I love cycling in autumn and winter – it’s hard to beat those fresh, bright mornings – but I’m less keen on dealing with the inevitable dirty bike. Even worse, a muddy bike leads to a grubby van or car interior, which pleases me even less.
That’s why I’m rather taken with the Kärcher Mobile Cleaner OC 3 Foldable, which is now at a bargain price for Amazon Prime Big Deal Days. In a nutshell, it’s a compact, battery-powered outdoor cleaning device designed for washing bikes and kit away from mains power or water. This makes it an ideal tool for rinsing off road bikes, gravel bikes, winter boots – even muddy pets!
As you may have guessed from the last sentence, the power output is quite low, at just 5 bar of pressure, but that’s more than enough for rinsing off the worst of almost anything. Run time is 15 minutes per charge, which I found sufficient for cleaning both my bike and my wife’s. It can’t compete with a mains-powered pressure washer, but that’s a good thing because it won’t damage your bike’s paintwork or force water into the seals and bearings. In use, it is similar to using a spray nozzle on a garden hose.
The unit is also very portable. It weighs only 2.2kg without water, and the tank is made from a flexible material that allows it to be folded into a compact package suitable for storage in the back of a hatchback alongside your bike. When unfolded, the water tank has an 8-litre capacity, which, at a maximum flow rate of 2 litres per minute, will need refilling about twice before the battery runs out.
(Image credit: Simon Fellows)
Power is supplied by an integrated lithium-ion battery, which takes around two and a half hours to charge via USB-C. I charge my OC 3 at home, but you could charge it from your vehicle or a power bank. It comes equipped with a 1.8-metre flexible low-pressure hose and a flat jet nozzle, with additional brushes available as optional accessories, including those specifically intended for pets.
The Kärcher Mobile Cleaner OC 3 Foldable is a great solution for cleaning bikes before loading them into a vehicle, and I’m sure it’s also very popular among cyclists living in upper-floor apartments, who have no access to mains power or water.
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