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review
2022 Silca Ultimate Brake And Drivetrain Cleaner£36.00
VERDICT:
Incredibly effective drivetrain and brake cleaner – and incredibly expensive
Eats through grime
Won't strip grease
Non-toxic
Pleasing to use
So much money!
Weight:
582g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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- Appalling
Silca Ultimate Brake And Drivetrain Cleaner is a very powerful formula that does an excellent job without relying on any nasties – it won't strip good grease from your bike, or damage paint or components, and it's not harmful to your health either. The price might make you faint, though.
Previously, I wrote about Step 4 in Silca's Bicycle Spa Collection: Ultimate Ceramic Waterless Wash. Silca Ultimate Brake And Drivetrain Cleaner is Step 1 in that same process, also known as Detox, and represents the initial clean and degrease of your drivetrain and your disc brake system, before you get on to cleaning the rest of your bike.
Unlike other drivetrain cleaners, which often contain harmful chemicals, Silca's offering is designed to remove the gunk and oils from your drivetrain (and brakes) without harming your bike's frame or components, and, crucially, without stripping the 'good grease' from anywhere on your bike where it's needed. So you don't have to worry about damaging seals or bearings.
It's also water soluble, so when you wash it off there's no residue left behind when you've finished cleaning. This is a good thing when you're applying lube to your chain and you don't want anything getting in the way of it properly sticking.
Spray, wait, rinse
When you spray it on, you need to wait three to five minutes for the liquid to get to work, at which point it encapsulates and lifts off any dirt or grime, which then simply starts to fall off, and is completely removed once you rinse it off. That's the theory, anyway.
While you wait, you can see the product at work – it turns blood red, which indicates it's working. Interestingly, I've seen this same magic occur with a fallout remover which is used for detailing cars, and funnily enough it smells almost identical – rotten egg – although in the Silca's case it's far less offensive.
And I must say, Ultimate Brake and Drivetrain Cleaner is tremendously effective. I tested it on several bikes – a summer bike with only mild dirt, my gravel bike which has seen plenty of winter gravel action, and a friend's old mountain bike which probably got cleaned back in 2010. On both of my bikes, it did exactly what it promised – it removed all the grime and left a sparkling chain.
On the old mountain bike, it did a similarly good job of cleaning the drivetrain, but – unsurprisingly – it wasn't able to remove the several layers of thick winter-weight oil that had accumulated over the years, even after two applications. To me, that highlights how safe the formula is – if it can't remove the sludge of decades-old oil then it's going to be equally kind to protective grease, too.
Value
OK, so here's the tricky bit. At £36, this is about three times as much as I've ever spent on a degreaser. (I actually buy an eco-friendly water-based degreaser in bulk now, which is super cheap.) I can quite confidently say it is a brilliant degreaser, but clearly it's a huge investment.
One of the priciest degreasers we've tested on road.cc, Finish Line Speed Clean Multi-Degreaser, is a rather paltry £13.49 in comparison. Cheaper, but also more toxic, as it contains toluene, which is a pretty nasty chemical both for the environment and for your health (it's found in paint thinners). Personally, I'd steer well clear.
Juice Lube's Dirt Juice Boss In A Can is a better proposition – it's £9.99 and biodegradable, so no nasties to worry about. Dave thought it was pretty effective, but did note that you would burn through the product quite quickly, it being an aerosol. (It's available in a 500ml bottle too, for £14.99.)
Conclusion
While the price is hard to ignore, there's no doubt Silca has created a fantastic product here, and if you're fanatical about keeping your drivetrain shiny (without damaging anything) and you can afford it, it's one to stick on your shopping list.
Verdict
Incredibly effective drivetrain and brake cleaner – and incredibly expensive
road.cc test report
Make and model: Silca Ultimate Brake And Drivetrain Cleaner
Size tested: 473 ML
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?
Silca says, "Eliminate oil and dirt from your drivetrain in 3-5 minutes and watch the cleaner foam to a purplish-red color as in encapsulates and removes that oil and dirt. Eliminates brake squeal and will not attack wax on paint or drivetrain!"
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Silca lists:
* Ecapsulates and removes oils and grease
* 16oz spray bottle
* Cinnamon scent
* Clean Rinsing
Rate the product for performance:
10/10
Strips the bad stuff from your drivetrain, makes it looks new again, but doesn't remove the good stuff.
Rate the product for value:
4/10
It's very effective, and you only need one application, but still... it's otherworldly expensive.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Very powerful, but totally safe on your bike (and it won't harm you either).
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
When the formula bleeds – that's when you know it's working.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Nothing.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
It's about two or three times pricier than anything we've tested before. Juice Lube Dirt Juice Boss In A Can is £9.99, and Finish Line Speed Clean Multi-Degreaser is £13.49, but it's superior to both.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Too rich for my blood.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Probably not.
