Bikes going mouldy in the shed!

[m444ttb]

Bar the old Ali road bike I keep inside the house on the turbo trainer all our other bikes are kept inside a vented metal bike shed in the garden. Bar the bike I take out for work four days a week the rest aren't seeing much use this time of the year. I noticed today when I was taking something else out that most of the bikes have some white 'fur' growing somewhere on either the saddle, bars or both (and the saddle bag of my other road bike). I'm guessing that it's the damp causing it (despite the cold) as it's very damp out there (condensation on the inside of the roof). Any suggestions for stopping this happening? Some regular cleaning and drying out inside the house? Clean off with some anti-bacterial spray? Improving the ventilation of the shed (it does have louvers on some of the side panels that are meant to do this)? I'm sure it has mostly been fine up to recently. Suspect the growth is in dirt given the worst of it is on the 25 year old saddle of my father in law's old steel racer.

[battered]

Ventilate the shed. Lots. But first fix the leaks, it sounds like you have them. Tin sheds are shocking for condensation but if they are basically dry then they aren't as bad as all that. The horrors only start when there's a leak and as the water evaporates it condenses on the roof and can't escape.

The mould is growing in skin/sweat/oils that have come off your backside over the last X years. Moulds are not choosy - any organic material + water + air is "off we go lads".

[MDMA .]

A good spray with some WD40 or similar ( i use aerospace protectant ) will keep the rust/fur at bay. The bits are probably starting to oxidise

[m444ttb]

I'm pretty sure it isn't leaking but can't be totally sure. It's only 6 months old and before the weather turned damp wasn't wet inside after heavy rain etc. I think Asgard (the manufacturer and installer) used sealant when putting the panels in too). I have looked for puddles but can't see anything. The wooden floor (on top of the metal base, which is on patio slabs) doesn't look like it has warped at all.

I've brought all the bikes inside for now. I'll let them dry out then given them all a proper clean. It doesn't look like anything metallic has begun to rust thankfully. It's mostly my wife's road bike bars (probably from turbo trainer use as she doesn't use a fan or a sodding towel!) and my grubby saddle bag. My father in laws old bike is mostly getting it on the saddle, which is fit for the bin anyway. Thankfully the Selle Italia Turbo is still being sold!

[m444ttb]

This is how the existing ventilation looks (matching panel on the other side):


Also showing the optional wooden floor I decided to go for:



Worth noting that it's in a fairly small garden and about 2ft from the garden wall on one side. I'd guess this reduces the flow of air significantly face on to the vent.

Edited by m444ttb on Saturday 31st December 21:23

[Banana Boy]

Maybe consider insulating it, even some thin(ish) polystyrene would help. Just doing the gaps in my garage door means that the inside is now dry... still bloody cold but dry!

[battered]

Looks dry, but if you are going in there on a turbo then you will be putting a fair bit of moisture into it. Insulating the bits that suffer condensation will as others say help. Or leave a low power fan on in there to blow the air out of the vents.

[m444ttb]

Once it's dry in the summer I could look at some polystyrene panels for the roof and sides (leaving the vents). There's no power out there at the moment (perhaps thankfully given the condensation!) but I do have an outside power socket 25ft away.

Those pics are from the manufacturer rather than my actual shed as it was dark at the time.

[S10GTA]

Got exactly the same issue in my asgard shed. Nice bike used to live inside but needed the space. Seat it furry :-(

Edited by S10GTA on Sunday 1st January 21:57

[battered]

Steel sheds are funny things for condensation. I have a wooden shed, leaks like a bloody sieve. No condensation. An old bike lives in it along with a few tools and a mower, nothing's going furry. A bit of light corrosion on bare metal, that's all.

[m444ttb]

S10GTA said:

Got exactly the same issue in my asgard shed. Nice bike used to live inside but needed the space. Seat it furry :-(

Edited by S10GTA on Sunday 1st January 21:57

Good to know it isn't just me then. At least the nice bike probably won't get stolen. They seem pretty secure.

I did have a good look having emptied the shed and I can see no puddles of water and the wooden boards seem pretty dry.

[S10GTA]

m444ttb said:

S10GTA said:

Got exactly the same issue in my asgard shed. Nice bike used to live inside but needed the space. Seat it furry :-(

Edited by S10GTA on Sunday 1st January 21:57

Good to know it isn't just me then. At least the nice bike probably won't get stolen. They seem pretty secure.

I did have a good look having emptied the shed and I can see no puddles of water and the wooden boards seem pretty dry.

Same here. It wasn't this bad last winter.