Where can I buy a bicycle doormat (or better solution)?

Question

At this time of year with melting snow there's no way to get from the road to my apartment without going thru multiple puddles and/or grass areas. So my tires are always wet and usually dirty when I get to the door.

I've been using a tire brush to clean them before going inside but it's a hassle. I wipe my shoes on the doormat and that's pretty easy.

Has anyone invented a doormat for bike tires or found some other way to clean them quickly and easier than with a brush?

Searching "bicycle doormat" was pointless; all the results are normal doormats with pictures of bicycles on them.

Answer 1

The question is looking for a brush-free way to clean bike tires at the doorstep. I am assuming that the brush being shunned is a hand brush. This answer is for a ground-based brush to do the job.

As a golfer, the thought that came to mind to solve this problem was a golf shoe brush. These are typically found at golf courses so that the grass and stuff that is stuck to the bottom of your golf shoes does not get tracked into the clubhouse. Besides a brush for the bottom of the golf shoe, they also have vertical brushes to clean grass off the sides of the shoes as well.

This appears to be close to ideal for your purposes. It will brush the tread clean, and can even brush down the sidewalls. You will obviously need to spin the wheel by hand. The brush(es) can be rinsed off as needed, and usually being waterproof, can even be used with water from a hose to help dislodge heavy deposits during a bike washing session.

In searching on golf shoe brushes, boot brushes also appear, as both items are really the same thing. Some brushes have a hand support on them, which is great for balancing on one foot, but probably more in the way for brushing a bike tire. I would avoid brushes with a hand support if you are going to use it to brush your tires clean. You can also use the brush for your bike shoes as well, sparing your doormat for lighter duty use. Prices are pretty reasonable and many varieties are available to choose from.

Here is a generic image of a golf shoe/boot brush:

Answer 2

The two brushes I've tried so far. I think the big one has real potential. It worked great with the wheel parallel to the brush. It would be easier to use perpendicularly tho so I'll try that tomorrow.

UPDATE: it works better parallel. I think the brush is too soft. Spinning the wheel 3 times still doesn't get it as clean as one time around with the hand brush but with the hand brush I'm moving back and forth while spinning so it actually gives the whole tire 2-3 passes in each direction.

I slid a pipe thru the hand brush to hold it down and used it the same was as the push broom head and it was a little better but not much.

There are dozens and dozens of boot brush/scraper products out there, ranging from $10 to $600+. Some even have water jets. I can't believe there's not a single one for bikes.

If this thing was curved it would be nearly perfect: Those are rollers between the brushes. It's only $15 so I could buy it and cut out the useful parts to make a custom tire scrubber but it might not be worth the effort.

I'll probably stick with the hand brush for now and if I end up using it a whole lot this winter I'll find a better method for next year.

A "real" bike one would have the rollers aligned in a curve and maybe on springs to fit any tire size. Also, the rollers would be connected to a lever on a riser so you could stand beside the bike and work the lever, spinning the rollers and cleaning the tire. I'd make it mechanical so you don't have to find a place to plug it in.

They didn't worry about that when they designed the Boot Boy. Just pull that lever towards you and it cranks away. It can also apply water and cleaning solutions as it brushes, plus it catches the dirt instead of dumping it on the porch. Only $2,500 and totally useless for bikes. oh well.

Answer 3

Closer to your original idea is to get a machine washable hall runner rug. Mine was a cheap one, not sold as machine washable but I can squeeze it in there. But you can get them made of doormat-like material with a rubber backing.

You can also buy doormat material cut to length if you search online. Ikea used to do very long lengths, cuttable at home, but last I looked they'd stopped.

I'd run it from just inside the front door to where the bike sits, assuming it suits in the hallway (mine doesn't normally, but does the night before an early start).