Use this box to explain your overall score
As a reviewer, when you come across a genuinely amazing product it's hard to not want to give it a five-star rating, and that's exactly what I would like to do in the case of Silca's Ultimate Drivetrain and Brake Cleaner. It's exceptionally good. But it's way more expensive than rivals, and loses points as a result.
About the tester
Age: 39
I usually ride: Condor Italia RC custom build My best bike is:
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: A few times a week I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, club rides, sportives, mtb,
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26 comments
This seems very similar in principle to car alloy wheel cleaners which work in almost the same way (in particular turning red to let you know they are working). Here's an example: https://bilthamber.com/product/auto-wheel/
Does anyone know if they're the same thing and if the alloy wheel cleaner would work well on a drivetrain? I've been tempted to try it as it's much cheaper than the Silca cleaner and comes in a bigger bottle but scared of ruining my bike.
Does anyone out there with a good understanding of chemistry know the answer or has anyone tried it..?
Cheers!
As I mentioned in the article, it seems similar to those iron oxide fallout removers.
I use the BiltHamber Fallout remover (essentially the same as the wheel cleaner but less clingy solution) and it's my understanding that both are safe on paint (automotive paint that is).
No idea how it would work on a bike though, I'm tempted to try it on my oldish MTB just to see how it fares.
Interestingly, in all the Silca videos taking about the new cleaning products, Josh always mentions that he was influenced by the automotive racing world, so there could be some truth in this being an upscale version of an auto fallout remover (with perhaps some tweaks in the formula to make it more suitable for bikes).
The red colour is likely thioglycolic acid coming into contact with iron particles and the rotten egg smell may be trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide released from reaction products (I hope it's trace amounts as the stuff is stinky but first of all, highly toxic).
So probably it'll be about the same in composition, perhaps with some extra detergents thrown in. Or maybe they bought a tanker of the stuff, tested it and after seeing that iti ddn't dissolve the bikes, bottled it and started selling at 10 times the purchase price
You'll have noticed the word 'probably'. I wax my chain and don't need this stuff but otherwis eI wouldn't hesitate doing a test with the car version. But remember, dear friends: if you try this and it breaks; you get to keep the pieces. Don't call me.
Except the Bilt Hamber cleaner is not acid based according to its website. Like you, my suspicion is this is essentially the same stuff as the Silca product, but sold at a fraction of the price... Still to scared to try it out though...
I've been using car shampoo for years. Much stronger and far far far cheaper than any other cleaner.
Please enlighten us to exactly which brand and model of car shampoo that you're using that's more powerful than a degreaser.
No, I worked hard to find out which works best.
If you have a cheaper alternative that works well then why not share it with others?
Pay me £1.99 a month and all will be revealed.
Oh. Never mind. May you have success in your journey to become a better person.
It's in the post, now will you let us know?
I thought it was a bottle of whisky when I first saw the picture.
A good bottle of malt will cost a lot less.
No, it won't.
You can easily pick up a bottle of Teachers for less than that
Pedantry: "Good" and "malt". I've only witnessed others drinking Teachers so I'm guessing but likely the Silca product is more sippable. Although Grahamd is still correct if you're not above e.g. an Auchentoshan.
Plenty drinkable single malts for that price
But which would taste nicer? (My money is on the drivetrain cleaner.)
I have just invested in a bottle of lube that got a high recommendation. I really hope it is worth it.
https://road.cc/content/review/silca-synergetic-drip-lube-286041
this? If so, I think it's worth it.
If the lube brings happiness it's totally worth it.
Chain lube, right?
I'm on my second bottle of Synergetic and very impressed. I use it in wet and dry, and it's at least close to doubled my typical chain life.
I brought it to see how it would fare as a fairish weather lube for the Ultimate Commuter, wet lube is a bit much but I find most dry to be too noisy, but another unfortunate incident has meant I am on the Good Bike for the commute, and shes great, so fast and agile. But I can almost feel her drivetrain being ground away. So I am in the process of stripping it down and doing a deep clean so I can use the wonder lube.
I'm hoping that it can eek out the life of my almost irreplaceable 3x9 xtr components.
Dry this week, and the filth has been drying, but could start being wet next week. Though hopefully the Ultimate will be riding again soon enough.
I started using Synergetic last summer. It really is as good as the reviews. Makes waxing chains utterly pointless now.
I currently use Fenwicks Professional chain lube. It seems pretty much a goldilocks lube to me. Dry enough that it doesn't attract dust in the dry, clingy enough it doesn't immediately wash off in the wet.
The downsides:
Once I have finished it I am thinking of trying the Silca lube next (or sooner if I win the lottery!)