off-road.cc

Juice Lubes offer this great value box set of all you need to keep your bike running clean and smooth. Degreaser, cleaner, polish, chain lube and chain cleaner all offer something in the bike cleaning routine.

• The best mountain bikes you can buy for under £1,500 - full sus and hardtails
• Nine cheapskate alternatives to proper cycling products
• Buyer's guide to waterproof mountain bike and gravel jackets

First up is the Dirt Juice Super, a degreaser which is essentially a concentrated version of the Dirt Juice Cleaner, use this neat or as diluted as you need to. It’s very effective for cleaning chains in a chain cleaning tool. It’s a 100% biodegradable and has a nice coconut aroma - but as its concentrated be mindful of how much you get on your skin, I noticed how it would dry skin - as the degreaser works. I’ve used it on really grotty oily chains, and whilst not as effective as a solvent type cleaner, it still gets rid of most built-up dirt, and if left in a pot overnight and agitated, it brings up chains well. 

Moving onto the Dirt Juice cleaner - this comes in a trigger pump bottle and is a watered down version of the Super - its great for spraying all over the bike, post ride and letting it soak for a while and then hosing it off, and working at any more stubborn and built up dirt. It’s as effective as other well-known brands - not noticeably better or worse, but a contender as an alternative. It's carbon fibre safe as well, and again 100% biodegradable.

After cleaning your steed,  the Frame Juice Polish & Protector Spray does exactly what it claims. The idea is making your frame polished should make cleaning it easier, and also lessen the amount of mud that would stick. In practice, after a certain point, mud and grime stick - but wetter dirt seemed to hold off for a little longer and made cleaning easier. I tested this by using the product on one side of the frame only. What I noticed most was on the initial hosing down after a ride, the mud did come off quicker and less was left behind, but mainly if the bike stayed wet. Dried on mud came off much the same.

Second to last in the pack is the Viking Juice Chain Lube - an innocuous looking bottle of chain lube, blue in colour and very thin when applied, it works really well in both wet and dry, and seemed to shrug off dirt pretty well, unless it was a prolonged ride in very wet and muddy conditions. I did find it came off pretty soon - whilst being very quick and easy to apply, as it evaporates leaving the useful elements behind in a matter of minutes.

Applying is obviously best on a clean chain to get the best out of the lube, but I found that I had to reapply it after most 2-3 hour rides, and sometimes less. When it's first on, it is very effective, but its tenacity seems to be lacking, that said the bottle seems to take forever to go down, and whilst reapplying is so quick, its not a great problem.

Lastly, we have the dubiously named Dirty Little Scrubber Chain Cleaner, which scrubs up your chain all ready to add the Viking Juice Chain Lube to a spotless chain. Adding in the neat dirt Juice cleaner it does an effective job of cleaning up the chain. My only slight gripe is that it's not that stable when you place it on the ground, and it managed to fall over several times which isn't ideal. It fitted easily to the chain, and I found the closure a little awkward, but secure once in place.

As a package, the collection does a great job at keeping our steed running smooth and clean, its also great value to boot - and makes a great choice for a present, ideally to yourself.

You might also like:

• What's the best way to clean disc brakes on a bicycle?
• 11 tools every home bike mechanic should own