Maintanance money savers

dav1

In loads of topics i see people post their alternative cleaning / maintenance products, thought perhaps there should be a topic that people can post their tips in.

My current money savers:

= Fenwicks concentrate as bike cleaner and degreaser - £10 (to make 11liters of better-then-muc-off)

= tesco maintenance spray - £1.99 (a bit thicker then bike spray but keeps my frame looking nice and shiny after a clean)

= WD40 bumper pack - £ cant remember

= old inner tube as a chain stay protector - £0 and a great way to recycle a worn out tube.

After reading the squealing disc thread I plan to get some meths when my disc brake cleaner runs out.

dhxcme

old engne oil as an alternative to light chain oil. works and is good for the environent

maximilian

I think I'd rather be a £5 down then have a manky bit of old inner tube round my chain stay.

woodywmb

Inner tube can look smart if trimmed right. And it works better than neoprene. Tesco's spray is £1.99 but Halfords own brand spray is 99p for same size.

capoz77

Yeah I HATE inners as cheapo chainstays, buy a lizard for what they cost! I never understand the inner zip tie method just looks shocking and is hassle to remove when cleaning.

lost-time

I use halfords screenwash like muc-off. It's around a fiver for five litres and does a fantastic job of cutting through the crud. By diluting it accordingly it lasts for ages.

Splasher

capoz77 wrote:

Yeah I HATE inners as cheapo chainstays, buy a lizard for what they cost! I never understand the inner zip tie method just looks shocking and is hassle to remove when cleaning.

Inner tubes done well look more purposeful and actually protect the stays much better. I have big feet (48s) and I can put a hole in a Lizard Skin in one ride with my heels. An inner tube lasts 6 months before it looks shot (outer layer holed) but it's still doing its job.

And assuming you put it on nice and tight, why would you remove it for cleaning?

You'd love the guys in the Alps who zip-tie an old tyre to their downtubes

maximilian

Splasher wrote:

capoz77 wrote:

You'd love the guys in the Alps who zip-tie an old tyre to their downtubes

I might go for a bit of old carpet when my current one runs out

Splasher

Anyway what's wrong with this

Matteeboy

That does look cool actually.

My old Stumpy has a Lizard Skin, my new one has the protector that came on it and looks very durable.

I went a bit mad after getting Muc Off Spray and brush kit (BRILLIANT little set!) and track pump for Xmas; bought post wash Bike Spray, loads more GT85, brake disk cleaner (not so convinced about how useful this is) and a shock pump.

ddraver

Brake dis cleaner is, unfortunatly, rubbish mate, just buy the finish line yellow degreaser instead next time

I made that mistake too......

Matteeboy

ddraver wrote:

Brake dis cleaner is, unfortunatly, rubbish mate, just buy the finish line yellow degreaser instead next time

I made that mistake too......

Oh well - I can use it as a general degreaser :oops:
Just trying to rid the bike of disk squeals but I've not given up and just accept that my brakes will never be silent :roll: They work very well though