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Crankalicious Kwipe Gumchained Remedy Chain Cleaner sachet

7
£0.85

VERDICT:

7
10
Convenient and very effective wipes but expensive compared with the alternatives
Weight: 
11g

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The Crankalicious Kwipe (Quick Wipe) Gumchained Remedy Chain Cleaner sachets are, as their name suggests, pocket sized wipes impregnated with solvent. They could be used around the workshop – if you had money to burn – but they're primarily intended for cleaning chains and other drivetrain components mid tour or during an endurance ride.

Like most convenience products, they're not the cheapest option and not something I'd use for general transmission cleaning. However, they're easy to use and will cheer up a dirty drivetrain with minimal effort.

> Buy these online here

Each sachet contains a single surprisingly sturdy mesh wipe, which is generously saturated in 15ml of Gumchained Remedy. This is a petrochemical-based degreaser designed to soak deep into the links, stripping lube and contaminant.

Crankalicious declined to reveal specifics, but tells me they cook up their products in house using raw chemical ingredients. Ideally, you'd be able to wash your hands after use, but this isn't always an option on the road.

In the interests of investigative journalism, I used one to clean my hands, following a tube-killing rear wheel puncture, and then purged the chain, jockey wheels and mech of congealed wet lube.

The wipes did leave my hands feeling parched, so packing a pair of latex gloves is shrewd, especially if you have sensitive skin, minor cuts, or are prone to dermatitis. Avoid contact with your eyes until you've washed hands thoroughly. Dispose of the spent wipe and wrapper carefully too, since ingredients are hazardous to aquatic life – no worse than other petrochemical derived products, mind.

Performance

Public safety broadcast done with, these really couldn't be simpler to use. Tear off the top, pull out the wipe and wrap it around your chain, while turning the cranks backwards. Give derailleur jockey wheels, cages and cassette a quick cat-lick while you're there.

The wipes make short work of most lubes, although to some extent, ingrained contaminant can stunt their virility.

Traditional three-seasons blends such as Btwin lubricant and its more tenacious synthetic cousin were consumed in pretty much one hit, albeit with a quick secondary chasing of outer plates and jockey wheels.

The perforated fabric is surprisingly durable too, resisting some fairly intense scrubbing without wearing through, or ripping. I've managed two moderately spoiled chains, jockey wheels and cassettes using a single wipe.

Crankalicious kwipe - spent.jpg

Space age ceramics and really colicky chains needed a more thorough scrub, but we're still talking two minutes, start to finish.

Crankalicious recommends wiping the chain with a rag afterwards, but during typical summer temperatures the solvent evaporates within a few minutes. Then, so long as your chosen chain juice doesn't have a curing time, apply and scoot off. There wasn't any dilution of freshly applied chain lubes, regardless of their type/origin.

From the comfort of home, tending my relatively clean Univega, a single wipe stripped the chain, cassette, cassette body, rear mech and Green Oil eco-grease from the pedal threads.

Although, obviously, I'd start at the chain first, the fibres absorb and also seemed to retain the lubricant, so cross contamination was, to my surprise, minimal.

Value

At 85p each, five for £4, or a box of 20 for £15, on paper at least they're relatively expensive. Syphoning some white spirit into an empty 50ml hand sanitiser type bottle with screw top lid and carrying a scrap of rag is an obvious, low-cost alternative, and one that I've often used, placing it and some chain lube in one re-sealable freezer bag, clean rag in another.

Nonetheless, the Crankalicious wipes are extremely convenient and could prove a godsend should you need to strip and re-lube chains or other components in the middle of a big ride or tour.

Verdict

Convenient and very effective wipes but expensive compared with the alternatives

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Crankalicious Gumchained Remedy Chain Cleaner Quick Wipe Sachet

Size tested: 15ml

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Crankalicious says: "Our high-performance chain cleaner, Gumchained Remedy, available in a single use quick wipe sachet, containing 15ml. The heavy duty wipe, combined with just the right amount of product, is enough for a full and complete clean of your chain.

"Perfect for taking on a multi-day ride without the hassle and weight of a bottle or cloth, or for use at home when storage space and convenience are paramount."

No quibble here.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Crankalicious also lists:

Sealed packet containing a single wipe impregnated with strong solvent.

