Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to REVIEWS
review
Cleaning products
Muc-Off Chain CleanerMuc-Off chain cleaner

Muc-Off Chain Cleaner

7
by rob_simmonds
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published Oct 14, 2009

0
£6.85

VERDICT:

7
10
It works, but it works best in combo with the Chain-Doc clip-on brush
Weight: 
0g
Contact: 
www.muc-off.com
How we test

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 mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

This review contains links to retailers. Purchases made after clicking on those links may help support road.cc by earning us a commission but all of our reviews are fully independent.

Nothing brings out the cynical grump in me more than the miraculous promises made by bike cleaning products and the instructions on Muc-Off's Chain Cleaner set my snake-oil-ometer pinging all the way up to 11.

"Shake can vigorously and apply to chain and transmission.Now either wipe off excess with a dry cloth and allow to dry or wash off with clean water. Your chain is now clean and ready for lubrication." It sounds simple, easy and far too good to be true. Well, the truth is that while the spray does a pretty good job of cutting through grime, grot and accumulated filth, you still have to work hard to actually remove it from your chain. Muc-Off also sells the cleaner with the Chain Doc clip-on chain-bath, which runs brushes through the chain as you spray it with solution.

I only had the cleaner, so I took the chain off, dropped it in a plastic tub and attacked it with an old toothbrush. Not quite the effortless spray'n'rinse that the packaging promises, but if you accept that no cleaning product is ever quite as effective as the marketing blurb, and nothing is going to simply magic away grit, then it does a decent enough job. It's fully bio-degradable too, which makes it better environmentally than traditional solvents like white spirit or petrol.

Verdict

The formula works, but if you want to get the best out of it then you'll need to remove the chain and go at it with a toothbrush or run it through a chain cleaning machine.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Muc-Off Chain Cleaner

Size tested: 400ml

Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Sadly it doesn't succeed in making chain cleaning a pleasure.

Would you consider buying the product? Probably, but only with the Chain-Doc clip-on

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes, but with the same caveat

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 5\' 8  Weight: er....86kg

I usually ride: GT Rave - singlespeed conversion  My best bike is: Guess SC1 scandium

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed,

Muc-Off Chain Cleaner
Chain cleaning
Chain cleaner
Bike cleaning

Latest Comments