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review
Cleaning products
Green Oil Detail BrushGreen Oil Detail Brush

Green Oil Detail Brush

5
by George Hill
UPDATED Sun, Sep 23, 2018 09:41

First Published Sep 22, 2018

14
£7.99

VERDICT:

5
10
Cleans drivetrains and shifts dirt well, but it is considerably more expensive than similar products
Weight: 
10g
Contact: 
www.Green-Oil.net
How we test

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The Green Oil Detail Brush is a decent tool for cleaning hard-to-reach parts of your bike, but it is much too expensive for what it is.

  • Pros: Environmentally friendly, shifts dirt effectively
  • Cons: Expensive

David Attenborough has done a huge amount for the world, but perhaps none more so than educating people about the damage of plastics. This has led to several new industries, one of which is the bamboo toothbrush, stopping people needing to throw out old plastic toothbrushes and instead using bamboo which is biodegradable.

> Buy this online here

Toothbrushes, as anybody who regularly cleans their bike knows, are some of the most useful tools for getting dirt off cassettes and chains, so naturally it makes sense to move to bamboo for this use too.

Environmentally conscious company Green Oil's Detail Brush is a bamboo toothbrush in all but name. In terms of performance it works well, getting dirt and grime off my drivetrain, no different to plastic toothbrushes. However, the brush is environmentally sound, using bioplastic nylon bristles and sustainably sourced bamboo, so when you're done with it you could just throw it on your compost heap if you felt so inclined.

It has a premium quality with a thick handle that's easy to hold and a large enough head to be able to cover a decent area while still getting into those hard-to-reach areas. I also didn't notice any performance or robustness issues when used with regular degreasers.

However, it is very expensive for what it is, with an RRP of £7.99 (currently £6.99). To put it into perspective, a quick search through Amazon will find bamboo toothbrushes for as little as 79p.

Overall, the Green Oil Detail Brush does what it needs to (I also tried it on my teeth before using it on my drivetrain and it works with that too) and its environmental credentials are impeccable. However, it is much too expensive for what it is.

Verdict

Cleans drivetrains and shifts dirt well, but it is considerably more expensive than similar products

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Green Oil Detail Brush

Size tested: n/a

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?

It is a brush designed to get into the hard to reach places when cleaning, whilst still being environmentally friendly.

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

From Green Oil:

- Ideal for fine cleaning parts in degreaser

- Bioplastic nylon bristles

- Sustainably sourced bamboo handle

- Great for hard to reach places

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10

Well made with a solid bamboo handle and bioplastic bristles.

Rate the product for performance:
 
7/10

Does exactly what it needs to, loosening dirt in hard-to-reach places.

Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10

It's not going to last forever, but I used it four or five times during the review period and it took everything I threw at it.

Rate the product for value:
 
2/10

There is little (or no) difference between this brush and a regular bamboo toothbrush which can be picked up for a fraction of the price.

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

It performed well, it removed dirt on chains and drivetrains well in poky spaces.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

As a bit of an environmentalist, I really appreciated the focus on sustainability that Green Oil has given this brush.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

The price.

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

You can pick up a bamboo toothbrush for a fraction of the price. I recently restocked with four bamboo toothbrushes for £5, so £7.99 for one is excessive.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? If the price came down.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? If the price came down.

Use this box to explain your overall score

It does everything it needs to and is effective at the jobs it is intended for, but there is no getting past the fact that £7.99 is too high when you can get very similar products for a quarter of that or less. That has to bring the score down.

Overall rating: 5/10

About the tester

Age: 29  Height: 6 ft  Weight:

I usually ride: Cinelli Gazzetta  My best bike is: Cannondale Supersix Evo

I've been riding for: Under 5 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking

Green Oil Detail Brush 2018
Green Oil Detail Brush
Green Oil 2018
Green Oil
George Hill

George is the host of the road.cc podcast and has been writing for road.cc since 2014. He has reviewed everything from a saddle with a shark fin through to a set of glasses with a HUD and everything in between. 

Although, ironically, spending more time writing and talking about cycling than on the bike nowadays, he still manages to do a couple of decent rides every week on his ever changing number of bikes.

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