Fenwicks FS foaming degreaser

We first saw the FS foaming degreaser at the start of the year and it certainly looked like a fun new way to get your bike clean, if it can ever be fun. In practice the main benefits are the ease of use and lack of mess. It's a bit lacking in terms of raw degreasing power but a great choice for a general clean. And it's so safe you could eat it – Mr Fenwick tests all his products by eating them, apparently – although it probably isn't recommended as a regular part of your diet.

The FS degreaser comes in a 500ml aerosol and sprays on to form a pink foam that's about the consistency of a cheap shaving cream. The nozzle makes it easy to direct the degreaser where you want it, and once it's there it stays put until you come at it with the brush. This is the major benefit over a spray degreaser, much of which tends to drip off before you've much of a chance to get in with the bristles. The foam will happily stay put for five minutes or more, giving you the chance to go and have a cup of tea while it starts to eat into the grime.

Once you do get to scrubbing you'll find that the FS is a good all-round bike cleaner. I'd stop short of calling it a true degreaser – it doesn't have the power of some of the other potions you can get for shifting the really grimy stuff – but the fact that it stays put rather than dripping off means it punches above its weight, given that it's a pretty benign formula that isn't going to do your hands too much damage.

A five-minute soak for your cassette and chain will loosen most road grime. you'll need to give them a good scrub to get them shiny, and stubborn stuff may require a stronger formula. FS is also great for buffing up frames and other components, leaving everything looking like new once you've given your bike a bit of a rinse. There's nothing particularly harmful in it and my lawn hasn't suffered at all from a few dousings of the effluent.

Verdict

Not the most powerful degreaser you can buy, but a great fuss and mess-free way to give your bike a spruce up.