Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
Hot!
- super easy to use because it suds up on its own – just spray it on
- you get a full liter in the bottle which lasts for many bike washes
- cuts through mud, dirt and grit
- safe for all materials and components
- safe on painted and matte finishes
- biodegradable
Not!
- more expensive than dish soap
Price: $16.99
Website: https://us.muc-off.com/collections/bicycle-cleaning/products/nano-tech-bike-cleaner
Available: retail and online
How obtained: sample from company
RBR advertiser: No
An Excellent Cleaner For Your Bike Wash Kit
The reason I’m reviewing Muc-Off’s Nano Tech Bike Cleaner is because of another cyclist who was tent camping at a pretty cool little campground we were at in Southern California. The campground is just a few miles up the road from Dan Blocker Beach (Blocker played “Hoss” on the TV show Bonanza). It’s called Malibu Creek State Park and its notoriety comes from the fact that the area was formerly used for making movies and television shows.
For example, parts of Planet of the Apes and M*A*S*H. the series were filmed there. Most people visit to hike in to the M*A*S*H. site, which has some interesting plaques and other movie memorabilia.
When we pulled into our site, this other cyclist I mentioned was in the process of cleaning his muddy mountain bike. He had a nice small bucket with a handle, a couple of brushes, a bottle of foaming cleaner and a few microfiber towels. He had filled the bucket with some water from a spigot near his site. I went over to say hello and asked him where he’d been riding.
He was excited to tell me and I learned he was an Aussie traveling around the USA in a rental car trying to hit as many trails as possible. He’d been in Moab, Utah before stopping in Malibu. He told me about the best trail in the park called Pitbull, which I then rode on my MTB.
When I returned to our RV after the ride, which was a ton of fun – I noticed that my new friend’s bike was now on his car rack. I didn’t see him but as I went into our rig to clean up, I heard him behind me saying, “hey I’m heading to the airport to fly home Jim, would ya have any use for my cleaning kit – I don’t have room for it on the plane.” I said yes definitely and offered to pay him something for it, but he was just happy he didn’t have to throw it away.
In his kit was this Muc-Off cleaner. He had used about 2/3rds of it. Even though I now know you’re supposed to use it full strength, I added water to it to fill the container and used his cleaning kit to clean my bikes several times and even tried it on our RV too. Every time it worked really well even though I had diluted it with water.
Step up your bike cleaning
Now that I’ve had a chance to try a new bottle of Nano Tech at full strength, I can report that it’s even better than I thought and a powerful ally in keeping your bikes clean. The nicest thing is that it’s a foaming cleaner straight out of the bottle. This saves the step of having to fill a bucket with water and having to put into the water whatever soap you use to create suds.
With Nano Tech Bike Cleaner the bucket can be used for holding the water to wet the bike and rinse it after cleaning. Or if you have a hose, there’s no need for the bucket of water.
The directions for Nano Tech say to wet the bike with water first. Then spray the bike, wheels, tires and components with Nano Tech. You then let it sit for 3-5 minutes so that the Nan Tech can loosen the dirt, grit, mud and grime. Next you use brushes to scrub the bike and parts clean. To finish you thoroughly rinse everything off the bike. They say not to let Nano Tech dry and not to apply in direct sunlight.
According to Muc-Off, Nano Tech is safe on all parts and surfaces including carbon fiber. It’s also safe on matte finishes. It will not harm seals, cables, brake pads or rotors and is safe on anodised metal. It’s alkaline based and free from CFCs, solvents or acids, plus it’s biodegradable. And Muc-Off says that as its name suggests, the thing that’s special is that the Nano Tech formula cleans on a molecular level.
For ingredients, Muc-Off says it contains tetrasodium ethylene diamine tetraacetate and alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated, sulfates, sodium salts. And they caution to avoid contact with the eyes and prolonged skin contact.
Using it to clean my bike
I took photos to show the process. I used a hose along with the brushes. So I had some water pressure to help blast off any dirt and grime loosened up by the Nano Tech and brushes.
There are before and after shots so you can get an idea how clean it got my Trek. Plus, one shows the Nano Tech foam on the bike as I wait for it to use its molecular magic to clean it. I also show the nice Park Tool brushes I used. The ones with the yellow bristles are for the bike and components. The one with the black bristles is for the chain and sprockets. You can learn more about the full Park Tool brush kit in another Tech Talk on washing your bike here: https://www.roadbikerider.com/how-to-clean-road-bicycle/.
Nano Tech is not a degreaser. So don’t expect it to strip a black, grimy drivetrain. That would be a separate process with your favorite degreasing product.
Verdict
I think if you give Nano Tech a try you’ll be as impressed as I am with how convenient it is to use, how well it works and how it makes bike cleaning a little easier and faster. For me, the faster I can clean a bike, the more likely it is that I’ll clean it right away and not put it off. And that means riding a clean bike more of the time which equals less wear and tear from dirty bike parts.
Speaking of cleaning bikes fast, Muc-Off also makes bike-safe power washers which work with this same Nano Tech cleaner. The bottle screws onto the end of the power washer turning it into a super soap sudser. Check it out cleaning a really dirty bike:
If you’ve used Nano Tech please share your experience in the comments. Or if you have another favorite bike wash, tell us about that. Thanks!
Jim Langley is RBR’s Technical Editor. A pro mechanic & cycling writer for more than 40 years, he’s the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop in the RBR eBookstore. Tune in to Jim’s popular YouTube channel for wheel building & bike repair how-to’s. Jim’s also known for his cycling streak that ended in February 2022 with a total of 10,269 consecutive daily rides (28 years, 1 month and 11 days of never missing a ride). Click to read Jim’s full bio.
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