Muc-Off Drivechain cleaner

Muc-Off drivetrain cleaner is a fast-acting grime shifter useful for cleaning more than just your drivetrain. It's pourable, biodegradable and recyclable but all that comes at a price.

It's a stage 1 product in Muc-Off's three step 'clean – protect – lube' programme. It comes in a 500ml bottle for twelve of your fine English pounds putting it at the premium end of premium chain cleaners – a full 25% more per volume than Finish Line's offering at RRP.

Keeping your drivetrain clean is essential for both transmission efficiency and component lifespan. Muc-Off's drivetrain cleaner certainly does its job well. Using this product side by side with a competitor it was clear that it out performed Dirt Wash's degreaser in terms of grime-shifting efficacy; it lasted longer too.

Don't get me wrong here – there is still some elbow grease required to shift that, er, grease. It works cold with just a brush to agitate the grunge and a rinse off. For the real perfectionists a bucket of warm water with some Fairy following a couple of minutes soaking in the cleaner will have you back to efficient and shiny in no time; even that Barry Scott off of Cillit Bang would be impressed. I also found couple of squirts on your sponges or brushes cleans them up a treat ensuring that next time you're not just wiping last week's grease all over your bike.

Degreaser and chain cleaners are in general pretty nasty stuff, certainly not the kind of fluids you want to be coming in to intimate contact with too often. What's nice about Muc-Off's offering is that is it fully biodegradable and contains no harmful acids, CFC's or solvents for that matter; although it still holds the harmful black cross. The non-aerosol format is a bonus – making the container recyclable and meaning you can use this with chain cleaner contraptions as well as with the supplied trigger.

The lockable trigger is a nice feature;it gives you a good control over how much you use and where it goes. The spray is finely dispersed but unfortunately the nozzle is not adjustable, like it is on the brand's signature bike cleaner, which means when using outside the application direction can be affected by the wind.

Verdict

A good performing drivetrain degreasing cleaner with nice extra features.