Bike storage

–if you really must put your bike away for winter

Make it small

» Removing the footpegs and end cans can make a crucial difference to efficient storage, and being efficient has many advantages. Firstly, you don’t bang your shins. Secondly, your dormant bike (or bikes) is less obvious to anyone wanting a new kitchen. And thirdly – look, there’s room for another one!

Invest in a decent cover

» If your bike is in a working family shed or garage, you’ll need a decent cover to keep off dust, stray paint and children’s paws. Stretchy indoor covers look nicer, but cost silly money so go for an exterior one – just leave plenty of air gap at the bottom otherwise condensation could cause havoc.

Clean the chain

» Your chain might look ok when you put the bike away but if there’s any moisture on the sideplates or around the rollers you’ll be faced with an orange nightmare when spring finally rolls around. Clean off all the gunge, rinse with a chain cleaner or paraffin then coat it in gear or engine oil.

List the chores

While prepping the bike for storage you’ll inevitably remember jobs you should have done already, or ones to do. It could be obvious stuff like checking tyre pressures, or things you will definitely forget such as booking the MOT, or fixing the sat nav wiring. Jot them down: every garage needs a whiteboard.