Available in single sachets, 5 for £4, or a convenient box of 20 for £15.

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10

Surprisingly rugged – copes with vigorous scrubbing and will clean a couple of moderately grimy chains, rings and jockey wheels before it's spent.

Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10

Solvent is surprisingly powerful and makes short work of middleweight lubricants.

Rate the product for durability:
 
6/10

Durable in the single use, disposable sense...

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
8/10

11g is next to nothing, so perfect for jersey pockets, seat packs or panniers.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
6/10

Convenient in the main but strong solvent can leave skin feeling a bit dry. Either pack disposable gloves, or wash hands promptly.

Rate the product for value:
 
6/10

Good in terms of effectiveness but pricey compared with some alternatives.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Overall, the wipes have pleasantly surprised me with their lube-stripping prowess and the fabric's durability. A single wipe has typically cruised through two chains dressed in middle weight lubes and any residual contaminant. Provided transmissions aren't caked in grot, one wipe will tackle two chains, derailleur cages, jockey wheels and rings.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Up to the job and very handy for mid-tour fettling.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing given the design brief, although like most convenience products, they're not the cheapest solution.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Possibly, for an epic ride, or tour.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes, in the above context.

Use this box to explain your score

Decent wipes for cleaning transmissions/tending roadside mechanicals on a big ride, but pricey compared with the solvent bottle and rag alternatives.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 43  Height: 1m 81cm  Weight: 70kg

I usually ride: Rough stuff tourer based around 4130 Univega mountain bike frameset  My best bike is: 1955 Holdsworth Road Path and several others including cross & traditional road

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo-cross, commuting, touring, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking

Shaun Audane is a freelance writer/product tester with over twenty-eight years riding experience, the last twelve (120,000 miles) spent putting bikes and kit through their paces for a variety of publications. Previous generations of his family worked at manufacturing's sharp end, thus Shaun can weld, has a sound understanding of frame building practice and a preference for steel or titanium framesets.
Citing Richard Ballantine and an Au pair as his earliest cycling influences, he is presently writing a cycling book with particular focus upon women, families and disabled audiences (Having been a registered care manager and coached children at Herne Hill Velodrome in earlier careers)

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8 comments

Avatar
Geraldaut | 6 years ago
0 likes

I am using squirt lube (wax). To clean the chain Iuse household wipes from Lidl.

Avatar
boardmanrider | 6 years ago
1 like

Anybody work in an office? See those tubs of anti-bacterial wipes that are everywhere? I swear they are amazing, they clean a chain like you wouldn't believe. PLus a huge tub is more more ecomomical as well.

Avatar
Strathbean | 6 years ago
2 likes

petrochemical based degreaser, so absolutely dreadful for the environment then? and in a handy unrecyclable plastic bonded foil packet too. top marks for unsustainability.

Avatar
StraelGuy replied to Strathbean | 6 years ago
0 likes
Strathbean wrote:

petrochemical based degreaser, so absolutely dreadful for the environment then? and in a handy unrecyclable plastic bonded foil packet too. top marks for unsustainability.

I don't get too het up about using petrochemical lubes, there are plenty of natural microbes and bacteria that can 'eat' hydrocarbons in the environment.

Avatar
madcarew | 6 years ago
0 likes

I'm not really sure of the advisability of "a degreaser designed to soak deep into the links, stripping lube and contaminant" applied " during an endurance ride" unless you're planning on re-lubing as well, which really seems pretty pointless.
And at nearly a quid each they are really (relatively?) expensive. You can get pots of tradesmen's wipes at about 5 quid for 50, or a couple of quid for a sachet of 10. They do exactly the same job.

Avatar
StraelGuy | 6 years ago
1 like

To be fair, that isn't actually too bad. I suspect they're bigger than they look. At least they're not Rapha, they'd be £7.95 each  (and yes, I do own some Rapha gear).

Avatar
Bendurance | 6 years ago
1 like

Cannot believe you are complaining about 85p a wipe. How do you expect these companies to make any money?

 

Look great and wish I had taken 5 of these on TCR. 

Avatar
StraelGuy | 6 years ago
1 like

Dear road.cc, Please, please, please can we have a facepalm smiley?

 

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