TESTED: Pedalit bike care range

Pedalit are an Australian company interested in making sure you, your bike, and your clothing are in top-notch condition. This means their range goes from a degreaser, bike cleaner, polish and chain lube (plus cleaning instruments), through to biodegradeable laundry detergent, hand cleaner, chamois cream and sun cream too. It’s a really thorough range from Pedalit, but here we are focusing on the bike cleaning products.

First up is the Resurrection Bike Degreaser – a biodegradeable concentrate. I found this worked really well in two ways. Firstly, straight up in the compact inline chain cleaning device that Pedalit also sell, but also watered down (1:10 ratio) in a spray bottle for the rest of your drivetrain when it isn’t too filthy. Pedalit also have a cleaning brush, which is like everyone else’s cleaning brush, to help. But the solution itself did a really good job, and being biodegradeable I didn’t mind using it on my driveway with the run off going into the garden. And my skin didn’t fall off either.

With a good scrub, the degreaser did an excellent job – better than most degreasers I have used. The chain cleaner wasn’t a match for the most filthy of chains, where lube and grime are glued to the outside of the inner plates. But it got the whole drivetrain clean, including jockey wheels and chainrings, while in place on the bike. That was very impressive.

The Splendor Bike Wash was another hit. It’s also biodegradeable, and as it’s a concentrate it needs to be mixed 1 part to 20 parts of water. I did that a few times, but then ended up splashing some in my bike wash bucket. With the drivetrain degreased, and then the rest of the bike washed with Splendor and a washing brush that Pedalit also do (plus I usually use a sponge) my bikes cleaned up a treat. There was no residue on the brakes, or scaling on the frame afterwards. I used a regular garden hose (no, not on my bearings) to rinse it all off before drying the bike with a rag.

I clean my bikes more than most, as I think it’s a good way to look after your gear and check anything up close. And I was really impressed with how well these two products worked. Pedalit also have Glory Bike Shine, which was perfect with a clean rag to polish up a bike. Plenty of polishes like this will change a matte finish to gloss, so be aware of that. Your bike really does shine, though, and it’s the perfect penultimate step to the clean.

The final piece is a chain lube – FKB Legend Lube. Pedalit say it’s the superior wet lube, and I have shied away from using wet lubes in the past two years since moving to Brisbane. But the beauty of a wet lube like this is how silently your chain runs. It’s amazing. It pays to wipe off the excess after cycling it through. The chain didn’t get dirtier than the usual dry lube I run, but it lasted really well, which is a huge bonus if you want to ride through the week without much fuss and clean your bike up at the weekend. Pedalit claim you’ll get 80 applications from a bottle, and I wouldn’t disagree – this stuff lasted really well.

What was really nifty was the syringe applicator, which helped for lubing pivot points on derailleurs, springs on pedals, lock-out levers, and putting lube into gear outer before adding a new cable. It is a really useful workshop item.

In all, I think Pedalit have come up with a very thorough range. They sell their products via their website as individual items or as package deals – so it’s up to you what you want to choose and use. But the degreaser, cleaner and polish were so effective, they were the first things I reached for when I needed to clean my bike. More than that, I think I have been cleaning my bike more often too as it’s such a quick task. If you want to try something new, or just easier and environmentally friendly, I’d highly recommend trying some of the Pedalit products.