Chain cleaner

sarajoy

I tried to search but hadn't much luck, though I know this has been discussed before...

Have ordered a chain cleaning wotsit (one of those little cassettes with brushes and rollers inside that you put over the chain) - but it comes sans-fluid.

What do you recommend? Are there any more homely alternatives to Muc-Off or any other expensive branded product?

essex-commuter

Diesel?

rolf_f

I have a five litre bottle of Swarfega degreaser. Cost about £7 from B&Q and It looks like it will last for years even if you don't dilute it!

If you want a bikey product, normal Mucoff won't be up to it - mine came with some Finish Line degreaser which costs more but can be recycled after the crap settles out of it (which doesn't happen with the Swarfega) - still more expensive though.

BTW, worth running the chain through the cleaner after every mucky ride. And I still additionally take the chain off for a proper soak in degreaser every so often.

hoolio

I fill it with white spirit. Gets the oil off a treat!
Run the chain through, empty, refill with clean white spirit and repeat.
Tip the used white spirit into an old large coffee jar or similar and let it stand. After a week most of the black sludge will be at the bottom of the jar and you can decant the slightly dirty looking white spirit into another jar (careful to leave the sludge at the bottom). You can reuse the stuff plenty of times, topping up the minimal working loss with fresh white spirit. 5 litres from B&Q will last you a very long time.

I've moved onto useing a dry wax like lubricant which means more drying of chains after a wet ride and re-applying lube, but much less cleaning hassle.

Kieran_Burns

hoolio wrote:

I fill it with white spirit. Gets the oil off a treat!
Run the chain through, empty, refill with clean white spirit and repeat.
Tip the used white spirit into an old large coffee jar or similar and let it stand. After a week most of the black sludge will be at the bottom of the jar and you can decant the slightly dirty looking white spirit into another jar (careful to leave the sludge at the bottom). You can reuse the stuff plenty of times, topping up the minimal working loss with fresh white spirit. 5 litres from B&Q will last you a very long time.

I've moved onto useing a dry wax like lubricant which means more drying of chains after a wet ride and re-applying lube, but much less cleaning hassle.

That's offically bloody clever

That's my next purchase sorted,

sarajoy

Ooh nice one hoolio!

Do you have any recommendation for said dry wax style lube?

essex-commuter

I used to have one of the chain cleaners but it leaked everywhere so never used it anymore. It was a cheapie I must admit, if I was to buy a decent one can they be used without the stuff running out everywhere?

I tend to take the chain off, put it in an empty plastic milk bottle filled with a couple of inches high with diesel, shake it vigourously for a few seconds and repeat about 5 times. I then hook the chain out with an old spoke, put it in a plastic tub, squirt it with washig up liquid and blast it with the hose on jet. After that it is spotless, I just wipe it down, spray it with GT85 and wipe down again, refit and lubricate. Guess the whole process takes 10-15 minutes.

Would I benefit from buying a chain cleaning device? I haven't had anything inh the post from Wiggle or CRC since last Thursday and I'm looking for a fix

hoolio

Squirt lube is the one I've started using.

http://mountain.bike198.com/review-squi ... ke-chains/

suzyb

What's the difference between wet lube and dry lube.

essex-commuter

suzyb wrote:

What's the difference between wet lube and dry lube.

Nobody is allowed to say "one is wet and one is dry".

amnezia

suzyb wrote:

What's the difference between wet lube and dry lube.

Wet lube tends to be a lot thicker consistency, it clings to the chain well so its good in wet conditions.

Dry lube is a much thinner consitency it comes off easily but it also picks up less road debris.

Wet for winter, dry for summer.

suzyb

amnezia wrote:

suzyb wrote:

What's the difference between wet lube and dry lube.

Wet lube tends to be a lot thicker consistency, it clings to the chain well so its good in wet conditions.

Dry lube is a much thinner consitency it comes off easily but it also picks up less road debris.

Wet for winter, dry for summer.

Thanks

CiB

Removed. The biggest crime these days is being seen to cause offence. Strewf.

:shock:

Aguila

suzyb wrote:

What's the difference between wet lube and dry lube.

Wet lube works and dry lube doesn't.

Lifeline synlube recommended by me.

cee

isn't it amazing how one word in an otherwise useful post can really put you off someone you havn't even met?

Oddjob62

I use Lifeline Bio Cleaner for degreasing my chain

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/LifeL ... 360035578/

always_tyred

cee wrote:

isn't it amazing how one word in an otherwise useful post can really put you off someone you havn't even met?

+1

CiB

Always Tyred wrote:

cee wrote:

isn't it amazing how one word in an otherwise useful post can really put you off someone you havn't even met?

+1

Oh. Up to you I suppose. No offence intended though. :?

hoolio

There are different types of dry lube. The one I've linked to in my earlier post works well in my experience, better that the Finish wet lube I was using before.
It isn't an oil as such, more of a wax. The link is to a review of the product with plenty of info if you're interested.

