In a world of dirty bikes, Muc-Off has developed better ways to make your ride shine and roll smoothly since the early 90s, with & without water. Now they take clean bikes to the next level with the first pressure washer actually designed just for bikes, balancing a need to clean with bearing-friendly streams of water, a compact setup, and an optional Snow attachment that turns their Nano Tech cleaner into big, foamy suds…
Updates: Check out new recommendations regarding hot water, our own detailed product review, and broader EU & US availability below…
What makes the Muc-Off Pressure Washer just for bicycles?
When your bike gets especially muddy or grimy, nothing beats a pressure washer – just ask any pro CX, MTB, or even road mechanic. But as everyone will also tell you, regular pressure washers are killers for your bearings & seals, pretty much replacing all the protective grease in every pivot with corrosion-promoting water if you aren’t super careful. So Muc-Off spent the last couple of years developing their own bike-specific pressure washer that would be bearing, suspension and component safe.
Cool, but how does it work?
Developed for both bikes & motorbikes, the pressure washer’s ground up new design is a compact solution meant to be more bike-safe and easy to get to the races. Besides accessories that pack down small for travel, the nozzles of the Muc-Off Pressure Washer (and pretty much every part you touch) get a soft rubberized coating so you won’t scratch any part of your bike while getting in close to clean.
It still cranks out super high pressures – up to 100bar or 1450psi – but includes three specially developed ‘lances’ (those are the interchangeable nozzles on short arms that snap into the control gun) for different bike applications. The Bicycle Lance has the lowest pressure output for blasting grime off every part of your road, cross, gravel, or mountain bike. The Motorcycle Lance steps up to slightly higher pressure but still is said to be “safe on bearing and suspension parts”. And the third custom Muc-Off Lance offers adjustable, higher pressure to blow the most stubborn muck off your tires and anything else were water ingress isn’t a concern.
How do I get to the foam party?
A fourth optional Snow Foam Lance is also available to spray cleaner onto your bike. It is an inline, low-pressure attachment that threads in a bottle of Muc-Off’s Nano Tech Bike Cleaner to spray out a thick snow of foamy suds for an efficient deep clean.
The Muc-Off Pressure Washer has a 1200W carbon brush motor that runs on your standard home or workshop AC electricity. This first UK model runs on 220-240V ~50/60Hz AC power, has a max water flow rate of 6.5L/min (typically rated for 5.5L/min), and can be run with up to 50°C water if you have hot water on tap for cleaning. The whole setup is said to weigh 5.5kg/12.1lb.
Note: While the Muc-Off specs originally indicated (and still do to some degree) that warm water should be fine, they now seem adamant against ever using hot water in the Pressure Washer. It is thus best to avoid hot water! The device uses water flow to cool the pump’s electric motor while pressurizing the water. If the flow is unable to cool the motor, it will overheat and burn out. For the same reason you shouldn’t run the pressure washer without water flow for any sustained period.
Pricing & availability
The core setup with Pressure Washer & three standard lances sells for £80. For £90 you get the Pressure Washer + a custom fit roll-top dry bag to carry it around without making a mess in your car (dry bag sells for £20 separately). Or for £100 you get the Pressure Washer, the extra Snow Foam Lance, 1L of Nano Tech Bike Cleaner & the dry bag (£15 separately for the Snow Foam Lance.)
For now the Muc-Off Pressure Washer is available exclusively in the UK only and in limited quantities, direct from Muc-Off.com. That’s because the first production run gets a UK motor and plug. But Muc-Off promises that EU and USA ready versions will be coming soon, later in 2019. We’ll be keeping our eyes open. We have a lot of dirty bikes that need a little extra love.
Update: We have since received a Muc-Off Pressure Washer to blow foam parties and clean our dirty bikes. Check out our detailed product review now, where you will also find that the Pressure Washer is now available throughout Europe and the United States.
