Cycling in Melbourne Australia
Small Business Shower Solutions for Cycle Commuters
Hi there,
Are you like me and quite a few others? We want to ride to work more often, but need to be fresh and presentable for the public, making a shower at the end of the trip vital. However the place where we work doesn't have those facilities and (because it's a small business or the boss is too ignorant) a shower system built into the work place just isn't going to happen.
I'm currently developing a solution to this problem in the form of a self contained shower system that doesn't need to be hooked up to any plumbing, provides privacy to get changed and can all securely store your bike when the shower is complete.
Would be happy to get feedback from other cyclists out there who have had similar problems. What ideas and features would you consider to be the most important when designing something like this to suit a wide variety of needs?
Regards - Phil
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Steve Jay on -
So this gadget allows you to shower modestly, then covers your bike and fits on the back of a bike? Is it a tall tent? An exaggerated pop-up trailer? It sounds intriguing, practical and heath-robinson all in one. I'd be very happy to beta test, even though my employer provides top notch facilities.
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Permalink Reply by Phil on -
Not come up with anything inovative enough yet to fit on my bike, however something you could lock your bike up inside of, out of sight has been looked at.
So what sort of facilities does your boss provide? Where abouts?
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Permalink Reply by Steve Jay on
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Full parking racks in a corner of the garage (about 50 spaces) plus 2 shower/changerooms. It's a Federal government organisation that everybody (mostly) likes ;-)
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Permalink Reply by John E. on -
Was this on the new inventors? They had a stand-alone system on there once.
Is this going to be a portable dunny type of thing?
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Permalink Reply by Phil on
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No it hasn't been on the new inventors. The one I've seen on there took up about three car parking spaces, had permanent plumbing and electricity and must have cost topside of $10000 per unit to install.
I can't imagine any boss with a staff under 20 cycle commuting people would consider that type of investment.
I'm still formulating ideas/researching exactly what form mine will take. However I'd imagine it would have to be under $1000, look unobtrusive and be self contained.
As I said before, I'd be interested to hear what some other people think an ideal solution would be for them.
I'm still at the stage that I can include ideas and modify my design if it needs to be
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Permalink Reply by Adrian Wal on -
Latest work place the boss makes a joke every time I suggest getting a shower. It's a very small business that rents the building. My commute is only 5km but it has been very humid lately so the Sorbent wipes don't help too much, as the lack of air con in the bathroom leads to further sweating. There is a gym over the road but it's not cheap to use, in the order of $1000+.
My thought has been to keep a $10 solar shower in my drawer at work and use that outside, although lack of privacy there. Or I could copy what I observed in Burma recently, shower in the river.
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Permalink Reply by Walter on -
I'm lucky to have worked in most work places with shower facilities and offices that promote cycling to work with dedicated bike parking. But I once have worked in a inner Melb. office with a small crew & no showers. I ended up using the city baths in the morning, buy a ten ticket pass ( reasonably priced) and change & ride to work the remaining 2 blocks. Problem was when raining, I ended up walking to work with bike & umbrella.....not a good solution. I've always thought, the state govt or local councils dhould have ride to work abulutions similar to country camping facitilities, where you drop a few coins & have the ability to shower & change.
Wal
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Permalink Reply by Adrian Wal on
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It's a bit difficult having all the fancy solutions in CBDs, like bike pods, when your work is in the suburbs. I could try asking the council for one, as they installed bike racks upon request.
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Permalink Reply by Phil on
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Good to hear everyone's feedback so far. Especially because just about everything people have mentioned is a problem I've come across before and contemplated a solution to.
The basic concept I have in mind sounds like it would fix most of these problems so there won't be a need to go back to square one.
Keep your thoughts coming.
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Permalink Reply by Adrian Wal on
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Older forums I have read suggest "rocket shower", but havent seen it in Australia. It's just a costly spray bottle of witch hazel, alcohol and essential oil and evaporates off the body and supposedly gets rid of sweat.
I got a bottle of witch hazel (it has alcohol thrown in) and use that sometimes on some toilet wipes or face washer, then spray some Lynx for good measure.
I did also pick up some extra large body wipes called "body deodorant" in Singapore last week. But not here also so they won't last me long, but work to some extent.
The above only works if you can cool yourself down to a point you won't sweat any further. Over time though these solutions could end up being almost the cost of using the nearby gym.
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