What Cleaning stuff/Lubes etc do you use?

Afternoon all. Being a returnee ( albeit a keen one ) to cycling, one of the first things I did when I got my first bike ( On the C2W Scheme) was get a big bottle of Muc-Off because I remembered how good it was. And it still is, excellent stuff. At the Wales Velo they had a stall with a huge pile of freebies which they gleefully fed to my girfriend and I - wet and dry lube, drivetrain cleaner, and perhaps oddly, they do a dry shower for your wetwear. Or girlfriend, in my case.
I have used the drivetrain cleaner and the wet and dry lubes so far and really like them, and I have a tin of the Bike Spray which does seem pretty good ( and smells ace...)
Mich had gotten some of the Hope equivalent of Muc off and I used that to clean our bikes a few times, but I don't like it as much as Muc - off - it seems to leave a residue and not be as effective at getting rid of the general Ooomskah riding sticks to your bike.
So, what do you use and why?Is there anything better than the originals, or possibly cheaper?

Warm water with a squirt of washing up liquid and a brush, a used toothbrush for the small gaps.

Halfords wax chain lube.

Thats it.

Cheap car shampoo (it's cheaper than washing up liquid)
Big bottle of mild tar spot remover (an added bonus of half the country using studded tyres is you can buy tar spot remover really cheaply in really big tubs, and it's a fantastic bike cleaner/degreaser) park chain cleaner. Sponges.

And oil to suit the bike/season/use. No point using a heavy duty winter lube when it's 30 degrees and bone dry out there. Chain will end up looking like crap and wear out faster.

Still avoid muck off after seeing the damage it did to some anodized finishes BITD.

Not making any claims that what I do is a good way of doing things, but I use:

-wd40 as both degreaser and lube.
-washing up liquid in warm water (but will probably now try cheap car shampoo) to clean.
-big cheapo sponge, old kitchen brush and the girlfriends toothbrush (shhh don't tell :twisted for cleaning.
-shimano dura-ace grease for everything which needs grease

Works well for me.

ljamesb":27hjil5r said:

-wd40 as both degreaser and lube.

Click to expand...

If you are using WD40 branded oil as a lube, fair enough, if you are using "WD40" as in the original water displacer, stop now.
It's horrific stuff. It attacks some seal materials (Probably worse on a retrobike as seals will already be slightly degraded, and will be older, less tolerant materials), rinses grease and oil out from where it's meant to be and to add insult to injury, it's a terrible lubricant.

Its right up there with jet washing for what you can do to destroy a bike without realising.

Get some proper degreaser and a bottle of decent lube.

Just regular wd40 in a spray can. I don't buy into those myths . It seriously doesn't harm anything, in my experience.

Been doing it for years. Never had any issues with seals or anything else like parts wearing out faster etc. Also works fine as lubricant. I think people may have problems when they mix wd40 with other stuff. Like using muc off, then wd40 as lube. I just use wd40 for both.

I clean my bikes little and often so don't need much per clean. Perhaps this could explain any differences in people's experience using it.

Thanks for your advice though. Perhaps I'll do a test sometime. One bike the lazy wd40 way, and one bike with proper degreaser and lube.

£land sell some muck off type stuff and its pretty good worth getting a few bottles of if they have it in.

If I take parts off for a degrease and thorough clean then I use the dishwasher (when the mrs is out ) Then use a light coating of used engine oil that I keep after changing the oil on the car for bits like chain, sprockets, rings etc.

There is a lot of bunkum by the cycle industry trying to sell you expensive cleaners and lubricants which rarely is anything other than snake oil. Try not to use washing up liquid on fine finish frames as they use a lot of salt to thicken the liquid up.

Have a look in an auto store for a traffic film remover. It usually comes concentrated so you can dilute it - and it does a great job of getting off the grime. Chuck it into your old Muc Off spray bottle, apply, rinse off.

I also use a cheap degreaser, which is brilliant at removing years of grease and filth (especially on bikes that have sat unused for years).

Other than that, as the guys have said ... cheap auto shampoo, a few old brushes and sponges in various sizes, and something like Turtlewax to finish.

For lube I'll use a light spray on type, such as Finishline. For the chain I'll use a lightweight oil.

If you need a grease the Rock n Roll Red Devil grease is excellent. I've read somewhere that marine grease is good too (especially if you ride in the gloomy stuff) but I've never tried it.

Winter- Oil
Summer- Wax
Cleaning- Elbow grease. And plenty of it.