Test Schwalbe Bike Soap: Even the tire specialists have to clean bikes from time to time - and this resulted in a product that doesn't have very much to do with the rest of the range. Curtain up for a cleaning set that should also have a clean environmental conscience.
Not everyone wants to mess with their bikes with scratchy dish brushes and Pril, and running water to wash off dirt isn't always available either. And if you stand in the yard or in front of the house with the bucket and clean your bike, you don't want to let any cleaning agents get into the surface water and annoy the neighbors.
This is where tire manufacturer Schwalbe comes into play. At the newly built company headquarters in Reichshof, sustainability has been made a priority and the subject of bicycle cleaning has also been thought through in this context. Is it also possible without chemicals and packaging waste? The result of such thoughts is called Schwalbe Natural Bike Soap.
Soap, bowl, brush
The set essentially consists of three components: a wooden brush with a long handle and soft horsehair, a tin can with an integrated drip tray and the soap itself. It is biodegradable, according to Schwalbe's press release it should last for up to 100 washes and then it's easy away without leaving any plastic packaging. The whole thing comes in a mesh bag, which according to the manufacturer is compostable because it is made of wood fibers.
Classic with soap and water
At Velomotion, too, there are always dirty bicycles, which we naturally want to return to the manufacturer in a clean condition. A good opportunity to try the soap out: unpack everything, fill a bucket with lukewarm water and off you go. Schwalbe recommends hosing down the bike at the beginning, but that’s not always possible – so I do it differently: Since the brush holds the water quite well, I use it to moisten heavily soiled areas and use it to loosen any dirt that has stuck. Until that happens, I'll turn to the less messy parts of the frame. The best way to proceed is to leave the soap in the tin bowl and rub it over it with a damp brush, as I find out after a short time - this way my left hand stays soap-free.
Not very foamy, but pure
The bristles, which are a good 25 mm long, are so soft that there is hardly any risk of damaging the paintwork when cleaning with the dirt as an abrasive; anyway, you should clean the bike immediately after the ride, before everything has dried. But that too Maxcycle's Gravel Lite, which has been in the editorial office for a few days after the last tour, is quickly clean again. Incidentally, the foaming of the soap is not excessive, which is certainly a good thing from an environmental point of view. After just one wash, the practically odorless soap hasn't gotten any noticeably smaller - so maybe the 100 uses are correct. The 150 gram bar of soap costs 7,90 euros individually, so there are no major costs associated with cleaning; the complete set has an RRP of 29,90 euros. After the work is done, it is advisable to knock out the brush well and leave the tin tray open until the soap has dried.
So Schwalbe Bike Soap is well suited for the frame and components – but what about the drive? On the test bike, this is of course still in pretty good shape, but at some point you absolutely need an extra brush to clean the chain, sprockets, etc. - and that can then be a discarded dishwashing brush, unless Schwalbe tops it up.
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