Originally Posted by
dddd
Yep, the team uses, or pretends to use, the products of their sponsors.
The press often shows team mech's using soap suds to wipe down the drivetrain, but I've always noticed how soapy water creeps into everything, and I would expect that to lead to corrosion, bearing and cable contamination, lube getting washed out, etc.
I wipe down drivetrains (after lubing) with a ~dirty terry-cloth rag, and use the fresh ones for wiping down and compounding down the prettier parts. A spritz of ArmorAll on the cloth actually cuts sports drink residue and gives the surfaces some resistance to things like earthworm bits getting stuck to the downtube. Just don't get the AA on saddles, tires, rims, grips or levers!
Attitudes in pro racing have changed over the years. Back in the day of Fausto Coppi bike racing was accepted as a dirty brutal sport. Riders would go onto the podium with sweat and dirt on their faces, and were proud of dirty bikes that were silent testimony to the ordeal of competition. Those days are long gone. "Sanitized for your protection" rules the sport. Sponsors are super image conscious so everything is cleaned up, made bright and shiny, and made to project a "professional image".
Bikes are washed and drivetrains cleaned daily, not so they'll work better, but to satisfy sponsors' demands for a positive image. The effect on chain and cassette wear is secondary because it's checked, washed, and oiled daily, and replaced long before wear becomes a problem. Cost isn't a factor given the overall budgets involved.
I live in the real world. I don't have a person to clean and service my bike daily, and pay for replacement parts out of my own pocket. I developed Chain-L for people like me who want to save both time and money, and care more about how things work than how they look.