Of course, you can opt to use a second sachet if you’ve seriously neglected your chain maintenance, but for most uses only one application will be needed to clean up the chain. Then, Crankalicious itself says you need to wipe away the leftover degreaser product before re-lubing, naturally. Following this procedure results in a chain that runs pretty much as new and silently – which, let’s be truthful, is what we’re all after in the end.

• Specification
  

• Price: £16 (box of 20); £4 (5 sachets); 85p each
• Website: Crankalicious

Keeping the cloth wrapped around the chain, all you need to do is spin the crankset through several times (for around 30-60 seconds) until the chain begins to show up clean. You can legitimately do this without worrying about the cloth degrading (á la kitchen roll), and once the clean pink cloth has turned black with dirt, it’s still wet and strong enough to rub over the jockey wheels or individual chain links that might need a little extra attention.

However, there are a couple of points to make. First, the fluid is powerful stuff (solvent based), which the company itself warns can be fatal if swallowed, harmful to aquatic life, and can cause serious eye irritation. That in itself may not be a huge surprise, but it’s definitely worth making sure you haven’t got any cuts on your hands before using, while you really need to wash your hands afterwards to safeguard yourself from potential irritation. It’s not the most environmentally friendly solution, either, particularly when you take into account the fact each wipe is individually wrapped.

It smells ok though – not too pungent – but clearly you shouldn’t be going out of your way to sniff it. If you do have sensitive skin then we can recommend that you don gloves, although it’s not actually recommended that you should do so on the packet.

This all means you need to be considerate when using it, especially when discarding the used wipe and wrapper. Needless to say, you should always use a bin, because it’s going to be toxic to just about any wildlife, which is something you need to be really aware of given Crankalicious’ own pitch towards portable and on-the-go use.