Muc-Off

Jamey

I bought some Muc-Off and PTFE Bike Spray at the weekend and cleaned my bike for the first time in ages (I know, naughty me, slap on the wrist).

It said it'd clean chains and talking to the bloke in the shop he said it would clean anything so I used it with a cheap washing-up brush on the all the drive train parts. It seemed to do pretty well but I got to a point where the brush became so dirty it began putting grease/muck back onto the bike instead of removing it, because it was dirtier than the parts it was cleaning.

I tried spraying Muc-Off onto the brush but couldn't get it any cleaner so switched to using a sponge which worked but was slower and it ended up tearing the sponge to pieces so it got binned by the end.

All of which brings me to the actual questions I want to ask...

1) Is Muc-Off good enough for cleaning drive train parts or should I just get a proper degreaser?

2) Was the dirtiness of the brush just down to the fact that I left it ages between cleaning?

3) I've now bought one of those chain cleaning devices which will probably solve the problem for the chain itself but I'll still have to clean the sprockets, derailers and chainrings by hand, with a brush. How do I stop the brush getting so covered in grease it's no use anymore? Should I buy a load of brushes (they're only 19p each in Woolies) and switch to a cleaner one when the first one starts clogging up, then soak them all in white spirit afterwards, ready for the next clean?

DavidTQ

I use a chain cleaning tool with muc off (or something simimliar cant remember for sure its pink...)

But to clean the sprockets and the like I first clean them with baby wipes that are disposed off once filtyh, that gets the majority of the gunk off without causing problems.

Depending on the consistancy of the dirt sometimes you can rinse them out and use them for many parts of the bike, I do the frame and rims with them first then they get rinsed out and used for rings and cassette. I can generally do a complete deep clean on about 5 babywipes...

Jamey

So you don't use any brushes at all?

Do you do the entire clean with baby wipes (apart from the bit with the chain cleaner, like you said)?

DavidTQ

Jamey wrote:

So you don't use any brushes at all?

Do you do the entire clean with baby wipes (apart from the bit with the chain cleaner, like you said)?

Yep no brushes involved at all the baby wipes are great because you can get right down between the cogs in the cassette.

Rather than "wiping" the cassette with the baby wipes you hold a wipe between your hands hold it taut place it between the cogs and then pull it left to right applying pressure towards you to clean the rear face of the cog in front and pressure away from you to clean the face of the cog behind it.

TheBoyBilly

I subscribe to a BMW owners website and users of Muc-Off have had problems with cleaning their bikes if they haven't hosed the bike down soon after application with plenty of clean water. One shot of a GS's wheels after Muc-Off being left on too long is disturbing. Th eowner's warranty didn't cover it. Recommended cleaners include Castrol GreenTec which is much kinder to paintwork.

patchy

get yerself a parktools cyclone chain cleaner. only £20, best investment you'll ever make.

Jamey

Billy:

So you're saying Muc-Off is actually too aggressive?

The problem I seemed to have is that it wasn't aggressive enough.

Jamey

patchy wrote:

get yerself a parktools cyclone chain cleaner. only £20, best investment you'll ever make.

I have, that's the one I bought.

But (a) it only cleans the chain, I still need to clean the sprockets and chainwheels with something else, which is where the majority of the filth came from and (b) I've just started reading articles that say those chain cleaning tools actually strip the lube out of the chain's innards which makes them wear out faster.

The more I read about drive train cleaning, the more it seems the experts disagree.

DavidTQ

Jamey wrote:

patchy wrote:

get yerself a parktools cyclone chain cleaner. only £20, best investment you'll ever make.

I have, that's the one I bought.

But (a) it only cleans the chain, I still need to clean the sprockets and chainwheels with something else, which is where the majority of the filth came from and (b) I've just started reading articles that say those chain cleaning tools actually strip the lube out of the chain's innards which makes them wear out faster.

The more I read about drive train cleaning, the more it seems the experts disagree.

Bicycle chain cleaning is a bit of a religious topic its all about faith

My lubricant is one of these types that is solvent based and is supposed to pentrate deep into the chain then leave the lube in some sort of dry teflon form so degreasing the chain isnt a problem at all as the new lube goes exactly where you want it anyway...

Im happy enough with how it works, but Ive got no hard evidence that it works. My chains only 2000 miles old and wear rates will vary hugely from rider to rider regardless of chain maintenance routines

DavidTQ

double post - twitchy fingers.

TheBoyBilly

Thats the impression I got Jamey. I dunno what's in Muc-Off that causes the discolouration but it was deffo there and horrid too!. Mind you there were blokes that still used Muc-Off but they all agreed it was important to give the bike a thorough wash down with clean water afterwards. AutoGlym cleaners were also recommended.

BentMikey

I like the Sheldon Shake myself. It's the only way to properly clean a chain, IMO.

Jamey

DavidTQ wrote:

My lubricant is one of these types that is solvent based and is supposed to pentrate deep into the chain then leave the lube in some sort of dry teflon form so degreasing the chain isnt a problem at all as the new lube goes exactly where you want it anyway...

You mean like this?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... z%20Bottle

Jamey

By the way, I've just been reading Sheldon Brown's page on chains and I'm assuming I have a bushingless chain on my bike as he seems to be saying that the type of chain with bushings has pretty much died out, but if anyone knows different please let me know.

Unfortunately I'm not sure exactly what chain I've got on and I don't know how to tell but the last time I had it changed was at a branch of Evans and I didn't ask for any specific chain so I expect they just used something cheap and/or bog-standard.

attica

Mikey

By "Sheldon Shake", do you mean the coke bottle, degreaser and SRAM Powerlink method?

or is there a product on the market with that name?

BentMikey

Got it in one, Attica. His April Fools chain cleaning page is pretty funny though.

attica

Thanks Mikey

Please post a link (pun intended) to the April fools article, I could do with a giggle.

Cheers

wastelander

I used to use Muc Off to clean the drivetrain on my Spesh Enduro...until I found that it had completely stripped the grease from inside the rear hub. Everything is now cleaned with a combination of baby wipes, hot soapy water and plenty of rinses.

tardington

Has anyone got/used a Scottoiler? The thing with the rubber bulb of lube that attaches to the bike frame?

My bike is filthy, but I have a chain-cleaning machine somewhere. Jet hoses are pretty good too, but (all together now) avoid the bearings!

jefferee

Attica wrote:

Please post a link (pun intended) to the April fools article, I could do with a giggle.

Cheers

http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html