Autoglym - Best Wax for Bike?

richard36

My new bike is coming soon and it will be kept in tip top condition which means it will be regularly waxed. Do other forumites wax their bikes and if so is Autoglym the best wax to use or is there something better?

Cheers

christurbo

I use Dodo Juice

daviesee

I use Autoglym but that is only because I have it for the car anyway.

northpole

I'm not that fussy but if you really want the best wax, check out Zymol and SwissWax products the price of which can be eye watering!
Peter

kfinlay

Autoglym is a polish not a wax! Wax offers better protection as you can build up the layers to give a really deep shine and help protect against stone chips etc.
Generally wax which includes Carnuba wax is good and the more expensive ones tend to have a higher percentage of carnuba in them. I use Zymol as I have it from my car showing days but Meguires is cheaper and easily available or Poorboys too as a couple of alternatives but there are loads more - just check out any car detailing forum for compete obsessiveness! I find good microfibre cloths are great for buffing up the wax too. Lastly it's worth 'clay barring' your paintwork before applying wax to ensure it's properly clean. Clay bar is a bit like clay/putty and you rub it on your paintwork whilst spraying the paintwork with a slightly soapy solution to make sure it doesn't stick - it's very good at getting off the dusty film that washing doesn't remove and slight staining too. This is done after a proper wash so:-
wash, clay bar, wax and buff up = sparkling bike

HTH

super_prestige

AutoGlym super resin, and a few coats of Zymol Carbon on top works for me.
Then to clean a citrus degreaser agresive enough to clean but leaves the wax on.

bigpikle

All overpriced overkill IMHO - bit of Colli 845 or simple spray wax each time you can it

CYCLESPORT1

Wash and Pledge

extrusion

Mr Sheen?

apreading

As Bigpickle says - Collinite 845 is the best I have found for protection - works great on the car, especially if you dont wax often as it lasts soooo looong. Never waxed my bike but it I did this is what I would use.

MattC59

Wipe it down with a baby wipe and leave it at that FFS, then you can spend more time riding instead of polishing

richard36

Thanks for the great posts. Especially like the one from KFinlay. As for Matt's response I agree that a bike is for riding but for me part of the overall experience is cleaning the bike and making sure it's nice and shiny each time I go out!

daviesee

MattC59 wrote:

Wipe it down with a baby wipe and leave it at that FFS, then you can spend more time riding instead of polishing

A lot of the above is overkill in the extreme but if you have a treasured frame with some kind of metallic/pearlescent paint job - do not use baby wipes. They get the dirt off but leave a matt residue. Not what you want.
Sorry Matt but your name is quite appropriate here

MattC59

In that case, try Mer polish. It's fantastic !!!! It's a bit of a unsung hero. It's cheap as chips and works brilliantly. Unless you want to spend stupid money on a product, then you're not going to get any better than this.

I've been using it on my kit car for years and it polishes to a fantastic shine.

www.richtreen.co.uk

I have a whole host of car waxes on the shelf from the past but in all honesty I find them a real pain when it comes to a built up bike so some a can of Morgan Blue stay polish is so much easier !

nathancom

and then it rains and the bike is covered in crud again. I can handle washing mine but waxing is going too far...

alihisgreat

nathancom wrote:

and then it rains and the bike is covered in crud again. I can handle washing mine but waxing is going too far...

You're missing 1/2 of the point of wax...

Yeah it makes your bike look nice... but the main advantage is that it makes it easier to clean next time as the crud doesn't stick as well.

white91

AutoGlym HD wax is pretty good

andy46

+1 for Zymol, I use it for the car so it's what I use on the bike too. Made up from natural ingredients also so it won't hurt anything, and the Mrs loves the smell so she doesn't mind helping out

Mickyg88

After reading the above I've just been and polished mine with autoglym, the bike now looks better than new, I put two coats on for good measure. Even the minor scratch I got doesn't look as bad.

slowondefy2

kfinlay wrote:

Autoglym is a polish not a wax!

