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review
Cleaning products
Finish Line Speed Clean Degreaser2022 Finish Line Finish Line Speed Clean Degreaser

Finish Line Speed Clean Degreaser

5
by Stu Kerton
Sat, Sep 10, 2022 09:45
3
£13.49

VERDICT:

5
10
Pricier than the competition and very wasteful, but decent performance for the lazy mechanic
Gets rid of gunk quickly
Very wasteful when used as intended
Pricey
Can damage paintwork
Weight: 
509g
Contact: 
www.freewheel.co.uk
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Finish Line's Speed Bicycle Chain Degreaser cleans your drivetrain and brakes quickly with little to no effort, and it dries fast as well. It's not perfect in terms of cleaning performance, but the biggest downside for me is just how wasteful and inefficient it is.

'Melts away chain grease' it says on the back of the can, and to be fair it does just that, even on a drivetrain wearing the worst a winter will throw at it.

Before testing the Finish Line stuff, I overloaded a chain and cassette with some thick wet lube and set about riding the bike through as much mud, dust and nastiness as I could find for around a thousand miles. The chain, cassette, and jockey wheels ended under a thick layer of gunge, but it still wasn't a massive challenge for the Speed Degreaser.

You give the can a 30-second shake, point it at the drivetrain and give the button a push. The propellant gasses (which Finish Line calls Turbo Sprayer) blast out the mixture of solvents which literally dissolves the lube, and takes away everything stuck to it.

Without the use of a brush or anything it removes the majority of nasty build up, but it can't quite get into the little nooks and crannies of the cassette. Even using the included straw, working the can to get at such places, or at all the pins on the chain, proves very wasteful. That's the biggest issue for me: just how much of this product ends up missing the drivetrain, even when you're being careful.

Turbo lazy

If you are super lazy and just want to give your bike a spray, let it dry (it only takes a few seconds) and bung some fresh lube on before you head out. Then you'll probably see the benefits.

If you want your cleaning product to remain on the drivetrain to soak in, however, and are happy to spend five minutes with a brush and some water, you are going to get better results and less wastage for not a lot more effort. It's got a place in your workshop, but for emergencies only.

> Cycling emergency essentials: the 10 things you should take with you on every ride

Note that Finish Line says it can damage fragile paint too, so you'll want to keep it away from your frame and fork. It is also hugely flammable, so best put that fag out.

Value

Price wise, it's £13.49 for a 558ml can. That's pricey compared to Oxford's Mint Chain Cleaner at £8.99 for 500ml.

Muc-Off's High-Pressure Quick Drying Degreaser is £14.99 for a 750ml can, so slightly better value.

Overall

Considering how much of this actually spends any time on your actual drivetrain, even if you're careful, this is massively expensive for all but the most urgent of cleans. They aren't the nicest chemicals vapourising in front of your face or dripping on the floor, either, and it's pricier than most too.

Verdict

Pricier than the competition and very wasteful, but decent performance for the lazy mechanic

road.cc test report

Make and model: Finish Line Speed Clean Degreaser

Size tested: 558ml

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Finish Line says, "Speed Bike Degreaser utilizes dry degreasing technology. As such, it leaves no residue and water rinsing is not required. Finish Line has recently added a turbo sprayer to its Speed Bike Degreaser which uses mechanical agitation to help quickly remove contaminants off the drivetrain.

"Speed Bike Degreaser is formulated with specialized solvents which break down grease and grime and other solvents whose specialty is removing organic soils like dust and dirt. Like its name suggests, Speed Bike Degreaser is the fastest way to clean a drivetrain. For most applications specialty brushes and tools are not required. Since Speed Bike Degreaser leaves no residue and dries rapidly, lubricant can be immediately applied and the bike can go on its way."

It works fast, but there is a lot of wastage.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Contains heptane, branched, cyclic and linear acetone, propane, ethanol, 1-methoxy-2-propanol monopropylene glycol methyl ether, and carbon dioxide.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
4/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Considering how much stuff it cleans off of the drivetrain without any input from you, it has pretty decent performance.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Works quickly on dirt.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Very wasteful.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

Both the Muc-Off and Oxford products mentioned in the review are better value for money.

Did you enjoy using the product? No

Would you consider buying the product? No

Would you recommend the product to a friend? No

Use this box to explain your overall score

It does a decent job of removing caked-on grease and gunge, but it's hugely wasteful and not a very nice combination of chemicals either.

Overall rating: 5/10

About the tester

Age: 44  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,

Finish Line Speed Clean Degreaser 2022
Finish Line Speed Clean Degreaser
Finish Line 2022
Finish Line
Stu Kerton

Since writing his first bike review for road.cc back in early 2009 senior product reviewer Stu has tested more than a thousand pieces of kit, and hundreds of bikes.

With an HND in mechanical engineering and previous roles as a CNC programmer/machinist, draughtsman and development engineer (working in new product design) Stu understands what it takes to bring a product to market. A mix of that knowledge combined with his love of road and gravel cycling puts him in the ideal position to put the latest kit through its paces.

He first made the switch to road cycling in 1999, primarily for fitness, but it didn’t take long for his competitive side to take over which led to around ten years as a time triallist and some pretty decent results. These days though riding is more about escapism, keeping the weight off and just enjoying the fact that he gets to ride the latest technology as part of his day job.

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3 comments

Avatar
andystow | 2 years ago
0 likes

I have a can, and 100% agree with review. This stuff really works, but seems very wasteful. I suspect automotive brake cleaner would work just as well (and be just as wasteful) but may be a bit cheaper.

Just looked, and here (US) it's about $5 (£4.30) for a 14 fl oz (414 mL can.) Contains heptane, toluene, and CO2. Sometimes I see it two for the price of one.

Avatar
ktache | 2 years ago
1 like

I have some of this stuff.

Big fan of the Finish-Line range.

Back in the day I would use it on my chain, as a quick clean, between a full scrubbing. Onto the chain catching overspray on a rag.

Sort of worked.

These days I use it as a final degreaser/cleaner. Say on a bearing race, lots of nooks and crannies. Start with a biodegreaser, work it in with a toothbrush, rinse with water and a scrub. I could wait for it to dry, but give it a squirt of this stuff, drives off any remaining oil, dirt and water then dries instantly with seemingly no residue. Biodegreaser seems to leave something, this doesn't.

Avatar
Sriracha | 2 years ago
0 likes

I guess most of us at one time will have tried spraying a can of stuff at their chain, with predictable results. There is always the hope that the spray will somehow jetwash the chain, blasting grit out from the inner recesses. Instead most of the spray ends up in your face or on the rest of the bike, despite increasingly elaborate countermeasures with kitchen towel etc.

But I'm still hopeful, if the stuff could be applied in a controlled way that does direct the stream of spray through the chain rather than everywhere else. Trouble is I'm not willing to lash out £30 on the only candidate I've come across, which is the Fastchain.

I know KiwiMike is not a fan because tin can. However the alternative notion of "soaking" the chain (in a tub?) of degreaser implies that all the gunk dissolves away. Yet the real menace, the grit, does not dissolve and needs some kind of mechanical action to carry it away, the product needs to be flowing through the crevices under some force. Also, soaking in a tub probably requires a lot more of the degreaser.

So I'm still asking, has anyone who has used a spray degreaser tried using it with a Fastchain (or similar)? Does it work?

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