What cleaner to use?

V5ade

The trails that I ride (Newlands corner-Ranmore in Surrey) are so boggy at the moment that I need to clean my bike after every ride. Problem is that I ride pretty much every day and I'm going through Muc Off at a serious rate (really not cheap!).
Is there something else that I can use that cheaper or so I just stop being so tight

Dirtydog11

V5ade wrote:

The trails that I ride (Newlands corner-Ranmore in Surrey) are so boggy at the moment that I need to clean my bike after every ride. Problem is that I ride pretty much every day and I'm going through Muc Off at a serious rate (really not cheap!).
Is there something else that I can use that cheaper or so I just stop being so tight

Stardrops!

V5ade

Okay, I'll give it a try..... But, where can I get some?

nicklouse

just keep it of the brakes.

Water.

antikythera

Assuming that your looking to wash of mud and clear away (sticky) grime. Then I would suggest.

A generic dish washing liquid followed by Tesco All Purpose Cleaner Citrus for any grease etc.

Works well for my commute bike. I can get a shiny bike and chain and get rid of tar and other sticky road residue with this combination.

I had been using the finish line citrus cleaner, but recently the liquid version has become difficult to find in the LBS's and they are only stocking the aerosol! So I went looking for an alternative... There's not much to like in Tesco, but this citrus cleaner works every bit as well and is 1/5th the price.

Dirtydog11

Most supermarkets sell it. Its PH neutral 7.0 - 8.0 not as harsh as washing up liquid and is safe on plastics and rubber but as Nick says try too avoid getting on the brakes.

http://www.stardrops.co.uk/products/ori ... der-small/

Dirtydog11

antikythera wrote:

Assuming that your looking to wash of mud and clear away (sticky) grime. Then I would suggest.

A generic dish washing liquid followed by Tesco All Purpose Cleaner Citrus for any grease etc.

Works well for my commute bike. I can get a shiny bike and chain and get rid of tar and other sticky road residue with this combination.

I had been using the finish line citrus cleaner, but recently the liquid version has become difficult to find in the LBS's and they are only stocking the aerosol! So I went looking for an alternative... There's not much to like in Tesco, but this citrus cleaner works every bit as well and is 1/5th the price.

Not so sure about washing up liquid but that citrus cleaner sounds like it would work well.

Almightydutch

I have to clean bike after every ride as its stored in my kitchen.

I find water and then dry off and liberally GT85 the whole bike(being careful around brakes)

Still looks like new after 9 months of ownership

ExeterSimon

Fenwicks.

8.99 a litre that you can use to make more than 10 litres when diluted.

Or use it undiluted as a degreaser.

While Muc-Off is good it's bloody expensive....and not as good at doing the job as Fenwicks.

V5ade

My wife's going to be shocked when I offer to go to Tesco tonight

The degreaser will hopefully do Muc Off's job for the drive train, I use the finish line green gloopy stuff It's a great lube but it attracts dirt so I have to scrub the chain clean then relube after every muddy ride.
Thanks for the awesome advice!

mrfmilo

Fenwicks FTW!

cee

i just hose the mud off after every ride, run the chain through a rag to get rid of the worst of the clag, then re-lube

then give a proper wash a couple of times a month.

P-Jay

The only good thing about your Fenwicks is the smell.

My Tesco sells a bike clearer (I forget the name) that looks and works a lot like Muc-Off for about £3.

The trick of course is to hose it whilst its still wet, you can usually just get away with a good hosing then.

The Big Cheese

I have always used a mix of warm water, washing up liquid, a good stiff brush, a sponge, some rags and old toothbrush. I am obssessive with cleaning my bikes, its never stripped a sticker, damaged paintwork nor faded it.

People 'Scrub' too hard and that causes the problem.

Washing up liquid, leaves no residue providing you rinse the bike thoroughly with cold water and have active degreasers in them, no need for 2.

Then GT85/WD40 areas such as drivetrain then lube as appropriate.

Always spray some GT85 on a rag and wipe the frame, fork LOWERs to protect it.

Never get GT85/WD40 near stantions and more importantly ROTORs/Calipers/pads

peter413

I just uese a hose and rag.

Relube my chain once its dried and away I go

Its a mountain bike anyway! It's meant to be muddy :roll:

scale20

I use Fenwicks, not too expensive but It does the job well. I've started to mix it slightly weaker than the instructions say because I found it was quite harsh as a degreaser and was worried it was drying up mt fork and shock seals too much and slowly degreasing my headset.

It's the mutts nuts on white saddles or grips if used neat with a nailbrush or is that a bit OCD?

A bucket of just warm water and a brush does well too, after that a good all over GT85'ing keeps things running.

robmccreedie

Fenwicks for sure, dliute it down and get ten times as much for teh price of a litre of muc off 8)

robmccreedie

Fenwicks for sure, dliute it down and get ten times as much for teh price of a litre of muc off 8)

Northwind

Tesco's Daisy all purpose cleaner works very well. Gives the impression it might melt the bike if left on for too long though. The most important thing is to get the bike washed when it's still wet though, if you let the mud harden on it's harder to shift but if you get it when it's fresh it's miles easier.

nikstar1

I personally have used Fenwicks in the past and the best advice is to wash it immediately whilst wet to avoid damaging the paintwork and parts.

I think that unless its really bad you should stick to soapy water but just be very careful of the brakes. If you have given it a good run and got it covered then you might need to opt for the stronger cleaners but generally you shouldn't need to use so much of it.

It is a waste of money buying the expensive specialised cleaners as they do exactly the same thing as a product like fenwicks but charge extortiate prices for the pretty bottle!

welsh trebor

Another vote for diluted Fenwicks and a rub down after ( the bike not me!)

stumpyjon

Hope censored shifter, I know it's as expensive as MucOff, but here's the clever bit, use an old washing up brush to clean the bike and spray the degreaser on the brush and then clean, saves spraying expensive degreaser all over the place plus guarantees it only goes on the bike where you want it to go on.

lesz42

amazed how good fenwicks is!, i stick it in a sprayer, wash the bike down with a bit of soapy water , the fenwick the worst bits,

1lt bottle has last me a year

fletch8928

Cleaning my bike had been easy untill this last week or so.

Get home, fill a bucket with hot water and throw over the bike, 1 for each side. (I dont have a hose).

Clean drivetrain, dry and lube.

Now the ground has gone from wet thin slop to thicker gloop I have to flick off the moors/fields that has come home with me then scrub with washing up liquid.

I have been known to throw it in the river before the mile or so road ride home.

I must buy a hose. I also find the sweeping of mud up in my yard a pain too, its better than having the drain all blocked but still a chore.

rowlers

stumpyjon wrote:

Hope censored shifter, I know it's as expensive as MucOff, but here's the clever bit, use an old washing up brush to clean the bike and spray the degreaser on the brush and then clean, saves spraying expensive degreaser all over the place plus guarantees it only goes on the bike where you want it to go on.

is the sh|t shifter disk brake friendly? My current cleaner (Vir-Sol) as good as it is, kills the brakes if it gets aywhere near them, so looking for something a little better so I don;t ahve to fanny around near the brakes!

andituk

I use Fenwicks mixed slightly strong. No need for sponges or brushes, just hose the bike down, spray liberally, and then hose off. Keeps my white bike looking great.

joshtp

Fenwicks FS1. you can get 1L for £10 and you filute it down 1 in 10 parts, so you get 10L for £10, cheaper than even citrus degreaser. it works great too, and is bike specific, so it wont damage anything, it even smells nice.