Not sure what you mean by this. Autoglym do a huge range of products, including wax and a variety of different types of polishes. I strongly suggest you don't get the clay bar out on the strength of what you read here, you're likely to do more harm than good. Wax certainly won't protect against stone chips!!

kfinlay

I presumed the OP was using Autoglym Super Resin Polish- the most commonly bought Autoglym product - this is a polish and not a wax!
Clay bar does absolutely no harm to paintwork, unlike the risk regular polishing of paintwork over time due to the microabrasive nature of many polishes. It's great at prepping paintwork for the application of waxes.
Waxes form a thin layer on the paintwork which can be built up to provide a super deep shine and also helps protect the paintwork - Zymol certainly DOES help avoid stone chips as I use to Show n Shine my cars for many years - they were used everyday on motorways and the amount of stone chip damage to the front was significantly less than other guys I know that have the same car and similar commutes - not very scientific and agree it will never stop big stones chipping but there is a huge difference in the tiny chip damage. Several other users of Zymol in the car club and forums I was part of found the same benefit.
Hope this explains things better for you.

As for the OP, it all depends on how you feel about looking after your bike/frame - some people want to take care of their things more than others. I cherish my EPS but still want to get out there and (try to) ride the wheels off it! Not trying to tell anyone what to do just trying to offer some sensible advice. I only use Zymol as I still have it from my car showing days. If I was buying stuff today it would probably be Collonite - great protection and not silly money.

MattC59

You want to put layers of wax on !?!?!?

Dear god, are you stupid, that will just make your bike heavier !

joenobody

kfinlay wrote:

Clay bar does absolutely no harm to paintwork

Got to disagree with this - I've seen swirled paintwork following over use of an aggressive clay. Use the right grade of clay for the contamination and you *should* find it does no harm, but it's just not true to say that clay does no harm to paintwork.

joenobody

In response to the OP - I've got some Gtechniq C2 and C5 (see Gtechniq.com) that I was planning to apply to my bike. However, I've had it knocking around for a while and not bothered to put it on my car, so I'm probably deluding myself that I'll ever treat my bike with it

keef66

I just find it such a faff on a built up bike. If ever I strip the thing down to just frame and forks I might remember to give it a couple of coats of Autoglym, but with cables, brake calipers, bottle cages and chainset in the way I just can't be bothered.

kfinlay

MattC59 wrote:

You want to put layers of wax on !?!?!?

Dear god, are you stupid, that will just make your bike heavier !

Really hope this is a joke! :roll:

MattC59

kfinlay wrote:

MattC59 wrote:

You want to put layers of wax on !?!?!?

Dear god, are you stupid, that will just make your bike heavier !

Really hope this is a joke! :roll:

Unbelievable :roll:

kfinlay

JoeNobody wrote:

kfinlay wrote:

Clay bar does absolutely no harm to paintwork

Got to disagree with this - I've seen swirled paintwork following over use of an aggressive clay. Use the right grade of clay for the contamination and you *should* find it does no harm, but it's just not true to say that clay does no harm to paintwork.

Incorrect use of clay bar will cause paint damage, same for polish and waxes too though surely! Like you state "following overuse of an agfressive clay" - there will always be examples of inappropriate use of some product not giving the desire reults. Claybar is not to be used as a hard abrasive or polish but to be used with a (often soapy) lubricant to lift film/contaminants from paintwork. If trying to get rid of things like scratches/swirl marks then there are specific polishes to use. Used properly it can have excellent results - I'm prepped many cars and know many many others who do so too - including concours winners - and they know detailing better than most.

Don't mind anyone disagreeing afterall I'm only offering my opinion based on personal experience/knowledge. It's up to the OP or anyone else reading this thread to decide what they feel is useful to their circumstances. I have a specific way I like to maintain my bikes that may be the same or different to others. Is what I do better? I couldn't say but I'm happy with what I do and why I do it. I'm happy to share this with others who feel they could benefit from my experience and knowledge but if they go use someone else's advice then fine.

kfinlay

MattC59 wrote:

kfinlay wrote:

MattC59 wrote:

You want to put layers of wax on !?!?!?

Dear god, are you stupid, that will just make your bike heavier !

Really hope this is a joke! :roll:

Unbelievable :roll:

You've lost me completely? Surely you are not serious - although I can be pretty slow at times so I'm probably missing something here??!!?? However, I don't think you have any idea of how or why waxes are used to protect paintwork and I'm not about to enter a discussion on the matter - there's plenty reliable info out there. Just stick to using Mer that you are happy with but try not to insult others who have a different opinion.

andy46