Chain cleaners

andyc-43

Are these chain cleaning devices worth buying, seen the Park tools one for £30 including degreaser and lube.

At the moment every ride seems to be a muddy one and im getting out 3-4 times a week and having to clean the chain everytime so the bikes ready for my evening commute. Use warm water and toothbrush to scrub the links then Muc Off wet lube.

Was hoping the chain bath kits would save me a bit of time and effort or are they a bit of a faff??

Andy

jimothy78

Bought a Muc-Off branded kit in Tesco the other day, purely because it was "reduced" from £24 to £6.

Put simply, even for £6 I feel robbed.

The chain cleaner device is naff, flimsy, and badly thought out - you have to pull a trigger with one finger to hold the two halves together around your chain, back-pedal using the other hand and then stretch your thumb over the top to press the spray-can knob. It's almost impossible to do this without accidentally releasing the hold-it-all-together trigger, which means the sprayed "degreaser" is going to be released in a cloud all over the place, right next to your disc brakes.

Given that the "degreaser" fluid itself is indistinguishable from WD40, etc, this made me extremely nervous, and I'm gonna stick my tried-and-tested wipe-oil-wipe process for every-ride, plus occasionally removing the chain for more thorough cleansing.

As an asside - I've recently discovered that my local "The Range" is selling "motorcycle chain cleaner" for £3 a can when you buy-one-get-one-halfprice. It's Isopropyl alcohol based, and I've found it great for degreasing all sorts of things - no discernable residue on drying, and perfect if you want to give your chain a thorough deep-clean.

Luapsnnib

I've got a park tool one and it's brill , makes cleaning chains so easy , I wouldn't be without it

Chunkers1980

Personally I think they're an utter waste. Old towel to polish it through back pedaling before lubeing it again. Have a powerlink so when it is really gunky whip it off, shake it in a jar In white spirit, then washing up liquid and rinse and dry. Wd40 all over, then some proper lube.

cooldad

Pointless, you want to clean crud off the outside, so water works well, and leave lube on the inside, so degreasing is stupid, as you just have to get it back inside again.
I haven't degreased a chain for years - but I don't use oily stuff on my chains, which just picks up crud and turns it into grinding paste.

BillyMansell

I've never had a problem using one and they prove very effective at cleaning greasy build up from between the plates and around the outside of the bushes. For mud I'd be looking at dislodging the worst of the mud with some water at some pressure before cleaning out any stubborn dirt with a chain cleaner.

Kowalski675

Excellent for £1.99:

http://www.fenwicks.info/bike/index.php ... ing-sponge

I use one of these too (already had this for cleaning motorcycle chains):