Park Tool - Bike Cleaning Brush Set - BCB-4.2
Review: Park Tool - Bike Cleaning Brush Set - BCB-4.2
By Scot Jarchow | Published May 8, 2015
We Liked
Well it is springtime in Portland, Oregon, overall it has probably a pretty dry spring by Northwest standards, although I have still used my rain jacket a few time lately. Within about a week’s time we’ve received Park Tools Bike Cleaning Brush Set (BCB 4.2), Chain Gang Cleaning System and their Super Lite Team Race Portable Stand (PRS-21). Although I have been very unlucky in running into a couple of sudden hailstorms, I had not gotten my bike sufficient dirty enough to demonstrate how useful the Park Tool Brushes work, so I decided to ride explore the almost always muddy Forest Park for almost 3 hours in what turned out to be unsettling weather. Oh yes it was unsettling weather, while riding in the dense treed park, it misted, it poured, it hailed, and for a brief time it was dark enough to notice the sky light up with flashes of lightening and crackling sound of thunder a few times. The bottom line being nearly every inch of Forest Park was mud! The one downside of starting my ride from home instead of the park, I lost some of hard earned mud while riding down Springville Road at 35mph. Sure my Clement PDX’s shredded all of mud on the way home and some mud on the frame dried out, still my bike was dirty enough to demonstrate Park Tools Bike Cleaning Brushes which worked like a charm!
The new Park Tool’s Bike Cleaning Brush Set, BCB-4.2 comes with 4 brushes: the venerable GSC-1 Gear Clean Brush, the do everything workhorse Frame Cleaning Sponge/Bristle Brush, the flexible Tapered Detail Brush for getting into the tight spots, and the new very Soft Bristle Soaping Brush. The first thing that I noticed that I liked, were the dual density sure grip handles on the Cleaning Sponge/Bristle Brush and Tapered Detail Brush. Not only did the dual density sure grips make it easier to hold the wet brushes, team mechanics whose job it is to clean many bikes and sets of wheels would have less hand fatigue. I have gardening tools with similar dual density sure grips and I can tell the difference after a couple hours in the garden. Overall I thought the whole system did a marvelous job of effectively cleaning my bike. Today the Gear Brush did a great job of removing pine needles from between the sprockets and removing dirt from crevasses in the derailleur pulleys. The Sponge/Bristle Brush did an excellent job of removing mud from the rims braking surface, my brake pads, and it left the hub body sparkling clean! The flexible Tapered Brush did a terrific job removing all the pine needle that had accumulated in between the rear wheel and the front derailleur cable housing. Actually I thought the front derailleur cable housing bracket area was the cleanest I had seen this year. I also liked the new Soft Bristle Soaping brush because I am certain the bristles are soft enough that it will not damage my frames paint. One of the reasons I never purchased the previous version of the Park Tools Bike Cleaning Brush was because I was worried that older frame brush might scratch paint.
We Didn't Like
I am not sure how long the sponge portion of the Frame Cleaning Sponge/Bristle Brush will hold up over time. The first time I used the brush to clean the hub body; the spokes took about a 1-inch strip out of the sponge portion.
The Final Say
Overall: If you’re looking way to give your cross, mountain bike, road, time trial or track bike a little tender loving care, I recommend the new BCB-4.2 Bike Cleaning Brush Set to quickly and efficiently make your bike shine! It would make a great Mother’s or Father’s Day gift for your favorite rider!
Note: I have a Park Tool Gear Brush that I used quite regularly that I purchased in 1997, I have put that thing through the ringer and it still looks great!
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