I've been using it throughout the winter and if it's been a wet day then I wipe the chain dry with an old rag when I get home and reapply some wax to dry overnight.
The chain stays a lot cleaner.
I won't be going back to wet lube, but everyone has their own preference.

blorg

Dry lube and wax does work if it isn't wet, I am using it (wax) on my race bike at the moment. It is a bit labour intensive in the sense you need to redo it more frequently.

If it rains the lube can be flushed out in the space of 20km though... if I could only use one type of lube it would certainly be the wet stuff.

Ian.B

I usually use a wax lube which as hoolio says keeps the chain cleaner, so I'm not much into this chain cleaning business. But I recently used some dry lube and the chain's gone all black and gunky. I've just bought some Finish Line ceramic wax lube and am wondering if I need to clean off the dry lube before I start using it, for the new stuff to work properly?

tiki tourer

I use this Park Tools stuff:
"Park Tools CB2 Citrus ChainBrite Chain Cleaner 16oz Bottle" and the chain cleaner contraption with internal brushes, magnets and what-not.

Main problem is finding the motivation to do this as often as I probably sould (really ought to measure the cleaning interval in weeks rather than months).

rolf_f

tiki tourer wrote:

Main problem is finding the motivation to do this as often as I probably sould (really ought to measure the cleaning interval in weeks rather than months).

Should measure it in terms of number of mucky rides. How long does it take to put something in the chain cleaner, spin the pedal 20 times, wait for it to dry off and re oil? Well under 5 minutes probably. Well worth it just in terms of how nicely the chain spins - I notice the difference even on the way home from work if it was wet in the morning. Just need to get into the habit of it; I've probably used the chain cleaner at least twice a week so far this year.

suzyb

Any recommendations

tiki tourer

The main problem is that this job is much less enticing in the winter (cold hands, etc.) which is exactly when cleaning is most needed. I intend to do more frequent cleaning and maintenance now that I'm starting to do longer rides for fun in addition to my usual daily commute.

Still at least my bike gets more regular cleaning than my car!

mtb-idle

yup, similar here. You can use degreaser from Halfords or just an empty jam jar of plain old petrol.

Remove the chain, put it in the jar and if you kept the lid put it one and give it a really good shake.

Remove chain and wipe with cloth, refit and lube.

Leave the sediment to settle at the bottom, decant petrol/degreaser into another jar and start all over again.

rolf_f

tiki tourer wrote:

The main problem is that this job is much less enticing in the winter (cold hands, etc.) which is exactly when cleaning is most needed. I intend to do more frequent cleaning and maintenance now that I'm starting to do longer rides for fun in addition to my usual daily commute.

Probably best to do it as soon as you get home - sometimes (don't tell anyone) I just leave the old degreaser in the cleaning device (after all, it is pretty much second hand after the first couple of spins through let alone 20) so I get in, whip the device onto the chain, spin through 20 times, spin the chain through a kitchen towel to dryish it, quick squirt with GT85 followed by a dab of oil on each link and another spin to distribute it. Not quite a proper job but infinitely preferable to nothing and that really only takes a couple of minutes. But I'll try timing myself if it will help to encourage you to MTFU and look after your poor chain

benpinnick

MTB-Idle wrote:

yup, similar here. You can use degreaser from Halfords or just an empty jam jar of plain old petrol.

Remove the chain, put it in the jar and if you kept the lid put it one and give it a really good shake.

Remove chain and wipe with cloth, refit and lube.

Leave the sediment to settle at the bottom, decant petrol/degreaser into another jar and start all over again.

I do the same, but with white spirit and an old toothbrush for scrubbing the worst muck off. Once clean and dry, a second jar (or old water bottle) into which you've emptied the contents of a decent lube (finish line for example) makes a great lube bath. Pop your chain in that and close the lid. Shake vigorously. Then hook the chain out with a spoke and hang it so it dangles over the jar/bottle, and leave overnight. The excess oil will drain back in to the bottle, leaving you with a perfectly lubed chain. Assuming you have a powerlink type connector, refitting only takes a second.

As any excess lube drains back into the jar, this way is both effective and very cost efficient. I've used the same small bottle of lube now for 5 years or so.

Jamey

White Spirit is an excellent degreaser but it strips paint, so you wouldn't want to get it on the frame and since a chain cleaner requires you to backpedal and spin the chain through the rollers I would imagine it's nigh on impossible to avoid getting the contents of the chain cleaner speckled onto the frame.

I suppose if you wiped it down straight afterwards you could avoid harming the finish of your bike frame but it's better to use a degreaser that will still work on the chain but without being paint-stripping strength.

Citrus degreaser and other bike-specific products usually fit this description.

Personally I remove the chain for cleaning but I used a chain cleaner in the early days which worked fine, just that nowadays I rotate three chains per cassette so they need to come off anyway.

rolf_f

Jamey wrote:

Personally I remove the chain for cleaning but I used a chain cleaner in the early days which worked fine, just that nowadays I rotate three chains per cassette so they need to come off anyway.

You only clean each time you rotate? I rotate chains but tend to keep one on for a few hundred miles before swapping over. Certainly clean them far more frequently than I swap them.

Jamey

Yeah, I only clean them when they get rotated. Can't be arsed any more frequently than that. Swap them every 333 miles.