[Closed] Degreasing drivetrain

I stopped degreasing my chains about 15 years ago. I think it just causes more problems by washing out the lubricant in between the rollers and plates etc.

All I do is wipe the filth off with a rag, apply a drop of lubricant to each roller, run the chain up and down the block a couple of times and then wipe the excess off the outside of the plates.

The Fenwick's foaming degreaser is a revelation. Squirt on, leave for a few mins, agitate with a soft brush and hose off.

I only do the "soak in something smelly" option on brand new chains (to rid the horrible OEM grease) or if its mega crappy.

mattbibbings - Member

I only do the "soak in something smelly" option on brand new chains (to rid the horrible OEM grease)

Countdown to someone quoting Sheldon at you... 10, 9, 8...

How do you get rid/filter the white spirit/diesel after you've used it to clean something?

Goodish weather: White spirit+agitate / air dry / can of hot wax
Badish weather: White spirit+agitate / air dry / oil

If you're minted then use White Lightning, but it doesn't last long.

I used to degrease the chain using one of those chain cleaner things and various degreasers. 5l of Gunk froma car parts shop was far and away the best value and it worked.

However, I've just stopped bothering for the last year or so. The drivechain gets wiped down and re-lubed when required. I can't say I've noticed any difference in wear or performance. Less harmful solvents and chemicals going into the enviornment and more time riding.

It's bizarre how much opinions vary on this. I use Finish Line Wet all year round, apply it liberally and wipe off the excess with kitchen towel. When the chain is particularly muddy I'll clean with by running it through a kitchen towel wet with paraffin but often I'll just run it through a dry kitchen towel, relube and then wipe off. I poke the dried mud out of all the sprockets when it seems problematic. I swap back and forth between two or three identical chains on each bike every couple of months, always using whichever chain is shortest (least worn) and when the chains are off they get cleaned in a bottle of paraffin.

Considering the lack of comprehensive cleaning bar the chain my drivetrain usually looks and sounds and feels pretty good - anyone who knows me will confirm my bikes are usually mud colour with a gleaming gold chain!

curiousyellow - Member

How do you get rid/filter the white spirit/diesel after you've used it to clean something?

I don't- muck settles to the bottom quickly, so you can top it off and just reuse the clean part. If you're anal, like me, you can take the dirty parts and pour them off into another jar to let that settle too. There's probably tons of invisible suspended crap left in the paraffin- ptfe and oils and that- but that's cool, it doesn't seem to matter. The only wastage is what comes out on the chain.

Hose all the crap off, Clean with GT85, dry the chain, lube the chain.

I'm not to fussed about the chain being spotless. 9 speed cahins aren't axactly expensive and I'm sure there comes a point where you are spending more on cleaning regimes than just buying a couple of cheap chains a year

Muc-off in chain cleaner, back pedal, leave a few mins whilst spraying muc-off on cassette and front chainring, scrub them, water in chain cleaner, back pedal to rinse, fresh water in again, pedal pedal to rinse again until water is cleanish, remove chain from front chainring (if necessary) and scrape out any crap from chainring, chain back on and scrub cassette then rinse.

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> How do you get rid/filter the white spirit/diesel after you've used it to clean something?

I don't- muck settles to the bottom quickly, so you can top it off and just reuse the clean part.

Same here. I stuck a wire mesh in the bottom of my container so all the crud can settle to the bottom, away from whatever I'm cleaning. Works pretty well.

I am puzzled by the dishwasher method.

Encouraged by people mentioning it on here I placed a sooty sacepan in one once. I had to disassemble the entire friggin' dishwasher and scrub all the gunk off the trays, the arms and anything plastic afterwards. Took well over an hour and it didn't really go away.

I dread to think what would happen if I placed a smeggy cassette in one!

My OH decided we should have a steam cleaner recently, for oven and bin cleaning etc.

Makes a great bike parts cleaner, so I'm well impressed. Chains, old cassettes, as new in 5 mins with no solvents. Fumigated a sleeping bag pretty well too.

My OH decided we should have a steam cleaner recently, oven cleaning etc.

Makes a great bike parts cleaner

Oooooh good tip. We've [i]acquired[/i] one of those too (women and shopping channels are never a good mix).
It's shag all use for cleaning the floor, so hopefully it'll do better on bike bits.

