Cleaning the bike's drive train ?

dflash

Hi everyone, it came time to clean the bike's drive train so could you tell me some cleaning tips?
So far I bought a degreaser, so should I buy some special brushes or should I use some old towel ?
After the cleaning part should I pour the drive train with wather, will it cause rust Or will it damage the disc brakes?
And finally can somebody explaine me wats "Bike Lube"?

dflash

On the degreaser say that can damage stickers,paint job .....???????

cooldad

Chain lube is lube for chains. Not sure about bike lube.
Read the Parktools website first.
Water doesn't damage anything, or you'd only be able to ride in dry weather.

Anonymous

Water promotes rust on chains but only a little surface layer and you have to leave the thing unused for a long time for it to be a problem. Even then you could clean it up after a year of rust and get it working again.

Anyway, forget degreasers, it'll strip the oil out from inside the chain which means you have to do a full deep oil job working the oil back into the rollers (or oil bath it). Likewise strip the grease from any bearings.

Don't get degreasers or oil near the discs.

Chain cleaning - often all you need is just wipe down with a rag and lube it up again, then ride. If it's muddy enough to be grinding away, wash with water, wipe dry, lube. Those chain cleaner gadgets are pretty good for doing that quick too.

Rest of the drive train - wash with water and a little soap. Simples. Or Muc Off for stubborn mud (okay a degreaser of sorts, but not like a proper "degreaser", it's a mild thing like soap) - just keep it away from bearings, just light surface spray over the kit, leave for a couple of minutes and rinse off. The stuff seems to be fine on discs I've found.