[Closed] Chain - The Cleaning of...

personally water and fairy liquid, good rinse, wipe off and oil...

Old jam jar with lid, fill with white spirits, chain in, shakey shakey, chain out, wipey wipey, chain on, lube of choice...

oil it with rock and roll lube regularly to keep it clean and shiney and more importantly - lubed

Thanks to all, some amusing comments. Keep'em coming.

At the moment I'm considering a park-tools chain cleaning device and just using Muck-Off.

I'm just wondering if there are more effective cleaning devices out there and whether there is something better than muck-off for cleaning chains, biodegradeable, of course.

Ta

🙂

Solo.

barrykellett gave you the best suggestion

No need to clean chains to keep them all shiny

Never found devices to be brilliant, but they're certainly OK, especially if you don't want to take hte chain off the bike.

My routine is:
1 chain off
2 into tub of Finish Line citrus degreaser
3 shake about
4 leave whilst I clean the rest of the bike
5 brush clean in warm water and washing-up liquid
6 rinse
7 dry
8 re-fit
9 lube

I use an old jam jar & Finish Line 'Eco Tec' or undiluted Fenwicks. Dead easy if you use SRAM powerlinks - whip the chain off, put it in the jar and give it a good shake. If you're a stingy b****r like me, you can leave the grime to settle in the bottom of the jar, then decant the 'almost clean' (cough) degreaser into another jar to re-use.

Are you meant to clean your chain?

i've recently done the 'white spirit in a jar' trick, refitted and liberally applied the Squirt wax lube which got the thumbs up in the last issue (50)... the lube reportedly does not gunk things up on re-application so less frequent cleanage required...
Time will tell...

i've recently done the 'white spirit in a jar' trick, refitted and liberally applied the Squirt wax lube which got the thumbs up in the last issue (50)... the lube reportedly does not gunk things up on re-application so less frequent cleanage required...
Time will tell...

[i]uplink - Member
barrykellett gave you the best suggestion
No need to clean chains to keep them all shiny
[/i]

Do what? So oil over the top of the grit and crap that is on the chain after a filthy ride? Or is this Rock'n'Roll lube the magical elixir that keeps chains totally clean?

I have a 3-roller chain cleaning device that I got from SJS Cycles ebay shop for about £3. It's fine, although the chain does get some proper TLC occasionally as well.

As BD - I think I got mine from Edinburgh Cycles in their sale. If it's been left a while I use white spirit and a toothbrush (an old one)

As my grandmother said, before she stormed her fourth German machine gun nest in Stalingrad.

[url= http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html ]If something is worth doing, it's worth doing properly...[/url]

She really did.

*not really*

Bowglie, what a gem of a post, loving that one.

Likewise for Jim.

So, it would seem that if I am to insist on getting every bit of rubbish out of my chain, I'm better off with a brush, a bucket and some Fenwicks.

I'm happy for more comments, but my thanks to you all.

Its much appreicated.

😀

Solo.

Or is this Rock'n'Roll lube the magical elixir that keeps chains totally clean?

Pretty much, yes
you give the chain a wipe before putting more on though

WWJR you can be sure there are people who probably use that very method, and are cursing us all for being lazy worthless layabouts...

I guess Sheldon had a light day on March 31st 2007! 🙂

WWJR. Thats fantastic !. 2 hours riding, 2 weeks cleaning.

Not sure thats the right ride to clean ratio for me.

But I'd have never believed it if I hadn't have seen it. Cheers 🙂

Yeah, perhaps cleaning devices for intermediate chain-servicing with the occassional chain off, brush and bucket every now and again.

Solo.

Fit Powerlink in your chain if you haven't got one already.

My post-ride chain cleaning drill:

remove chain
place in old bike bottle with diluted fenwicks
fit cap/lid and shake thoroughly
leave to stand
clean the rest of the bike
go back to bottle and shake thoroughly again
empty and dispose of old fenwicks and retrieve chain from bottle
rinse chain
spray with gt85/wd40
leave to dry
refit to bike
apply clean chainlube

A good tip is to rejoin the chain with the powerlink while it's off the bike to avoid instantly losing said powerlink by hosing it down the drain. The only downside is you'll spend about 5 minutes trying to remove the seemingly impossible loops that have formed in the chain before admitting defeat and unlinking the powerlink, only to rejoin and have them instantly reappear.

We have tried about every approach and I though I had heard them all but at the national Champs over the weekend I met someone who does not oil his chain with anything! No oil, no wax, I asked if it goes rusty, he said a little (and sure enough - next day race day the plates had a dusting of orange) but rides it to keep clean, and by the end of a muddy race - no rust! he then cleaned it all off again with water. I asked if they only lasted a month or so but seem his last longer than ours. I can run out of oil on the chain on a good ride, resulting in squeeks and poor shfting etc so I still dont know how his works!!??

To clean a chain much as above, though often nowadays wipe the chain down, oil to clean it, then oil to oil it and remove excess, all done on the bike.

You're a great bunch, my thanks to you all. Theres lots of advice here for me to consider now.

Ta.

8)
Solo.

I feel strangeley inadequate in the face of you lot and your dedication to chain cleanness. Here's what I do

Take an old rag
Make rag a bit wet with H20
Turn bike upside down
Remove wheels
Take rag in hand, grip the chain like i'm squeezing Simon Cowells throat.
Turn cranks
Apply lube

You need to do it after pretty much every ride otherwise the gunk builds up but I've never even thought about removing the chain for cleaning.

Helfrauds do a citus degreaser that is good. I have used one of those 3 roller chain cleaners but came to the conclusion that it actually took longer than taking the chain off.

However recently I have changed to using putoline motorcycle chain wax. You just chuck the dry manky chin in the tim and melt the wax - it comes out clean and well lubed with all the grit in the bottom of the can.

The lube lasts far longer than cycle lubes and is so much cheaper.

I won't be going back to cycle lubes

Wash off mud if necessary.
Wipe with rag.
Reapply GT85 to each link.

Just changed the chain after 3 years. Bike is also used as a commuter all year round and the last year that's been off road. I only changed the chain because the Rohloff was due an oil change and I thought it would be a good chance to change the rear sprocket.

Amazing that we sit here today exactly 40 years after man first landed on the moon and no one has a definitive answer to this question, we all only have our own experience to go on.

Search the forum for lots of similar threads - try searching chain degreasing.

I never degrease my chain, or clean it at all in fact. I just dry lube with boring old cheap old GT85 before every ride and my chains last longer than any of my ride mates. Everyone will now disagree with me, despite never having tried my (non) method.

Washing chains is at least not any better for chain life, and at worst actually knackers your chain. And is a lot of bother and expense.

Got a finish line chain cleaner. Fill with cheap washing up liquid (asda price etc) run through that, Then take a small piece of sponge and just wipe the chain while spinning the cranks. Rinse off, Done!

People that say that it shortens the life of it, cant really see why it would do that if you give it a nice lube up after. Means you get all the crap off the chain, saving a bit of wear on rings and cassette imo.
Plus shiny chain looks the beez neez! 😀