Muc-Off Sweat Protect

Muc-Off Sweat Protect is a protective spray formula designed to protect bikes and components from corrosion, seizure and similar nasties. It could best be described as a mothballing agent, marketed for bikes on indoor trainers and gym equipment, though I've also tried it as a masking agent for winter bikes. It's quick and convenient to apply and seems effective. The same can be said for cheaper automotive products, although the Sweat Protect does cure clear so it's less obvious.

• Pros: Quick and convenient to apply, seemingly effective
• Cons: Pricey

According to Muc-Off, it uses 'state of the art anti-corrosion additives and inhibitors to provide class leading protection against corrosion'.

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Bikes serving long periods on indoor trainers can succumb to all sorts of nasties. Salty sweat can eat through paint and leave tiny holes in top tubes, and stems – particularly old-fashioned quill types – can seize solid, as can rim brake callipers.

In common with other waxy type 'mothballing' sprays, Sweat Protect promises to drive out moisture and stop existing rust and corrosion. It contains a UV visible dye to illustrate coverage, and each application is reckoned effective up to three months.

How to apply

Muc-Off recommends treating recipient bikes/surfaces with its anti-bacterial equipment cleaner first. In practice, a quick sudsy bucket wash and towel dry is fine.

Give the Sweat Protect aerosol a vigorous shake, then spray to the desired areas from around 30cm. I found leaving it to marinate in a jug or bucket filled with hot water improves flow rate quite considerably, and results in a much thinner coat that you can build upon to suit contexts. For example, on chrome fork blades you simply want a thin, even coating that forms a protective skin, while I've tended to build thicker coats on quill type stems, headsets and seatposts, which can quickly tarnish and, if left unchecked on a turbo trainer 'slave' bike, seize solid.

Wipe any excess from seals and other rubberised components.

Curing depends on air temperatures, but as a rough guide I'd give it at least 30 minutes or so. Once cured, it forms a predominantly dry, clear skin.

Test subjects

As well as a friend's turbo trainer slave bike, I've applied a thin coating to my working bike's electroplated fasteners, trailer hitches and so on (the merest hint of a wintry puddle can turn these freckly, which PTFE-infused maintenance sprays struggle to keep at bay).

I also applied a light coating to my workstand's steel column and some frame repair tooling – tooling that, thankfully, doesn't see much action.

Performance

Three weeks in, the Sweat Protect remains stoical and unaffected by 90-minute daily sessions on the turbo trainer bike. The areas treated also show no signs of corrosion/oxidisation and the machine has not been washed, waxed or otherwise pampered during this period.

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Brake callipers, stems, seatposts and so on remain fully mobile and, unlike automotive products, Sweat Protect has remained filmy to touch.

Despite regular exposure to salty, wet and wintry roads, my Univega's fasteners have remained taint-free, and as a bonus, those already corroded have cleaned up nicely – as they have in the past, to be fair, when treated with Waxoyl or similar automotive product.

Conclusion

Ultimately, there's little doubt that Sweat Protect does what it's claimed to, and to a decent standard. If time is short and you simply need to hop on and off the trainer, it's a good option – and certainly cheaper than repairing or replacing salt/sweat-damaged or seized components.

You can buy aerosol-based automotive products cheaper, which in my experience are as effective, but they do produce a slightly yellowy aesthetic.

I'd also employ a sweat net to protect the top tube and flooring, and give moving parts a quick shot of PTFE spray.

Verdict

Effective and convenient protectant spray but expensive compared with alternatives