Floss your bike?
I don’t hold much faith for bike cleaning products. Generally, you can achieve a lot if you just wash your bike after every ride and I reckon bike cleaners and degreasers are a waste of time and money. All they do is flatten the paintwork and strip grease out from where it should be.
Having said all that, I’ve just seen a product on BikeRadar which looks like it might be worth a go.
Purple Harry’s Bike Floss looks to be dirt cheap (pardon the pun) and is basically a decent length of heavy duty pipe cleaner with the sort of nylon bristles on it that you get on Camelbak cleaning brushes.
It’s main advantage is that it can twist right in amongst the spockets and chainrings to really clear out at the nasty gunk that tends to create premature wear on your drivetrain. And I guess clean Camelbak hoses out too.
There’s a couple of different grades available, plus a fleecy one too which should cover all the things a sensible person can think of flossing. Just don’t expect it to help perfect a dazzling smile!
About the author
Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.
Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.
An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.
If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.
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pij says:
…or just go to any toy or craft shop and pick some unbranded pipe cleaner equivalents up for £1.99…
You’d have to be a bit keen to go to those levels on a mountain bike though wouldn’t you? Water + stiff brush = clean enough for the next thrashing.
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Posted on November 29, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Dave the Rave says:
Just bought some of the Bike Floss, a packet of each,I also saw the review on BIke Radar and MBR. It looks like a pipecleaner from a craft shop, BUT when you get it out of the packet, you can see straight away that there is no way it is a craft pipe cleaner. Trying on my cassette i was blown away! The cassette and jockey wheels have come up as almost new! I was shocked on how good this stuff was, all for £3.99 Cycle Surgery website.
Don’t dismiss it as a craft pipecleaner! it’s far more thene that.
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Posted on January 15, 2011 at 1:21 pm
paul901 says:
“I reckon bike cleaners and degreasers are a waste of time and money. All they do is flatten the paintwork and strip grease out from where it should be”
My usual routine now on the road bikes or the Whyte is to tip a watering can full of water over the bike to ensure all is wet. The Whyte then has the pressure washer on its most gentle fan-spray setting moving closer as necessary to remove the dirt. I skip this step on the road bikes.
Then half a bucket of warm water with half a capful of car wash and polish and a soft bristled brush all over the bike. This doesn’t flatten the paintwork, in fact it must help it.
It does seem that whether road bike where grit is the enemy or off-road where everything is, it is worth spending 5 minutes on the drivetrain. I like to use bike degreaser to clean the chainset and mechs although there is the dilemma of removing grease inadvertently. I take kitchen roll to the chain to remove water, spray WD40 onto more kitchen roll and wipe the chain to remove excess oil. This is a tip I picked up which also says don’t spray WD40 directly onto the chain. I do find jockey wheels will hold onto grit or muck for all their life is worth and it is worth using kitchen roll or a J-cloth to wipe round them properly.
Most advice says only oil the inside of the chain but (harmless) external rust invites itself to the party willingly at this time of year and I do wonder if coating the outside minimises this.
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Posted on January 16, 2011 at 8:47 am
pij says:
In a rare display of PIJ posting on-topic…. Agree with the above, especially the WD40 bit. A bike mechanic once told me that prolonged exposure to WD40 degrades rubber components; i.e. all those lovely ‘o’ rings on our bikes. Spray it onto a cloth, then wipe over the bike is enough.
I use a split pin on the chain; to clean I just remove the chain, pop it into an old plastic milk bottle with some de-greaser, and away you go. Only need to do once a few months as I don’t use oil on my chain – tend to use wax in the summer, ceramic in the winter.
A fine spray from a hose cleans 99% of muck from my bike; a wipe over with a sponge does the rest. Like Matt I pretty much never use any of the cleaning sprays – for one they are bloomin’ expensive, and secondly they generally don’t work. Warm water and car shampoo is fine by me.
Quck rub down when dry – then I go do the same to the bike! Ha ha!
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Posted on January 16, 2011 at 12:16 pm