Pedros Bye Grease Degreaser

Pedro's Bye Grease Degreaser is a pump spray formula reckoned to dissolve grease and oil immediately without doing anything nasty to bike, operator or environment. Getting the best from it is more involved than the blurb would imply, though.

Other than describing it as biodegradable and environmentally friendly, Pedro's is tight-lipped about the clear solution's origins. It's not alone in that respect, and in these cases I make a concerted effort to use them away from plants, pets, children, waterways and, to a lesser extent, skin.

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Unlike solvent-based products, which can sneak inside hubs, dissolving welcome grease, or do nasty things to seals and other rubberised components, when using Bye Grease I've been happy enough to blast away with wheels, chains and cassettes in situ.

Comparing it with solvent types, Bye Grease's ability to 'dissolve on contact' is slightly pedestrian. In practice, it also appreciates agitating with a stiff brush after 20 seconds' marinating, followed by a spray with a garden hose (that's as high as I'd go pressure-wise) or use a warm bucket of water and a clean brush.

As part of a general weekly bike clean, I've tended to fire a few shots directly at grimy cassettes, rings and so on, and then baste the residual into chain, derailleur cages and jockey wheels.

Otherwise, it's most efficiently delivered to badly sullied chains (especially those dressed in stodgy, petrochemical wet lubes) via a chain bath. Even then, it took four attempts to dismiss Rock n Roll Absolute Dry from my Univega's chain and cassette. Admittedly, this is a very tenacious blend, but Green Oil's degreaser jelly and Fenwick's FS-1 will shift it (and anything else!) by the third, moderate helping.

More basic mineral oil/ISO blends and 5w/40 synthetic motor oils, PTFE based greases, home-brewed corrosion-inhibitors and gripper pastes have relented by the second helping.

Exchanging the head for one with an in-built agitator produced a much richer mix, which worked, on average, 30 per cent faster.

> Video: How to clean and lube your bike

Much like other concentrates, I suspected it would form the basis of a bike wash. Decanting 15% into a 750ml bottle and topping up with warm water confirmed this. Leaving it for 30 seconds or so to soften organic and petrochemical spatter before introducing a big soft brush or car sponge, reaped reasonable results, about middle of the road in the speed stakes.

It's not overly potent, and there's been no hint of streaking or discolouration of gloss finishes, though I have given matt colours a quick shot of specialist protectant.

Ultimately, Bye Grease is worth considering if you need a versatile, kind and reasonably effective utility cleaner for bikes with delicate finishes, but there are faster acting and similarly kind formulas for breezing through stocky ceramic greases, chain lubes and so on.  

Verdict

Quite good for degreasing delicate surfaces, but not the fastest-acting formula