Gtechniq Tri-Clean

Gtechniq’s Tri-Clean is the cleaning product I never knew I needed so badly. While the signage on the label is a little vague about what it can be used for, that’s part of its charm. If it smells – Tri-Clean. If it’s dirty, yep, Tri Clean… unless it’s soft textiles.

Gtechniq Tri-Clean – Technical details

As its name suggests, Tri-Clean is a cleaner, but although it could probably be used for bikes, it’s not a bike-specific cleaner. Rather, it’s an all-surface, anti-bacterial and anti-soiling cleaner that the brand says is clinically proven to sort out 99.9% of bacteria.

Along with its bacterial inferno properties, the cleaner is said to neutralise odors and cut through tacky residue – think leftover sticker slime.

With all of that, I’m told that it can be used to de-gunk bikes on turbo trainers, helmets, shoes and other stuff that you can’t just dump in the washing machine.

In its instructions, Gtechniq suggests that the bottle needs a good shake before use and to wear gloves while using it. Spray whatever you’re cleaning with the solution and give it a wipe. Simple stuff.

Gtechniq Tri-Clean – Performance

Being very honest here, when receiving my bottle of Tri-Clean, I wasn’t really sure of what it was for. I saw that it was anti-bacterial on its label, so after horrifically sweaty jaunts on the turbo trainer ahead of the RiftMTB, I spritzed the bike and left it as is out of fear of leaving my indoor bike sweat-corroding under the bar tape.

But after looking into what it can be used for, I’ve used it on everything cycling-related I can find, and the odd patch of dog sick. It’s powerful stuff, too.

If it smells, Tri-Clean can sort it out, rather simply, too. When gathering a bunch of muddy old shoes, I felt it was the best time to whip out the Tri-Clean. I gave each one its own spray of the product inside and out, left it for just a few seconds, and wiped away with a clean cloth. Externally, the shoes were left looking as good as new; it even brought the whites of my Five Ten Freerider Pros back to being actually white. Inside, the smell of a months-old damp foot turned to something a lot more pleasant.

Then, I moved to helmets. While padding can be removed to be thrown in the wash, the textile straps can’t, which makes cleaning them a bit more of an effort at the best of times. But being my ‘work smarter, not harder’ self, I doused the whole of my Fox Speedframe Pro.

After a small wait, I wiped off the caked-on dirt from the helmet’s exterior and just left the solution to work on all of the comfort padding and the non-removable straps. I then put the helmet out to dry, and after a short wait, the baked-in sweat smell was lifted from the soft components. Now, I’m not saying that this is a replacement for throwing the comfort padding in the wash, but it does make an excellent freshener for between proper washes.

Drawbacks are very few, but the one I’ve found is that it doesn’t clean dirt out of soft goods. I’m talking textile shoe tongues. So where my white Five Tens have become the white shade of their former selves, there’s still a good smattering of dirt stuck within the fibres. Granted, it smells good.

Gtechnique Tri-Clean – Verdict

The magic of Tri-Clean is that it’s many products in one. For example, Muc-Off offers a £10 shoe cleaner and a £10 Fresh Foam helmet cleaner. Gtechniq fills the roles of both of those products, but in a £13.95 bottle. So while the initial spend is a slightly larger hit, it does the job of multiple separate alternatives.

Essentially, Gtechniq Tri-Clean is Febreze for bike stuff, but better. It’s capable of cleaning all of those things that you don’t usually think of sprucing up, but actually, they really need it. It effectively eliminates odors and revitalises old, crud-covered kit to life its not lived potentially for years. I’m clearly a fan, and I reckon a must-have for everyone’s cleaning roster… now I’m just hunting for things to clean, and I reckon it might do a good job of removing the stench from old curtains…