Chain cleaner

hoolio

I've tried a couple of citrus degreasers in the past and had no joy with them. I can't remember which ones they were, but I think one was a generic halfords one. There may be better ones out there, maybe someone can chip in with a suggestion.

Most original paint finishes will be okay with white spirit, much in the same way that if you spill a bit of petrol down the bodywork of your car when filling up, the paint doesn't fall off. Then again if it's been resprayed with rattle cans you might have a problem!
To strip paint off a frame you tend to have to go for something a bit more aggressive, like nitromors. I've never tried cleaning my chain with that.

blorg

I tend to use Fenwicks FS-1, mainly as it is cheaper than citrus degreaser. Undiluted it does the job very well. Diluted 10-1 it is a good general cleaner like Muc-Off (but much cheaper.)

I've used Park Tool Chainbrite and Finish Line citrus degreasers and they work very well but are just too pricey.

Stevo_666

I bought the Park Tools cleaner with all the littel brushes and wheels - once the cleaning stuff that came with the kit ran out I just used washing up liquid in warm water and it gets most of the gunk off. Not as effective as the 'proper' stuff but good VFM.

sarajoy

Stevo 666 wrote:

I bought the Park Tools cleaner with all the littel brushes and wheels - once the cleaning stuff that came with the kit ran out I just used washing up liquid in warm water and it gets most of the gunk off. Not as effective as the 'proper' stuff but good VFM.

I was wondering if such a thing would be OK - as long as it gets to dry out OK before lubing I suppose it's fine, right?

Jamey

Washing-up liquid contains salt so it's not a good idea for anything that moves or might rust (and a chain does both).

Paddy O Dawes

I used to do the white spirit shake until I was advised that it's a bad idea, because it washes out the lube fitted during manufacture, which is better than anything you can replace it with. Whether or not that's true I don't know definitively, but I've replaced 'the full monte' with an occasional wipe 'n lube (Prolink) when the chain gets a bit brown, and everything seems to run very nicely thanks all the same.

blorg

Paddy O Dawes wrote:

I used to do the white spirit shake until I was advised that it's a bad idea, because it washes out the lube fitted during manufacture, which is better than anything you can replace it with.

This is true, and is the reason why you should not clean and relube a new chain before fitting it. At a certain point though it is washed out anyway and you are better off cleaning the chain properly before relubing.

holybinch

Right, so I have my brand new roadie, with its nicely lubed chain.
How long should I leave it before a full degreasing, and in the meantime, what to clean it with?
Standard degreaser? (I have the chain cleaning kit, but came with no degreaser)

The old sirrus will get the white spirit treatment me think

blorg

I generally leave mine until it needs it, you can tell when it needs it from the feel and noise.

I'll generally do it after the bike had been out in the wet.

rolf_f

blorg wrote:

This is true, and is the reason why you should not clean and relube a new chain before fitting it. At a certain point though it is washed out anyway and you are better off cleaning the chain properly before relubing.

That's just an opinion rather than a truth as such - on the regular occasions it comes up in the forum it always seems to generate lots of unconclusive argument the only logical conclusion from which is:

It doesn't matter how you clean your chain and how often you clean it as long as you do keep it clean and you can tell that you are keeping it clean because it runs so smoothly when you do.

hoolio

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

Always worth a look.

rubbercolin

Hi

I bought 1 litre of citrus degreaser from halfords for £10 , when the (tiny) bottle supplied with my park tools chain cleaner ran out.

works fine

UndercoverElephant

hoolio wrote:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

Always worth a look.

There are two schools on this. I've tried running on this mythical factory grease, but tend to agree with the second school as per the Guy Andrews book, "Road bike maintenance". He says that the factory grease is very good for storing chains for a long time, but not so good for running on a bike.

They seem to be quite heavy, prone to picking up dirt and make the chain quite stiff. Pro teams degrease and re-grease new chains immediately.

I use the "Gunk" brush-on degreaser (Halfords) with a cheap, wooden kid's paintbrush (very cheap, as I nicked it off the kids). You don't use much at all, and it really gets through the grease very quickly. Just brush it on, wait a few minutes and rinse it off.

Stevo_666

sarajoy wrote:

Stevo 666 wrote:

I bought the Park Tools cleaner with all the littel brushes and wheels - once the cleaning stuff that came with the kit ran out I just used washing up liquid in warm water and it gets most of the gunk off. Not as effective as the 'proper' stuff but good VFM.

I was wondering if such a thing would be OK - as long as it gets to dry out OK before lubing I suppose it's fine, right?

Yep, I let the chain dry out fully then relube it and as far as I can tell it's still fine.

oscarbudgie

Wipe the chain and relube after every ride. Never have to do anything else. Zinn agrees

symo

Parafin also works well.

UndercoverElephant

oscarbudgie wrote:

Wipe the chain and relube after every ride. Never have to do anything else. Zinn agrees

I think Zinn would have a fit if he saw all the sand and winter crud that gets picked up by my chain at the moment. The joys of a coastal commute.

CiB

However good the manufacturer's original lube might be, it's next to useless after some weeks of winter or wet use. You don't leave the original oil in your car just because VW put some good stuff in when they made the thing. And it really doesn't matter what you clean it with within reason as long as it gets a good relubing afterwards. It's not rocket science, much as some on here would like to proclaim it as such as a dark art.

Wipe it from time to time with a bit of kitchen roll squirted with GT85 or whatever to get the worst of the crud off, then add a drop of oil. Whenever you have a spare half hour whip it off, soak it in dilute Muc Off or similar, give it a good going over with a toothbrush and then soak it in light oil (3 in one does for me) in a handy plastic pot. Don't use takeaway food pots or you'll be called names.

Whilst it's soaking in Muc Off you can whip the cassette off and get all the crap out from between the cogs. There's nothing like a shiny drive train to add a couple of miles per hour to your ride.