dynamos done by him?

My bike is still caked in mud from the Ardennes last month (drive train etc has been cleaned!), but bit worried about the technique with electrics etc

No dynamo but he’s done my hydro discs - they have never looked cleaner or been more silent!

Got my filthy single speed done this morning by Finsbury Circus. £7 is too little really, will do the £10 option next time.

If you talk to the guy who is washing he can avoid certain areas if you really concerns about your electronics, but when I was waiting with my mate to clean her bike a guy who had di2 had his bike steam clean and it was working perfectly.