Cleaning Mtb Chains

Rafster

Is letting the chain sit in gasoline a good way to completely degrease the chain before Relubing it?

Will Snow

try degreaser

supersonic

Petrol works well!

Will Snow

ha, really??? i just wash it with my bike, dry it and oil it. fairy liquid is a bloody good degreaser...


ps, sorry for the previous sarcasm...

supersonic

More than one way to skin this cat! If using fairy, good idea to rinse really well and dry as you say.

Will Snow

is that not a bit ott??? storing petrol and stuff, are the results really worth it???

supersonic

Its an old roadie trick. Get a jam jar and half fill with petrol. Put chain in, leave for 5 mins, shake, leave for another 5 and remove. All the gack sinks to the bottom, and you can reuse the whole thing! Chain comes out absolutely spotless!

Will Snow

wow, sounds like a good idea. guess you have to wash the petrol off??? using what??? and, erm... unleaded or diesel??? ha.

supersonic

Hehe, the petrol evaporates. Leaves a slight residue, but nothing bad. Definitely unleaded!

Will Snow

do you reckon the petrol station will be upset if i buy 50 pence worth of petrol??? nah, ill give that a go. seems like as gooder idea as any!!

supersonic

They might think you are making a bomb! Its just one way of doing the chain out of many. Petrol is a very powerful degreaser.

Will Snow

ha, nice. any other crazy tricks up your sleeve???

supersonic

Depends what you wanna know!!!

prophet_1000

Have you tried a chain cleaner, with proper chain degreaser? its a little more expensive but saves time if you dont have much of it and you dont have to remove the chain everytime you want to clean it!!

Check out this link

http://www.27gears.com/howto.html

dav1

i use a chain cleaner with muc off chain cleaning fluid. Its effortless to clean the chain that way. I scrub all the sprockets as i clean the rest of the bike with fenwicks first, hose down then finish off with the chain cleaner. Another hose down, dry and relube and it looks good as new.

batch78

Used to use the petrol method myself got a chain cleaner now though as i'm too lazy to remove chain! Will i'm afraid there is a minimum amount of petrol u can buy from a pump and dont use diesel (ever for anything!)

Will Snow

funnily enough a friend converted his land rover to run on vegetable oil... guessing that wouldnt work either...

really??? how much??? im so lazy, ive need a new chain

omegas

There is always a misunderstanding about chain lubrication and people think the lube should be on the outside of the chain when very little is needed if the inner-rollers are lubricated.

The insides of the rollers need lubrication to let them revolve freely around the bushings as they engage and disengage the sprocket teeth. If the rollers don't roll, they slide along the sprocket teeth, causing accelerated sprocket wear.

Best way I have found to clean is use a sram power link so you can remove the chain.

This is a method used in engineering workshops and on machines that are chain driven in environment were there is a lot of dust about.

Use the 3 tub method (or plastic bottle) method.

• Drop the chain in to the first bottle with degreaser in and shake vigorously.
• Drop in to second bottle with very hot water and a touch of citrus cleaner (or any non-abrasive kitchen cleaner) shake vigorously. If the water stays clean you know you have all the dirt out. If you use hot water it evaporates off when you take it out.
• Drop in to a bottle of chain lubes, shake and leave for a few minutes, then hang above the open bottle to run off lube.
• Wipe down and replace on bike.

Having 2 chains is handy as you can one off one on and clean in your own time and the cassette will last the life of the 2 chains.

Will Snow

wow, that sounds a lttle, well OTT. my chains seem to last fine, and all i do is fairy liquid them!!!

omegas

Ask anyone the is an engineer in a mining industry of work in a quarry where dust and grit is a nightmare for wearing parts and they will tell you this is the method that has been used for hundreds of years (lube on the inside, next to nothing on the outside).

You can purchase an aerosol can (or Jizer or Gunk 1 ltr £5)of degreaser and empty it in to a bottle or jar with a sealable lid. Each time you have cleaned a chain leave it to settle out over a few days and then run off into another container as all the solids will have settled out, or empty through a funnel with kitchen cloth in. One can will last you about 50 cleans or all year if you clean once a week.

omegas

Ask anyone the is an engineer in a mining industry of work in a quarry where dust and grit is a nightmare for wearing parts and they will tell you this is the method that has been used for hundreds of years (lube on the inside, next to nothing on the outside).

You can purchase an aerosol can (or Jizer or Gunk 1 ltr £5)of degreaser and empty it in to a bottle or jar with a sealable lid. Each time you have cleaned a chain leave it to settle out over a few days and then run off into another container as all the solids will have settled out, or empty through a funnel with kitchen cloth in. One can will last you about 50 cleans or all year if you clean once a week.

Will Snow

oh i dont doubt it works, but i can clean my chain in about five minutes, and it seems fine

papasmurf.

I use a chain cleaning tool, and have built up the following process which works for me and gives me a nice clean lubed chain in return:
Step 1 Degreaser,
Step 2 Muc off \ fenwicks,
Step 3 Water,
Step 4 dry,
Step 5 lube (liberally) the chain rollers over the rear cassette leave for a bit
Step 6 run chain through a cloth to removes excess and give the whole chain a bit of lube to stop rusting.

cjw

batch78 wrote:

and dont use diesel (ever for anything!)

OK I'll trust you on that. Oh bugger my car's diesel... I'll try parafin in it and send you the bill if it doesn't work

wheezee

I read an article that said never to use petrol as a degreaser, because of it's explosive vapour. Diesel on the other hand was acceptable, and preferable in that it leaves behind an oily residue.

I have no idea myself, and have never used either.

Matteeboy

Give mine a hose off every day, wipe it off and spray a very small amount of GT85 on it.

I just buy new chains/freewheels when they wear out - not very econonmically useful but I've only got one life.

dirtbiker100

i decided to splash out and buy a finish line chain cleaner thing. works a treat but dunno what cleaner to put in it for best (and cheapest) results

Will Snow

Matteeboy wrote:

Give mine a hose off every day, wipe it off and spray a very small amount of GT85 on it.

I just buy new chains/freewheels when they wear out - not very econonmically useful but I've only got one life.

mate, gt or wd isnt a lube... id get some proper lube, even if its just that 79p stuff from wilko

batch78

Chipfat cjw if you must have an oil burner!! Diesel does leave a residue would'nt think it was particularly harmful to your bike but smells quite bad and not particularly good for your skin if you care about that!!