I read sheldon brown and that was helpful, but I need more info

How EXACTLY do you clean a chain?

What brandnames should I use?

I also heard there were degreasers... other stuff... and what not...

last thing - anybody have a word on those chain cleaner machines?

thanks

i use a rag

a chain cleaning machine

and a little citrus based degreaser

usually i run out of patience before the chain runs out of filth

I like nashbar degreaser, its a pretty good value and its yellow. I just take off the chain, pour some degreaser in a pan, put the chain in, and let it soak while I clean the rest of my bike, then put it back on and throw some lube on there

The chain cleaning devices just tend to piss me off

Soak the chain in degreaser (Simple Green is alright) and then re-install on drivetrain. Spin cranks to get the chain moving and start applying the lube (Tri-Flow is pretty good) a few drops at a time and just let it soak in to the rollers. Make sure to spin the chain while applying.

Those chain cleaner machines make a total mess, and IMO aren't really worth it. I have one, but usually just stick to my normal routine, as the little machine is a PITA (FWIW, I have the park chain cleaner.)

Here's my routine.

1. Remove chain (I usually run SRAM chains, which have a quick-link, so this part is easy.)

2. Drop chain into a reusable, watertight container with a lid (I use a plastic peanut butter jar.) full of Simple Green or some other degreaser (No need to spend gobs of money on some "bicycle" degreaser. Just go get a jar of some kind of strong, biodegradeable degreaser from the grocery store.).

3. shake the sh*t out of it.

4. Remove chain from jar, and hose it off, and if you have access to compressed air, blow it dry with an air-hose.

5. Reinstall, lube, ride.

You can generally reuse the degreaser for one or two more cleanings unless your chain is really filthy, so just close the jar and set it aside until the next time you need it.

I've seen it down where you get a rag nice and damp with Simple Green, rub it over the chain as you spin the cranks, repeat w/ dry rag, than repeat while squirting in lube. Personally I stretch these crappy KMC Z chains out every 2 months so just buy a new one instead of relubing, does anyone know a decent chain that will last me longer? Maybe something else KMC?

+1

yeah the peanut butter jar was a good tip



if you're into salmonella

Screw all that. Buy some Rock N Roll lube and use as directed.

jchou, please stop starting threads every single time you have a basic question.

Look at the kid's posts, 90% of them are either him starting a thread with some question that could easily be answered via searching, google, or sheldon, or else him replying to his own threads. I and others have asked him to have better manners in the forum, and yet he still does crap like this. 165 won't ban or reprimand him because he thinks what he does is at least on-topic, but to me he's like the archetype of people who use the forum as their personal resource for finding out things RIGHT NOW OK THX GUISE without making any effort to find the answer for themselves first.

jchou, please start a thread every time you have a question about anything as long as it has to do with bikes, and we will see that there is a new and different response every time, and if there ain't, the teeming millions are probably right.

I've found that chain cleaning machines barely do a better job than laying on fresh lube, spinning the cranks a lot, then holding a rag to the chain as you keep spinning. If you got the chain really filthy or gritty, riding in mud or say in the spring melt when your town uses lots of salt, sand and gravel, repeat.

I find the chain cleaning is the second most overemphasized thing after the tie for first of keeping chain tension high and keeping chainline dead straight. You have to do it to some degree, but spending more than a couple minutes on it is probably insane unless you're a serious racer or some aesthete type.

When I got a fancy mountain bike a few years ago I took off the chain every few rides and did the shake the chain, hang up to dry, religiously lube thing for a while - and I found it to be a waste of time. the chain would still have some amount of grit in it, removing and reinserting chain rivets supposedly weakens the chain (not an issue if you use a chain with a c-clip/master link/bolt on link, obviously), and it took a long time for little gain in performance.

I tried wax lube and found that while it really doesn't last long at all (like 50 miles maybe) and isn't as quiet as wet stuff, it really repels dirt and is less maintenance (even with reapplying daily) and keeps my chains running longer. And looking cleaner, which I started caring about with my newest bike with a shiny nickel plated chain.

It's absolutely useless when it's wet out or in the mud, but if you end up on a ride in full on rain, the rain will keep your chain lubed as long as it stays drenched, so no big deal. When I put on a new chain, I run it with the factory lube until it starts sounding dry, then drench it with wax lube, wipe, drench again, and reapply daily until it seems that all the grease is out of it. Low maintence, fast, easy, and no tools required.

I'd rather see these kind of posts then most of the other posts about clothes, bags, and hipsters. For one, it can give me new ideas because somebody may be doing such a simple task differantly. Two, it brings life into the forums. Barring the clothes/bags/hipster debates, the weekly brakes/drop/bullhorns squabble, what else is there on here that couldn't be found with google, sheldon, or searching old posts?

