Wickens & Soderstrom No.1 Bike Cleaner

Wickens & Soderstrom No.1 Bike Cleaner is a clear, colourless formula that works, and seems to be kind to all finishes, but doesn't outshine others on the market.

Predictably, W&S is pretty coy about its composition, stressing instead that it is free of phosphate and phosphonates (acids commonly found in household and industrial cleaners). The bottom line is, we're promised that it hasn't been tested on animals, has reduced environmental impact and, crucially, won't do anything nasty to delicate paintwork, seals and the like.

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W&S has shunned the classic 1-litre trigger spray bottle in favour of 120ml of concentrate and a 500ml bottle. This retails at a superficially steep £14 but makes the equivalent of 3 litres of stock product, bringing the price to a more competitive £4.67 per litre. Top it up with tap water, round up your sponge and assorted brushes, pop grotty machine(s) outside and blast liberally from 30cm or so.

Several weeks' continual exposure to wet, salty roads ensured my mile-munching workhorse was an ideal candidate. On the workstand, wheels out, let the exorcism commence...

We're talking subtle suds rather than foaming blanket, which I left to marinate for 40 seconds before introducing a saturated car sponge. Dung, mud and residual organic spatter literally slithered away and into my lawn. Witches brews of residual grease, homemade frame preserve, diesel and their salty, gritty lodgers adorning bottom bracket, rear triangle and wheels demanded second helpings at closer range and more concerted, medium stiff brush persuasion.

Nonetheless, within 40 minutes, my faithful friend was clean and dry. Extending waiting times helps, although in common with most blends this leaves a slightly dulled effect – but nothing that a quick furniture polish blow-over and clean rag buff-up doesn't cure.

Common sense dictates applying the cleaner in sheltered areas but even residual, misty blowback hasn't left my eyes stinging, or my hands feeling dry when cleaning several bikes, and no tell-tale scorch marks on the lawn either.

Economy will very much depend upon filth and owner involvement. In stock form, getting two cyclo-crossers, one mountain bike and one tourer from gross to gleaming took half the diluted bottle, which is pretty competitive, especially when pitted against another, suspiciously similar looking eco-formulae.

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Decanting 60ml of neat mix to 940ml tap water (30ml per 500ml) and employing a trigger with built-in agitator produced a much richer, faster acting version, which also proved reasonably effective on drivetrains.

Ultimately, performance is good rather than great, and seems really kind to all finishes. Unfortunately, this statement applies to a wealth of formulas and isn't enough to prise me away from my favourite – Fenwick's FS-1 Concentrate.

Verdict

Effective bike wash that represents good value but not obviously superior to established competition