The Silca Ultimate Bike Wash is a powerful yet safe hand wash for your bike. It smells nice, doesn’t contain any nasties and you’ll get about 16 washes a bottle, which works out at about £1.88 per wash. It’s not cheap, but it does appear to be quite effective – the high level of slickness helps to remove dirt without damaging your paint.

Ultimate Bike Wash, or ‘Scrub’, is step 2 in Silca’s Bicycle Spa Collection. It’s ideal if you still like to use a bucket and mitt to clean your bike, rather than the spray cleaner type (à la Muc-Off).

I don’t normally use the bucket and mitt method, as I prefer to loosen any dirt with a spray cleaner before physically attacking a bike, but as with many of the other products in the collection, Ultimate Bike Wash is designed to encapsulate dirt and lift it away from the bike, so it doesn’t cause any scratching or marring of the paint. In Silca, we trust.

Silca also says its Ultimate Bike Wash contains no chemicals, is residue free and rinses cleanly, and won’t attack the wax on your paint or chain.

> How to clean your bike – from a quick lick to a full makeover

The cleaner comes in a 16oz bottle (about 455ml), and thanks to its super thick, highly concentrated formula you only need about 30ml in a bucket full of water, which isn’t all that much – I reckon you’d get about 15-16 washes out of the bottle.

Ultimate Bike Wash also has a lovely cherry scent, which certainly lifts your mood on a dull, cold winter day that’s spent cleaning a bike.

Speaking of which, dull and wintery is when I’ve been using most of my bike fleet recently, and subsequently they’ve got covered in filth – which is at least perfect for testing cleaning products.

> How to clean disc brakes on a bicycle

Before starting, I hosed the bike down with water first to minimise any damage to the paint from large particles stuck to the frame. Then I moved onto the wash.

I was initially disappointed with the lack of suds when mixed with a bucket of water – but more suds don’t necessarily make a better cleaner. Where Ultimate Bike Wash impresses is with the way it glides over your bike’s paintwork. It feels very slick and slippery over any surface, and despite the lack of visual flair, dirt doesn’t stand a chance – it just falls off.

Value and comparisons

You’ll get a decent number of washes out of the bottle, but at £30 a bottle it’s pricey stuff – though as it bears the Silca name that probably won’t be a surprise.

It is a very effective product, though I’m not sure how much more effective it is than some other cheaper bike- or car-specific soaps. If the claims are true, however, at least you know you’re guaranteed a cleaner that will remove dirt without damaging your paint and without any nasty chemicals.

Matt rated Naked Bikes’ Pure Bike Shampoo, which costs a third of the Silca stuff, and he reckoned you’d get at least 20 washes out of it, which works out at 50p or less per wash. It’s also meant to be full of only the good stuff, so like the Ultimate Bike Wash it won’t harm you, your bike or the environment.

Squirt’s Bike Cleaner Concentrate is a biodegradable, great value product that you can use neat as a degreaser and in diluted form as a general wash. And Steve was certainly impressed when he tested it.

Conclusion

Ultimate Bike Wash is an effective cleaner, and feels great to use, though the price is high – if you can do without the cherry scent there are plenty of other concentrated cleaners out there that will do good job.

Verdict

High-performance bike wash – but it is Silca and it’s far from cheap per wash

All the deals displayed on our review pages are pulled from a constantly updating database feed of the best affiliate deals available. The criteria for deciding on what are the best deals is who is offering the lowest, delivered price. In most cases we will be showing the very best deal available online, but sometimes you may be able to find an item cheaper. If you can please feel free to post a link in the comments box below. To find out more about affiliate links on road.cc click here.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Silca Ultimate Bike Wash

Size tested: 473 ML

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?

Silca says: “An Eco-friendly bubble bath for your bike. Make micro-scratches a thing of the past by allowing the advanced surfactants to lift the dirt and grime from your frame. Scrub with a sponge or soft brush, rinse with water.”

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

* Eco-friendly and less harmful formulas

* Encapsulates dirt to prevent scratching as it is removed from the surface

* Clean rinsing to leave no residue

* Cherry Glow Scent

* Heavy concentrate for ultimate cleaning power

* 16oz

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10

Very effective, safe on paint and chains.

Rate the product for value:
 
3/10

Very expensive per wash.

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

Shifted dirt very easily, and the slickness allowed any dirt to simply glide off without risk to paint.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Very slick.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing – apart from the price.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

Much more expensive per wash than other concentrated hand wash cleaners we’ve tested previously – the Naked Bikes Pure Bike Shampoo is much cheaper at just £0.50 per wash compared with £1.88 for Silca’s Ultimate Bike Wash.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? No – at least not at the full retail price.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? No – again because of the price.

Use this box to explain your overall score

Great cleaner – slick and safe on paint, with no nasties. It’s very expensive though.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 39  Height: 6’4  Weight: 175lbs

I usually ride: Condor Italia RC custom build  My best bike is:

I’ve been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, club rides, sportives, mtb,