Chain off, cassette off. Soak in DEB pink degreaser, rinse then into my missus' ultrasonic bath ,as Rorshach above. Hot water and pink stuff and let the little exploding bubbles do their work. Sparkles when it comes out...her indoors thought I was being really considerate when i bought it her for cleaning her jewellery...Yeah right!!!

Years ago I bought a 50 litre tub of citrus degreaser from a motor factor and I still have heaps left. It’s pretty strong when neat, so I dilute it 50/50 into an old Hope Sh!t Shifter spray bottle. It does a great job of cleaning the drivetrain on my bikes, and it’s also used to clean loads of other things like car wheels, bugs off front bumpers etc. Once the drivetrain is clean and dry I apply some Purple Extreme dry lube, which is slightly heavier than most other dry lubes, but not quite as sticky as full on wet lubes.

when I buy a new chain it goes in a jam jar of white spirit to clean it of the gunk it comes coated in

then I lube it up with Squirt dry lube

from then on the chain just gets wiped down with a rag and more squirt added as needed

when i'm washing the bike the chain gets removed - the dirt on the chain just dries and falls off really - no need to degrease. and the rest of the drivetrain doesn't build up layers of black goop like you get with wet lubes

The only downside is you need to remember to lube your chain several hours before you ride - if you apply it then ride straightaway it just gets lost

when I buy a new chain it goes in a jam jar of white spirit to clean it of the gunk it comes coated in

http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html#factory

I can see the logic in cleaning the coating off, as it quite quickly looks "dirty". Good lubrication and looking shiny aren't the same thing though.

Scottoiler Ultimate bike solution.

So I just use tap water and a brush (if I can even be bothered with that).

I clean new chains too, on KMC's advice- I did a warranty on a brand new chain that died after a single ride from constant chainsuck, they said I should clean the replacement and relube with something "more suitable for your riding conditions", which were really nothing unusual.

Road and commuting use I leave it on though, it's great for that.

I'm aware of sheldon's advice

Squirt doesn;t work if you apply it over existing lube - it needs to go onto a clean, degreased chain for first application

Those recommending washing up liquid - I seem to remember being told a long while back that this washing up liquid was a bad idea because it has salt in it. Is that still an issue?

The cheap ones do use salt to thicken them, good quality ones generally don't.

I acquired some solvent based cleaner used for cleaning the blades of gas turbines and use that every month or so.

Squirt doesn;t work if you apply it over existing lube - it needs to go onto a clean, degreased chain for first application

Is that so? I've just bought some Squirt but haven't applied it yet. The bike is only a month old with only ever the factory grease on the drivetrain, I've never lubed it yet. But it is a bit dusty. Are you saying I need to degrease it all first? Reading Sheldon made me not want to do that. I was planning to just wash the dirt off with hot water then apply the Squirt. Is that a bad idea?

I use filter coffee papers to filter the crap out of my degreaser so that I can re-use it. I re-lube with an oil bath and allow to drip free, and I filter that too. I bought a large container of finish line wet lube 12 years ago and split it with a friend. We had 1.7 litres each and we're still using it.

Yes you need to get the chain proper clean. There are instructions on the squirt website I think

Anyone else not bother with any of this

* wipe excess oil off new chain using a rag with WD40 on it
* apply Squirt
* ride

polish chain and re-apply Squirt as required (quite often during bad weather)

Have not degreased a drivetrain for years

A good tip for cleaning cassettes without taking them off: I use a folded rag, and use the folded egde to 'floss' between the cogs, this cleans both faces of all cogs. Cassette comes up nice and shiny and it's pretty quick and easy. Do it with the bike on the ground and you can use the resistance of the freehub on the down stroke, and move it round on the up storke. I've not found special brushes very useful.

I do this after a spray of degreaser on chain and then wash off, or it can be done when the cassette is only a bit dirty, along with a wipe of the chain.

Using a thinner lube helps no end too...

Shirley hosing down hubs with degreaser is why people get through so many hubs?

Gunk here too. Slap it on then leave whilst washing rest of bike. Clean off with soapy water then rinse, wipe dry and lube.