Finish Line Pro Chain Cleaner Kit

The Finish Line Pro Chain Cleaner is simple to use and holds firm on the chain without a huge amount of input from you. Neat additions like a removable handle and magnet for collecting metal filings goes a long way to justify the price, but there are some much cheaper alternatives.

If you ride in all sorts of weather then your chain is going to need frequent cleaning and re-lubing. While removing the chain is often recommended to get the best results, for most of us that isn't a viable solution, especially if you are a daily commuter, but tools like the Finish Line Pro make for a much easier life.

Releasing the clip-over clamp separates part of the upper section from the lower, allowing you to place the chain in between, and to pour some degreaser into the bottom part. A small indicator line shows you how much you need.

It's then literally a case of clamping the two pieces together and rotating the cranks to drive the chain through the various brushes.

To keep the chain cleaner in position, the Finish Line comes with a small plastic handle which is big enough to be a good fit in the hand and keep the unit stable. It is also removable, which means the cleaner takes up less room in storage, handy if space is tight.

> The lazy way to clean your bike

Brush-wise you get three, which sit vertically and rotate as the chain passes through them: atop the two end wheels and below the middle wheel. These are designed to clean the pins and the inside of the chain.

For the outer plates there are two ribbed sections sitting at one end of the cleaner, which drag across the outside of the chain.

Cleaning prowess

As for performance, the Finish Line Pro works well.

I used it to degrease the chain on my road bike which wasn't massively dirty because of all of the dry weather we've had, but it still had plenty of old lube and dust surrounding the pins.

I also used it to clean my gravel bike chain, which hasn't been cleaned for months and also had coatings of old lube, mud, dust and dirt.

Both chains cleaned up very well indeed, especially on the insides thanks to the brushes doing a fine job of loosening everything up and then wiping it off into the bottom of the cleaner unit.

On the base of the unit a strong magnet sits on the outside of the body which catches metal filings and the like from your drivetrain, stopping it being passed back onto the chain from the brushes.

The fins for cleaning the side plates works well on the wider sections but do miss some on the narrower sections of the chain. It wasn't a huge amount, though, and the fins had softened the dirt enough that they came off with a wipe from a cloth.

Value

It's a sturdy unit and decently made, which it needs to be to justify the £24.99 price tag.

It's cheaper than Muc-Off's X-3 Dirty Chain Machine, which costs £34.99 (including 75ml of degreaser). It's a similar device, although a fair bit smaller. I have one, and while the performance is similar to the Finish Line Pro, the latter just takes the edge.

You can buy cheaper units though: Lifeline's Pro Chain Cleaner is also a bit smaller than the Finish Line and costs £19.99, and Adam was very impressed with Juice Lubes' Dirty Little Scrubber, which again is a smaller unit and costs just £12.99.

Conclusion

Overall, the performance from the Finish Line Pro is impressive and I would highly recommend it. It's not the cheapest on the market, but the brushes look to be durable and the neat addition of the magnet underneath should further protect your chain from wear and tear.

Verdict

Impressive cleaning performance from a well-designed and sturdy device