Winter is a tough time for your bike – with mud, grit, salt and grime layered upon your pride and joy in equal measures, lasting well into spring. 

And only a few short rides will leave your machine in need of some TLC – be it hard graft or a corner-cutting pressure washer – in order to restore it to its former beauty. So Muc-Off sent across a batch of bicycle cleaning products which were swiftly put to work to restore the test Lynskey Sportive to its former self. 

First up came Muc-Off’s long-standing Biodegradable Bike Cleaner. In its unmistakable pink, the Bike Cleaner, with a handy pump-action nozzle, only needs a quick spray and 30-second wait before stripping your machine of all the road has thrown at it.

In truth, its that simple. It’s not cheap at £6.99 for a one-litre bottle but, if you care about keeping expensive components in top-notch condition, then it’s both quick and easy. Are there cheaper alternatives out there? Maybe, but there’s no doubting it’s an effective option, designed for bicycles.

And that’s the key benefit of the 5x Brush Set – that they’re designed for the job in hand, which goes some way to justifying the £23.99 RRP. When cleaning a bike previously it’s frustrating to find, no matter how hard you try, grit and dirt which is impossible to shift from hard-to-reach places.