Ultrasonic Chain Cleaners

drlodge

thegreatdivide wrote:

drlodge wrote:

A rag and GT85 will clean a chain enough for it to last a long time. It might be possible to clean it better but I seriously doubt it would be effective in terms of additional mileage gained vs the effort and time required.

Agreed - and for a deeper clean you just get a paintbrush, a bottle of degreaser and give it a good soaking then wash off and re apply your oil of choice. If you're buying an ultrasonic tank to clean your chain you need to get out more. Really.

Indeed. Also - while I agree that this method won't properly clean the innards of the chain, applying a thinnish oil every or every other ride will tend to rinse the grime out. I can hear when my chain needs relubing, have done 2 rides totalling about 150 miles and its dry again. Just needs a wipe down and relube, takes a few mins and it'll be as good a new (well almost).

FWIW, I leave new (Campagnolo 11sp) chains untouched until the factory grease has worked itself out, normally about 500 miles.

fenix

twist83 wrote:

Nothing... I am the GT85 cloth camp and lube. I did laugh at the comment about if you spend hours cleaning a chain then when you sell a bike it will be worth a whole lot more I cannot say I have ever seen a second hand bike and thought ohhhh a shiny clean chain I will pay £XXXX more..

Was that my comment ? It wasn't just about the chain - the bike is immaculate. But he is the kind of guy who spends hours puttying his car to a showroom sheen....

It works for him - the depreciation he's had on his last two bikes he's sold has been absolutely minimal. His TT bike he bought for an event and sold it on about a year or so later - I think he was down about £100 for having rented it for a year basically...

rolf_f

thegreatdivide wrote:

drlodge wrote:

A rag and GT85 will clean a chain enough for it to last a long time. It might be possible to clean it better but I seriously doubt it would be effective in terms of additional mileage gained vs the effort and time required.

Agreed - and for a deeper clean you just get a paintbrush, a bottle of degreaser and give it a good soaking then wash off and re apply your oil of choice. If you're buying an ultrasonic tank to clean your chain you need to get out more. Really.

Or just bang the degreaser into a pan with the chain and heat it up for a few minutes and then rinse off and re-oil. It really does make a difference and it really is the innards that need to be kept clean and it takes less time than the wet rag method. But it does also depend on the nature of the riding - a chain used for commuting suffers more and therefore needs more TLC than a weekend bike chain.

I've done 1000 miles or so on a new chainset on my posh bike and there is barely any wear to the anodising on the chainrings and I have yet to clean the chain. Couldn't get away with that on the commuter.