I just use simple green, blow'er off and toss it into a melted parafin bath. Keeps it buttery smooth and rust free for quite some time

I am another big fan of reusing degreaser. If you pour it into something tall and skinny like an aspirin container, you can then wait a few hours for the crud to settle to the bottom, then easily pour nice clean degreaser off the top back into your main container. You can just do this with the yogurt container or whatever that you soak the chain in, but it's easier with a taller/ smaller diameter container because all the crud is concentrated in a smaller area.

I have a Pedro's chain cleaning machine and find it useless. It doesn't get my chain anywhere near as clean as a good soak in degreaser + a good going over with a brush. Now that all my chains have masterlinks I never use it anymore.

Well christ, if we're going to do it, we might as well do it right...

Most people here use detergents rather than solvents for chains. Solvents are stuff that just plain dissolves grease and lubes (mineral spirits, MEK, diesel, alcohol to some extent), while detergents are chemicals that allow grease and lube to become water soluble (simple green, almost all bike-specific degreasers). I'm of the opposite opinion, I won't put detergent into anything I'm not 100% sure I can get every last bit of it out of, since detergent residue will just sabotage whatever lube you put in after cleaning. Chains have tiny little gaps and such that I just really don't believe can ever be truly flushed of detergent. I also don't find that detergents work very well against bike grease, you tend to end up with a tacky film on the parts which is the heaviest oils and borderline varnish that the detergent won't cut, whereas with a solvent what you end up with is some pretty stinkin' clean metal. I also don't believe in using a toothbrush or anything like that, a swipe with a paper towel gets rid of as much macrogunk as I care to manhandle, I'm happy to let chemicals and gravity do the rest. So here's what I do:

I keep a big glass jar mostly full of mineral spirits around the shop; this does take a pretty big jar, we're talking pasta sauce ones don't always work but do use something with a screw-on lid rather than a yogurt type container, those lids are not airtight. When a chain is dirty I pop off the master link and throw it in there. I keep the master link separate and clean it by hand, you can get to all the parts of a master link so elbow grease and maybe a few drops of lube are all that is needed. You can throw it in if you want, I just hate fishing them out. It hangs out in there anywhere from an hour to a few days before I ride the bike again, and every time I see it, I shake it. When I take it out, I lay it on newspaper, outside and in the sun if possible, and give it at least an hour to dry. These chains are clean after this treatment, there is no residue and no gritty sound if you twist them. Reinstall, relube, wipe off excess lube, and go. I get about 3-4 chains out of a jar before it starts getting really gross, at which point I let it settle for a day, decant through a coffee filter into a new jar, and chuck the old jar with a little bit of mineral spirits and a lot of gunk.

^^ Nice Landgolier, I may give that a try.

A gatorade bottle with Simple Green and hot water, then a paper towel or rag to rub it down. Works great.

I use the simple green (or cheap Performance brand degreaser) and hot water bath and toothbrushing, followed by Rock N' Roll, but now I'm gonna try the mineral spirit method after reading Langolier's post. I'll give another vote for SRAM or other chains with quick-detach links. I don't think I want to use anything else, now.

Simple chain clean = rag and new lube.

Once a year chain clean = bottle of degreaser, etc.

People get their panties all in a bunch about this. Choose a method that's easy and fits your schedule. You could go the life of your chain and never take it off to clean and be fine.

Post whatever the hell you want. You have as much right as everyone who is looking for just the right stem to match their f***ing eyeshadow.

i seldom take my chain off my bike - i think each time you break a chain it gets weaker, and i'm just paranoid like that.

i use long bristled brush and a little tub of degreaser. let the chain dry by itself, then lube

I am with Landgolier. Fizzy pop bottle + white spirit / petrol / diesel + shake + time + shake + dry + lube.

A tip for getting the chain out of the contain while keeping your manicured hands clean is to use a peace of wire such as an cloths hanger with a little hook bent into the end to pull the chain out.

if you insist on using degreaser why pay for the bike specific stuf??? go to home depot and buy your self a gallon for the price you guys pay for 32oz fo bike specific stuff...

that said i think degreaser is CRAP on chains. if you need to oil your chain oil it... clean the residue out by adding more oil. then leave it overnight wipe off excess oil and your good. oil is cheap, oil is good.

+1

I prefer not to remove my chain just for simplicity's sake and I don't use a masterlink. So I use a chain cleaning device with some bike degreaser that I got for really cheap. After I do a couple passes with this, and rinse by pouring hot water on the chain, I wipe it down to dry iut as best I can and then leave it for a while. Then I come back and spray it with WD40 to force out the remaining water, wait a little while, wipe the chain off, and then apply my lube of choice.