Since the Hudson Valley has been in the midst of a mid-February thaw, that means that all of us who have been stuck on trainers for the majority of the winter have been scrambling to put in as much time on the open roads as possible.  Frankly, I'm shocked that I've been able to do all of my weekly rides outside (hills make MUCH more entertaining intervals than watching them on a DVD.)

The best part of the melting snow is the salt being washed off the roads, which means that the road bike is free to roam asphalt again.  But of course, there's always the downside of riding during the thaw: cinders, mud, gravel and a lot of water running across the roads.  Of course, since mounting fenders on a racing bike is flat out sacrilege, this means that crap will be flung all over your bike.  That's where Pedros Green Fizz stepped in and saved the day.

Click through the jump to catch my review of the fizzy green wonder and get a link to buy it yourself:

A dirty bike needs some Green Fizz TLC

It's clear to see, that after a relaxing 25-mile jaunt over hill and dale, including some of the ever present northern Dutchess County dirt roads, there's a bit of work to be done on this machine before it heads back into the house.  I've been accused many times of being overly anal retentive when it comes to cleaning, drying and polishing my bike, and I've even been accused of my bike being a garage queen.  So, with all the dirt and grit packed into the nooks and crannies, that means lots of hours with a toothbrush and a damp rag, right?  Wrong…

 

Enter the green machine

It says “Green Fizz foaming bike wash” on the bottle, and as always, I was skeptical.  But the guys at Overlook Mountain Bikes assured me that this stuff would be magic.  So, I assessed the scummed up Look 585 sitting on my deck and determined that it was time for a trial run of this supposed magic stuff.  Since my hose was buried under about 4 feet of snow and ice, I wasn't going to be using the hose.  I momentarily thought of hooking up the hose from my brew kit to the kitchen faucet.  But I nixed that idea because I didn't have 25 feet of tubing or a valve to shut it off with.

After a couple minutes of brainstorming while washing the Accelerade out of my water bottles, I came up with a quick idea.  I filled my bottles with hot water from the tap and pulled out the bottle of Green Fizz.  I grabbed a couple of clean rags (those actually ARE clean out of the washer; chain grease is tough to get out, even with bleach.)  Looking over the mess before me, I thought “there is NO way this is going to clean this up.”

Starting with a good squirt from the bottle to wash off the worst of the grit and cinders, I held my breath.  Then I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.  After spraying down the nasty drivetrain and frame, I let it soak for about a minute and a half.   I rinsed it down with clean water and thought it might actually work.  As I dried the frame with a dry (and white, I might add) towel, I noted there was very little dirt or grit coming off on the towel.

 

Who would have thought it was so simple?

So it turns out that Green Fizz stuff actually works and it works very well.  There was no scrubbing with a toothbrush, no hours of polishing and cleaning with rags and Simple Green, no picking dirt out of crevices with cotton swabs.  So, Pedro's bike company, wherever you are, I give your Green Fizz a stout two thumbs up.

Give it a try and report back here.  I always like to know how my readers fare with my humble suggestions.

 

 

Pedros Green Fizz

MSRP $15.00
Pedros Green Fizz
10

Ease of cleaning

 10.0/10

Washes away with no residue

 10.0/10

Pros

  • Cheap
  • Easy to use
Buy on Amazon!