The Daily Bike: An Automated Bike Washing Machine | adventure journal
My theory about bicycle cleanliness is that if you have the time to get the dirt off, you probably aren’t riding enough. Of course, that’s easy to say living in a place where it rains once each in January, February, and March, and dusting the bike every quarter would be a lot. But still, there are times, like after driving through a particular fecund spring hatch with your rig on the roof, when you might want to give ‘er shine, and that’s when it might be nice to the QBike washing station nearby.
The QBike from Novatec is in operation at two locations at Lago di Garda, Italy, but didn’t gotten much attention until last week’s Eurobike trade show, where it was being offered to shops for about two grand. The station sprays a light water and detergent mix over the bike (“light” being the operative word, if you’re worried about water worming its way into the bike’s private parts) and…well, that’s it. No fluff and fold, no air dry. You still have to wipe down the bike and lube it.
Cool idea for hotels like the ones in Italy where it’s currently installed, I suppose, but this bike vending machine, where you can buy parts and tools, is far more useful.
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