Generally very good at maintaining my bike but I’ve always been guilty of neglecting maintenance of my drivetrain just replacing it as and when. However I have now woken up to the fact that good and regular maintenance will keep it running smoother for longer.

Given this I have invested in some Squirt Dry Lube (which appears to have received much praise). I have also got some citrous degreaser, I’ve soaked my chain for about 24 hours expecting it to come out like new but there is still an amount of grease & gunk on the chain.

What do I do next, accept I’ll never get it all off and lube after a good dry or continue to soak for a further 24 hours until the chain is totally clean?

Advise welcome.

Have you tried scrubbing it with a bit of elbow grease?

I’ve given it a good rub with a cloth in the accessible areas, its inbetween the links that I can’t get to where there is still an amount of gunk, though less than before.

Does it need to be immaculate before applying my Squirt?

you need to use a stiff brush dipped in degreaser to get the gunk off everything.

I have one of the those chain bath things that I sue ont he bike as it helps degrease the rest fo the drivetrain at the same time. Still needs a good brush to clean the caked on grime off thought.

Might need to invest in a new one, is there any risk of using one that I used for other purposes, I.e does degreaser damage paintwork etc?

Old toothbrushes come in useful for many things – this is one of them.

I use undiluted fenwicks to soak it in, then give it a good scrubs with a hard brush again with fenwicks, dry with a cloth, allow to dry and then apply the squirt, allow to dry, then recoat with squirt the following day.

After you do all that you can just scrub off the squirt and reapply without having to soak etc after each ride or two.

Loads of folks on here have loads of weird and wonderful routines.

Make sure you clean the jockey wheels and rings too!

I use brake cleaner and an old lemonade bottle – 5lts about £10 and lasts for ages. It also evaporates and dries non greasy.

Tried squirt, and it wasn’t up to west of Scotland biking conditions. Extreme rock n roll lube is the daddy, doesn’t hold muck, so I don’t even need to wash my chain, just replace when required before the cassette is trashed too.

I wouldn’t use Squirt in the winter here, it gets washed off too quickly and doesn’t give enough corrosion protection when you put the bike away. Magically clean in drier/warmer conditions though!

Squirt is great in the summer.

Winter needs a wet or ceramic lube