Does anyone know of any products online that are cheaper? Any good TFR + postage deals?
Please don’t suggest washing-up liquid as it has to go in a spray bottle and be used in combo with a Mobi washer on the back street (no yard/hose access).
A bottle of the chain clean gel from Green Oil dilutes to make a litre of bike clean. Equally as good as muc off (if not better)and much better for the planet.
Fenwicks. Have used it for years and buying a big 5L container lasts for ages. By comparison, I recently bought some Muc-Off nad it lasted two bike washes – cost circa £7.
Been using Fenwicks (1L concentrate diluted to 10:1) but going to try the Green Oil stuff next. Their chain cleaning gel dilutes, not as much as the fenwicks but interesting to use the gel neat on things too.
Going to put an order in for some of their chain oil too and give that a go. Shame the kickstarter for their slip lube didnt get funded.
I liked the Fenwicks stuff but 5 Litres is over 30 quid. It dilutes at 10%
I then tried this stuff Ebay Bike Cleaner.It dilutes at 2% upwards depending on how severe the contamination is, but I’ve found 2% to be plenty most of the time. It has exactly the same effect as Muc Off & Fenwicks but costs less. There no sign of by bike dissolving yet and the brakes still work. I split the cost of buying 10 litres with a mate. Fag packet arithmetic says 250 litres of bike spray for 12 quid. I won’t be changing back again.
D.
Does Fenwicks etc cut through chain oil? I generally use car shampoo but by the time I’ve washed the rear mech and chain rings the brush gets coated with oil that then gets spread round the rest of the bike. Even if I do the mech and chain rings last, it still gets left on the brush for next time. Gunk will take it off but spreads like diesel. I’d like something in between that will remove chain lube but rinse off with no residue
I generally use car shampoo but by the time I’ve washed the rear mech and chain rings the brush gets coated with oil that then gets spread round the rest of the bike. Even if I do the mech and chain rings last, it still gets left on the brush for next time.
you need more brushes! I’ve got a brush and sponge for anything non-greasy/oily and one for the drive train.
And fairy for the win – diluted in hot water for the main wash, and neat on the oily brushes. Works a treat.
I’ve ordered that TFR I linked to. For 5 litres for £8 with free postage it seems a bargain, dilutes 100:1, is non caustic, it says caravan cleaner on the front and it even looks like Fenwick’s. I’ll be able to tell if it’s Fenwicks or not by the smell.
The chemical man I spoke to described all the bike cleaners as “Hard surface cleaners” Can’t tell you any more. TFR diluted incorrectly is horrible stuff. Traffic film is hard to remove because all the water soluble stuff has been washed away by the rain. So most car shampoo’s won’t shift it, hence TFR. I don’t know if it’s the same thing.
I used to strip my chains using undiluted fenwick’s but i realised it’s not a good idea because you’re just removing the factory coating that comes on it.
Wd40 and fairy washing up liquid. Spray the wd40 all over give it a scrub spray some more let it soak then wash down with diluted warm fairy water. Cheap as chips and works a treat and doesn’t destroy the paint
Bomber, that factory coating (cosmoline?) is just there to prevent corrosion during storage, not to work as a lubricant. Sophisticated lubes usually recommend this is cleaned off first. It is good at making crap stick to your chain, if that’s a plus.
Great to see a couple of shouts for Green Oil here. It’s what we use on our hire fleet and customer bikes, and it works at least as well as the big names. It’s by far the most environmentally-friendly option we’ve found, despite the claims made by just about every cleaner out there.
It’s a good bit cheaper than Muc Off but obviously not quite as cheap as some of the other options mentioned.
Elbow Grease at £1 courtesy of Semi Chem cleans anything (including oily clothes) as well as and better than most things I have used in forty years of cleaning motor and pedal cycles but is a bit dearer than some of the dilutables mentioned.
Drovercycles – how are you finding the green oil chain lube? Met the owner at a show in London last month and really like his attitude towards materials, especially the way they use old coke bottle tops on the bottles.
Would be great if all bike shops stocked it in bulk to refill like you can Ecover at some places (like our post office in the village).