Finish Line Maintenance Products: Quick Review – by Guitar Ted
Spring is showing signs of kicking into gear and you know what that means, right? Gravel and back road riding season, that’s what! But is your bike ready? If you shoved your bike into the corner and didn’t do any maintenance, it will need doing now. Maybe your gravel bike is your Winter trainer bike. Then it really needs to be looked at. Finish Line sent over a few of its excellent maintenance products recently which could help get your rig ready for the fun that awaits you out there. I took a look at these and used each product and here is my take on them. Let’s check it out!
Super Bike Wash: Before I do any sort of maintenance on my bikes, I like to clean them first. Working on a clean bike makes maintenance that much more bearable, (or fun, if you are so inclined), and it also will lead your eyes to see things you might miss otherwise that need attention. The Finish Line Super Bike Wash is a great product to help with getting things started on a clean note.
Here is a bit from Finish Line’s webpage on Super Bike Wash:
“Super Bike Wash™ uses state of the art, eco-friendly cleaning agents that work together to create a high speed cleaning system. Super Bike Wash™ is non-toxic and meets the highest readily biodegradable standards. It can be safely used indoors or outdoors. “
Finish Line claims that you can either spray on and hose off using this product or use it as a spray on/wipe off product. Either way, I did find that the Super Bike Wash did a great job of loosening up tough, stuck on mud, dried up limestone mud, and washed away greasy residue with aplomb. Super Bike Wash left my bike’s finish nice and shiny too. Finish Line claims that if you wipe your bike down with Super Bike Wash about every 3-4 rides you will have an easier time of it with cleaning and that nice shine will come back with less effort.
Super Bike Wash comes in a few different sized containers and can be purchased in a gallon sized jug to refill as well. The one liter spray bottle we received costs $12.99
Finish Line Speed Bike Degreaser: For more stubborn, gunk-based or greasy jobs Finish Line offers their Speed Bike Degreaser product. This is the stuff you would use on a cassette, or for a really gunked up chain, or a messy crank set, for instance. Finish Line has the following to say on the webpage for this product:
“ Speed Bike Degreaser™ utilizes dry degreasing technology. As such, it leaves no residue and water rinsing is not required. “
I’ve had extensive experience with Finish Line Speed Bike Degreaser in a shop setting, so I know this product very well. It is a bit addictive because it melts away and blasts grime you might normally have to scrub hard to remove with relative ease. So, it becomes kind of an attractive thing to just use on everything, but don’t do that!
In my experience, this product should be handled with care and used sparingly. Use rubber gloves, protective eyewear, and always spray this in an area that is well ventilated and where you can properly dispose of residues removed. It’s a pretty volatile product, so be aware of that. If correct precautions are observed, this product does do what it says and it makes cleaning tough grease and gunk stuck to drive trains a really quick and easy affair.
You can pick up an 11 ounce can for about $11.99 at most good bike shops.
Finish Line Premium Grease For Bicycles: If you are the type of bicycle owner that delves a little deeper into maintenance, you probably will be needing some grease. Finish Line has you covered with their Premium Grease For Bicycles. Here is what Finish Line has to say from the webpage for this product:
“ This is the grease that most high end bike manufacturers specify in their factories because it exceeds the unique and demanding requirements of bicycle bearings. “
I used this grease to overhaul a traditional caged bearing head set and it worked very well. It reminds me a lot of the old style lithium based grease products, but this is claimed to be better since it has Teflon™ infused into it. I got a satisfactory smooth result and I was pleased with the viscosity of the product as a mechanic. Of course, time will tell if the Premium Grease helps prevent further maintenance, but I’ve a feeling this grease is the good stuff.
Finish Line Dry and Wet Lube: My introduction to Finish Line products was through their line of chain lubricants. The “Dry” and “Wet” lubes were a staple of many riders maintenance kits back in the 90’s. The same lubricants are still just as good today as they were back then. Finish Line lubricants come in many forms and sizes, ranging in price from $5.99 for a 2oz bottle to $89.99 for a gallon jug. Here’s what the webpages say for the “Wet” and for the “Dry” lubes. First the “Wet”:
“ Wet Lube is typically recommended for extreme conditions. Formulated with high viscosity synthetic oils, water repelling polymers, and advanced anti-wear additives. Wet Lube is Finish Line’s strongest, longest lasting and most water resistant lubricant. “
“ Finish Line’s Dry Lube goes on wet and sets up with a dry ‘wax-like’ synthetic film that helps keep your chain clean by not absorbing excessive amounts grit, grime, or dust. ”
So, obviously we are in “Wet” lube season here in the Mid-West what with all the snow-melt going on here. So I used the “Wet” product on my chain and found that a little drop on each link really keeps the chain lubricated but doesn’t attract a ton of grime. This is a chain lube where too much is a bad deal, and it is unnecessary to use a lot. The lube really stays on, even when soaked with multiple puddle crossings. My chain showed no signs of rust at all afterward.
The “Dry” lube also will hold up to some wet weather riding, but I’ll defer using it until later on into Spring. That said, Finish Line “Dry” was my lubricant of choice back in the 90’s when I mountain bike raced, and I had no troubles at all with it. I suspect it will do me good in the 21st Century as well.
At The Finish: Finish Line products are top quality maintenance products that will make your life easier if they are used properly. My past experiences with much of Finish Line’s range, (including things not reviewed here), have been very positive. I can recommend Finish Line’s products reviewed here very highly.
For more on Finish Line’s range of products see their website here; http://www.finishlineusa.com/
Note: Finish Line sent over the range of maintenance products reviewed here at no charge to Riding Gravel for test and review. We were not paid, nor bribed for this review and we will always strive to give our honest thoughts and opinions throughout.
