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Cleaning bikes is a chore. But it's one well worth putting up with. Clean bikes just work better for longer, and it's a lot harder for imminent mechanical maladies to hide without a camouflaging layer of felge over everything. And of course it's a lot more pleasant to work on a clean, shiny bike than a grimy, grotty one...

It's still a chore, though, which makes anything that promises to make the job easier more than welcome. Enter the Muc-Off Bike Cleaning Kit, a handy assemblage of cleaners and brushes in a handy tub. Now, we know what you're thinking. Why pay thirty quid for this when you could go down to the hardware store and buy a car sponge and a pan brush, raid the bathroom for an old toothbrush and stick 'em in a bucket? Well, you certainly could do that but you're still going to need degreaser and water displacer and it's a lot of faffing around. Plus you won't get funky brushes like the two-pronged chainring brush or the narrow "detail" brush with integrated sprocket scraper...

So what are you getting here? There's the brushes we've mentioned, plus two sizes of general-use brushes. Oh, and the sponge. Plus a litre of Muc-Off pink cleaning stuff (with a trigger spray head) and a 500ml can of Bike Spray water displacing stuff. It's all supplied in a handy tub and you even get instructions.

We like Muc-Off. It's claimed to be harmless to all sorts of plastics, rubbers, disc brakes and things, although being paranoid we tend not to go mad with it. And you'll definitely want to keep the Bike Spray away from your brakes. The Bike Spray is a decent water-displacer and leaves everything nice and shiny. You'll need a thicker lube on the chain before you go out again, though. The combination of Muc-Off and Bike Spray is certainly very effective and a whole lot better for your bike than the (admittedly quicker) jetwash.

We'd possibly find a big, soft-bristled brush a bit more useful than a sponge, but the brush selection is entirely reasonable. What would be splendid would be if the whole lot came in an actual bucket for the complete bike cleaning solution. Sure, you could fill the storage tub with water but you'd need to refill it about a dozen times. It's entirely reasonably priced compared to the cost of all the individual items but there's no denying that you could assemble a cheaper DIY kit if you can be bothered...

Does what it's meant to do, convenient

Be nice if it came in a bucket

Verdict It's not the most exciting thing we've ever seen, but you do need to clean your bike (look at it, it's filthy) and this is a fine one-stop, no-brainer solution. We're even tempted to say "makes an ideal gift!". But we'll try not to. Um.

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