Dynamic Secret Surface Bundle

The Dynamic Secret Surface Bundle is claimed to “create a high-performance ceramic layer that guarantees long-lasting protection. It shields your bike against water, dirt, salt, (micro) scratches and UV radiation. It keeps your frame and parts in factory fresh condition and makes cleaning much easier!” In my experience it’s been relatively effective at adding an additional layer of protection against dirt and grime, but it hasn’t lasted as long as Dynamic suggests it should.

> Buy now: Dynamic Secret Surface Bundle for £49.98 from Dynamic Bike Care

The bundle includes 100ml of the Dutch brand’s Secret Surface Ceramic Hydrophobic Coating Gel, an aerosol of Perfect Prep cleaner, and a pair of nice microfibre cloths for application. With an RRP of £62.96, this is quite a pricey proposition, but given that the coating on its own is £47.98, it’s not a bad deal. (And it’s currently reduced to £49.98.)

Dynamic says the 100ml coating is enough to cover three to five bikes. This is quite a vague measure, and in fact I’ve used about half the bottle to do one bike – including wheels, mechs, chainset, and shift levers, as Dynamic suggests you can. Maybe three to five frames would be a more accurate number, but I think you’d be lucky to get more than two full bikes out of this.

In the past, I’ve tried various frame coatings and protective waxes with varying degrees of success. In my experience, the product itself is only part of the puzzle, and the real success lies in the prep of the bike you want to coat. With this in mind, I made sure I gave myself the perfect canvas to test the coating on. Fortunately, my partner had just taken delivery of her brand new Scott Foil, and was more than happy for it to be used as a test case for a coating which Dynamic claims “will have a great looking, clear finish”. Dynamic also says it’s one hundred per cent safe for “all surfaces and materials, such as carbon, aluminum, titanium, steel, paintwork and bike parts”.

I cleaned the bike thoroughly once it arrived. It had been on one short shakedown ride on a perfectly dry day, so was virtually spotless to begin with, but I went through the same cleaning process I would with any used bike to make sure I was starting from the cleanest point possible.

With the bike totally clean and dry, I set about applying the Prep Spray to remove any traces of dirt, oil or other substances that would impact how well the coating adhered to the bike.

I used one of the microfibre cloths and worked a fair amount of the spray across every accessible surface of the frame, chainset, rims, and derailleurs. The gloss frame, matt wheels, and metallic Shimano components provided a good variety of surfaces to test the products on.

Once the bike was clean, dry and prepped, I started applying the coating itself. I pumped a generous amount onto the other microfibre cloth and took my time working it into the frame in circular motions. It appeared to get sort of ‘absorbed’, for want of a better word, by the frame quite quickly, so it was tough to keep track of where exactly it had been applied, but working from front to back, top to bottom, I think I did a pretty good job.

I used about half of the coating on one bike. Maybe I was too liberal with it, but I wanted to make sure I’d covered every surface properly.

After a few minutes of letting the coating cure, I buffed it with a clean part of the cloth, which left the frame looking sparkly, clean, and ready for action. I don’t think you’d notice if this had or hadn’t been applied on a glossy surface, but the matt components had a certain glow to them for a while afterwards, which was quite pleasing.

Long-lasting protection?

Testing this in the summer, the bulk of the riding was in dry, dusty conditions – the only moisture coming from sweat in the balmy temperatures. However, towards the end of the test period we did encounter some wet weather, and I also played around with pouring water on the frame to see what happened. It did bead up a little – which was visually quite cool – but I was still a little unsure about how effective the coating would be out on the road over time.

I can’t vouch for the claims to protect against UV damage, and – sadly – my partner wouldn’t let me scratch her frame up to see how well it withstood that either. Where the coating worked most noticeably was the underside of the down tube, where dirt and grime sprayed up off the front wheel usually accumulates. While it did still pick up some muck, it was visibly less than on my bike (which hadn’t been coated, to see if we could try to draw some comparisons), and what dirt had accumulated there brushed off quite easily. I’d say this was down to the coating, but it wasn’t the repellent, absolutely spotless, ‘no dirt on me’ effect that the videos on Dynamic’s website suggest it would be.

Also, after one wash it was definitely less noticeable, as if the coating had worn off a bit. I used bike-specific cleaning products, warm water, and a good quality sponge to clean, though not Dynamic’s own cleaning products, which it suggests are essential for preserving the nine-month claimed durability (“Only wash the coated bike with Bio Filth Fighter, Badass Bubbles or Dirt Destroy for maximum durability”). Even so, going by how much the effects have already dulled after a month or so of testing, I can’t see this lasting nine months.

Value

Although the Secret Surface Bundle doesn’t come cheap, it’s not bad value in comparison with other brands’ ceramic offerings.

Hollis thought Wax Is Dead’s Bike Ceramic Coating was excellent, and its Install Kit, which also includes a 50ml bottle of prep spray, pads and cloths, costs £54.99, but it’s only enough to coat up to two bikes (15ml).

Gtechniq’s Bike Ceramic kit, which also includes a prep spray and cloths, is also £55. Gtechniq doesn’t say how many bikes the 15ml bottle will coat, but it does say it’ll last up to 24 months. We haven’t reviewed it on road.cc.

As Hollis also pointed out, there are plenty of non-ceramic protectants that cost less, such as Invisiframe and Fenwick’s, both of which are £15.

Conclusion

Overall, Dynamic Secret Surface is relatively effective, just not as good as the website suggests it will be. I’m not convinced it’d make much difference if used on a cyclocross bike over a muddy winter, but for a road bike in the summer it does mean you can get a few more days in between cleans.

> Buy now: Dynamic Secret Surface Bundle for £49.98 from Dynamic Bike Care

Verdict

Relatively effective, but won’t save you from ever having to clean your bike again

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