As a busy father that loves to ride, I’ll be honest and say that the ‘bike cleaning’ is one aspect that is usually first on the do next time list. You can attribute this to a mixture of being time poor and not having the right gear to get the job done well and easily (OK, I’ll admit it’s being lazy too). When I received the ‘Pro Bike Care package’, it didn’t come soon enough as my bike was suffering under an excessive accumulation of grime and road detritus.
If you read my recent review on the Pedalit Body Care range, you will know that the brand are want to be recognised for high-quality products with natural or environmentally conscious selection of ingredients. But is that enough to get a dirty bike clean? Let’s find out and take a look at the Pedalit degreaser, the bike wash and some tools to make cleaning easier.
‘Resurrection’ Degreaser
Usually I turn to old-fashioned Mineral Turpentine or Kerosene to tackle the build-up of crud, grease and road grime from the bike. And as you can guess, it is a filthy and tedious process that is not kind to my hands and lawn.
For the acid test to ‘resurrect’ my bike, I started by using the Pedalit Resurrection degreaser “neat” which means undiluted in a spray bottle. The Pedalit team recommend neat for really tough grime, a 3:1 mix of water:degreaser for semi-hard grime and 20:1 for lighter or general washing. Back to my test, the drivetrain areas received a liberal dosing from the spray bottle and was given time to do it’s work. The non-offensive odour of the degreaser was duly noted and my hands were spared from the typical duress of harsh solvents which was much appreciated.
It was then time to get out the cleaning tools from Pedalit which included the Drive Train Claw and the Component + Hub Brush. You have probably seen these type of bike specific cleaning accessories before, they will generally do a better job than random tools and rags from your toolshed and the Pedalit ones are very affordably priced at $4.95 for each.
I didn’t have to scrub with all my might, as it all came off pretty easily. A light hose off and the bike was already starting to look pretty damn good. The accumulated brake pad dust from the discs was gone, and the hefty layer of grease/grime & lube on the jockey wheels vanished without any real water pressure. Now time for the next stage of cleaning.
Premium Chain Tool & Premium Chain Holder QR
When it comes to keeping my bike chain squeaky clean, as a creature of habit, I’m a ‘break the quick link on the chain, dunk it in turps, dry & lube and then refit’ guy. I’ve tried a chain cleaning tool once before and wasn’t convinced with the result. Once I worked out how to open the Pedalit Premium Chain Tool, I’m now more confident that I can easily do interim chain cleans easily, especially when paired with the Chain Holder.
The Chain Holder is a handy little tool and is designed to keep your chain nicely in-place when your wheel is removed. It means you can use it for cleaning as a chain guide but also for transporting the bike. My chain needed real help so I went for undiluted Resurrection degreaser and it needed a few revolutions through the cleaner. By the third run my bike chain could once again see the light of day. The brushes in the Chain Tool are not fixed within the unit so you have to be careful that they don’t accidentally pop-out and get lost when you are not looking (which nearly happened to me).
For lubing the chain with my bike mounted in my Tacx workstand, the Chain Holder made it super easy and I began to wonder how I ever did without it.
‘Splendor’ Bike Wash
The grease and grime was now gone from the drivetrain, time to give the frame a bit of TLC. This is where the Splendor Bike Wash and Premium Frame Brush really made life easy. The Splendor foamed nicely (mixed 20:1 as recommended, so a 1 litre bottle will last quite a few washes) and when combined with the soft, but large faced Frame Brush, it made the task really easy and actually quite quick.
Even after some serious scrubbing in and around bottle cages, cranks, disc calipers etc, the bristles remained intact and all pointing in the right direction. I’ve seen many brushes (cheap and expensive) suffer from a good use and be almost a throwaway item after a few uses. This isn’t the case with the Premium Frame Brush.
A quick rinse with the water revealed that I do actually have a nice shiny bike underneath! The only downside to the Frame Brush is that it’s size means that there are some areas it doesn’t get into well, such as the inside of chain stays, fork crowns and the like. Now that I am a bike cleaning expert (just see how clean my bike is… like new) I can put in a recommendation for a ‘Father & Son’ pair of Frame Brushes for the next generation.
Summary
I didn’t think it would happen, but my habits have been changed. I’ve now gone from a ‘Crikey, I better wash this as it’s looking REALLY ratty’, to a ‘I like a shiny & clean bike that I am proud to ride, even in winter’.
The proper tools make a world of difference, cleaning is easier and rewarding. It also makes a difference that the Splendor & Resurrection bike cleaning products are Australian Made, biodegradable and the company behind it have a positive approach. The cleaners and tools are very competitively priced and work well which make it easier to opt for the local product.
As a tip, the knowledge base on the pedalit website has some genuinely useful information which is good even for the more experienced cyclists.
You can see product details and purchase online from: pedalit.cc
