Customer Reviews

Finish Line Speed Degreaser Bicycle Cleaner & Degreaser, 17-Ounce Aerosol Spray

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you're inclined to clean your own bike chain and don't like the plastic chain cleaners from Park Tool, this product does the trick. Before using this product, make sure you have plenty of old newspaper to catch the excess runoff. As the product description says, it completely strips off the old grease, so be sure to carefully apply sufficient oil afterwards to prevent metal-on-metal wear.

If you don't want to spend $10.50 a can plus shipping, consider using an aerosol brake cleaner, which can be purchased at any auto supply store for around $3. It does exactly the same thing as Finish Line's Speed Degreaser but at a fraction of the cost.

I gave this product a 3-star rating only because of the high cost.

I've used Finish Line Speed Degreaser for cleaning the cassette, chain, and pulleys on my road bike and it works great. I've also used it for getting grease out of a jacket. The grease just vanishes. The fumes are powerful - only use this in a well ventilated space. And also be careful with overspray because it can take off stickers.

Finish Line Speed Degreaser effectively removed 90 percent of the hardened grease and crud from the front and rear sprocket and derailleurs of my 25 year old Trek 830 mountain bike. I never bothered to clean the gears or shifting mechanism for 25 years. Yes, yes, i know...but everything worked fine so why bother? Finally, after replacing the old, rusted shift and brake cables with new stainless steel ones, and installing new front and rear brakes (the whole brake, not just the pads) I started to have shifting problems.

I have to admit to lots of doubts about the ability of anything to actually remove 25 years of crud, but this stuff really worked. The small residue left was mainly strings, threads and whatever was not simply grease and dirt. With all the crud removed, the residue was easy to pull off the gears and derailleurs and then adjust them.

The parts dried in just a few minutes and required lubrication since Finish Line removed all grease and oil.

If you're going to do heavy duty cleaning place something under the parts to catch the runoff. The parts themselves will dry in just a few minutes and be ready to lube, but the runoff will hang around and stain whatever it falls on.

Finish Line is expensive, but worth the money imo.

Don't waste your money on this item. It's no more effective than any aerosol carburetor cleaner/degreaser you can buy at an auto parts store for about five dollars.

The hardened gunk stuck to my bicycle chain and sprockets wouldn't come loose using this spray. I'd have been better off just buying a small can of charcoal fluid and using an old toothbrush to scrub with.

The concept is amazing - just spray to remove grease and dirt from chain and casette. No watery mess, no hose, no scrubbing. It seemed to work well for me when I did it, but not convinced it removes as much grease as the old fashioned way. Also, I emptied the bottle after just 2 applications! I might save it for just time limited cleanings and stick with scrubbing when I have time to do it right.

spend hours cleaning your bike with a toothbrush and rags, or spend 30 seconds with this can. cleans literally anything on the chain, shifters, tires, or anywhere else. removes years of dirt and grease, revealing the metal underneath, all black that is not painted will be removed, allowing you to easily spot wear and leaving your bike looking new. on the downside, the whole can is gone in under 30 seconds, so I recommend purchasing 2. the spray will remove all traces of lubricant, so i recommend Boeshield T9 4oz Squeeze, Single bottle

This doesn't work for caked on dirt or grease. Whatever protectant it leaves behind makes it impossible to combine this with a rag or a brush. Everything just gets spread around. It relies on the pressure of the can to take off a good deal of the grease. That's where the problem starts--there's not enough in the can to fully degrease a chain and sprockets that hasn't been cleaned in awhile.

The can, naturally, implores you to apply the solvent liberally. Don't. I don't think I've ever been so disappointed in a product I spent so little money on.

My commuting bike's chain was completely caked with black gunk, and normally I'd rather take the time to take the chain off, soak it in something slightly more environmentally friendly, etc., but I was super busy and needed a quick solution. I bought some of this at my LBS, and it worked great: with the first spray, the solid black gunk was just oozing off the drivetrain to expose the silver chain underneath. It comes with a little straw to direct the spray, too, which is nice for getting whatever has collected inside the links.
So yes, this can get your drivetrain pretty clean, and it can do it fast.

But here are the bad parts:
1. I needed a whole can to get my chain to a reasonable level of cleanliness (not shiny and perfect, but acceptable), so this is not a cheap solution.
2. The problem with this as opposed to taking the chain off to clean it or using a chain cleaner tool is that the gunk still has to go somewhere, so it's going to leave a nasty mess on your rear wheel, on your chainstays, and of course on the ground unless you find a clever way to catch the runoff and overspray.
3. This stuff is nasty. Of course, most degreasers are, but this seems especially noxious. It has a billion different warnings about its potential harm to the environment and its toxicity to humans. It eats through plastic: some stray droplets reached my rear wheel, and that was enough to completely disintegrate my rear reflector, which fell apart into about 10 pieces at the lightest touch after I finished cleaning. Use gloves, and maybe other precautions too. Don't get this on or in skin/eyes/any other body part. And watch out for neighboring non-metal bike parts that might be damaged.

It did the job when I was in a hurry, and it was super-easy, but from now on, I'll still plan ahead so that I can clean my drivetrain some other way.

I have been searching for a painless way to clean bicycle cassettes and chains. This is the solution - it blows the grease and grime right off the cassette and chain and when it dries, the chain is ready to be oiled. The only issue I had was that I sort made a mess of the surrounding area so I intend to use a piece of cardboard behind my target to catch the overspray.

Now the bad news that caused me to change this from a 5 star to a 1 star review:

I don't that I over sprayed, I simply worked along my chain blowing the grease off. The can lasted me all of three cleanings so when one takes that into account, rather than pay an exorbitant price for enough product, I have simply returned to effective other degreasers such as Simple Green. I was warned in advance that a competing product lasted a very short time, but this can seemed to be a size where one could expect a reasonable amount of use ages - 3 is not reasonable. Oh and yes, it ran out towards the end of the 3rd use which was finished with another product.

I hadn't taken the care of my chain and gears the way I should have so decided to get more serious about it as I'm attempting to do all my general maintenance. This stuff sprays out fast with the nozzle attached and literally blows grease and dirt away if you spray it on the chain or gears. A more efficient use of it might be to spray it into a brush and then scrub (I purchased the same manufacturer's grunge brush and it did the trick for me). Spraying directly onto the chain and gears I used about 2/3 of the can I think. I was more prudent cleaning the rims of my tires which seemed to work great too - took off at that brake dust.

There are, I'm sure, cheaper alternatives, but this product was very convenient and got the job done.