New Chain Cleaner Choice

wolfsbane2k

Hi.
I've just smashed my old chain cleaner by dropping it on concrete, so looking for a new one.
IN my eyes they are all much of a muchness, with a little variation in price.

I commute 10miles each way daily in all weathers, so it gets use at least fortnightly.

Any particularly brilliant ones out there , or great deals on "ok" ones?

Ta

imposter2.0

Smashing your chain cleaner was god's way of telling you that you don't need one. Signs like these should not be ignored.

wolfsbane2k

Imposter wrote:

Smashing your chain cleaner was god's way of telling you that you don't need one. Signs like these should not be ignored.

I accept i don't "need" one - i just liked one

sungod

fit a kmc link, then you can remove it for cleaning

fenix

Rag and GT85 ? Taking the chain off even with a link is a pita.

volvo_fatboy

Put some degreaser on the chain and let it sit for a while. Then put some degreaser onto two nail brushes and sandwich the chain between them, then pedal with one hand and hold two brushes with the other.

bernithebiker

Chain cleaner = overpriced plastic thing that is a faff and doesn't work that well = £30

KMC link = £5 + 2 litres of white spirit, £3 = £8 = a lifetime of easy, perfectly clean chains.

Matthewfalle

Can of jitter (5 litres for £20) and a paintbrush.

3 minute job each week, spotless chain (and anything else you want cleaned) will last a year at least.

Job jobbed.

grenw

Park Tool one works well for me.

You can clean just as well without one but it takes more time. Or you can take the same amount of time without one and not get it as clean. Then again I only tend to use it every couple of months so not that big a deal. In between it gets a wipe and a lube.

Garry H

a rag and WD40 does it for me. If very dirty, i use white spirit instead.

sheffsimon

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Hi.
I've just smashed my old chain cleaner by dropping it on concrete, so looking for a new one.
IN my eyes they are all much of a muchness, with a little variation in price.

I commute 10miles each way daily in all weathers, so it gets use at least fortnightly.

Any particularly brilliant ones out there , or great deals on "ok" ones?

Ta

I do the same type of commute, never clean the chain, just put some oil on it when it looks dry.

Why do you need to clean it fortnightly?

supermurph09

bernithebiker wrote:

Chain cleaner = overpriced plastic thing that is a faff and doesn't work that well = £30

KMC link = £5 + 2 litres of white spirit, £3 = £8 = a lifetime of easy, perfectly clean chains.

You can buy them for well under £30 and if used properly work very well.

step83

Chain cleaner = chopped down bottle of screenwash with white spirit or Morgan Blue if I'm feeling flush. If I'm feeling fancy I'll take the cassette off an bung that in too, bit of scrubbing with a stiff brush then dry off an lube.

If your really anal about it you can use an ultrasonic cleaner. I have one which I use to clean all sorts its a bit OTT but the most lazy way of doing it.

wolfsbane2k

Cheers all, I think :-P
For a long time I'd been using Wet lube, independent of the weather, because that's what I always used on the MTB as I'd be breaching fords & puddles, and I just stuck with it on the roadie, so always had a grinding paste on the chain unless I cleaned it regularly.

I've transitioned to dry lube & wipe with GT85 & rag after every wet ride, with a re-application of dry lube every weekend, but am constantly amazed by the colour of the gunk that comes out every time I use a rag, let alone a proper clean.
Most of the roads i ride are unloved rural roads, with gravel & other unclean stuff strewn across them, including a ford forded twice at least daily.

So what I'm looking for is some quick scrubbing action to get dried on road dirt off prior to the GT85 & rag, as well as a quicker fuller clean after a really bad week - I've got powerlinks fitted & some link removal pliers, so it only takes seconds to do.

I've also got a ultrasonic cleaner that i use occasionally, but that uses a load of cleaner to get it all covered, and I'm not sure of the benefit to date.

Basically - I envisage a 4 stage cleaning option:
1) Daily clean - GT85/Rag
2) Dirty clean - Scrubbing Brush / "dry" chain cleaner & / GT85 & rag with re-lube
3) Filthy Clean - Chain Cleaner with degreaser with re-lube
4) WTF clean - Ultrasonic with oven dry & re-lube

Yes, I'm probably overthinking it, but trying to balance the 5 minute clean ( that's never a 5 minute clean) with a deeper cleaning options when needed.

Matthewfalle

Why do you want to oven dry your chain? It's not a blancmange ......

step83

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

I've also got a ultrasonic cleaner that i use occasionally, but that uses a load of cleaner to get it all covered, and I'm not sure of the benefit to date.
quote]

Don't use pure cleaner I never do I dilute it down at least 50/50, also hot water works far far better than cold.

Bobbinogs

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

...

Basically - I envisage a 4 stage cleaning option:
1) Daily clean - GT85/Rag
2) Dirty clean - Scrubbing Brush / "dry" chain cleaner & / GT85 & rag with re-lube
3) Filthy Clean - Chain Cleaner with degreaser with re-lube
4) WTF clean - Ultrasonic with oven dry & re-lube

Blimey, it's a bike chain. I would go with most of the suggestions on this thread, some very good or at least perfectly adequate.

ayjaycee

Here's another vote for the Park Tools CM5 jobbie - works very well for me and leaves the chain nice and shiny. £15 well spent and you can pick up a new set of brushes for about half that. I'm a lazy bugger and, to me, it's much easier than taking the chain off for cleaning.

imposter2.0

Matthewfalle wrote:

Why do you want to oven dry your chain? It's not a blancmange ......

Hang on - wouldn't a blancmange go in the fridge..??

mac9091

Step83 wrote:

If your really anal about it you can use an ultrasonic cleaner. I have one which I use to clean all sorts its a bit OTT but the most lazy way of doing it.

Good idea, just used mine today to clean the heads on my diesel injectors, never thought to use on my chain. LOL

Could maybe use carb cleaner afterwards as a way of final cleaning and getting rid of the water as it evaporates. Unless someone knows if it will damage the chain in some way.

wolfsbane2k

Bobbinogs wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

...

Basically - I envisage a 4 stage cleaning option:
1) Daily clean - GT85/Rag
2) Dirty clean - Scrubbing Brush / "dry" chain cleaner & / GT85 & rag with re-lube
3) Filthy Clean - Chain Cleaner with degreaser with re-lube
4) WTF clean - Ultrasonic with oven dry & re-lube

Blimey, it's a bike chain. I would go with most of the suggestions on this thread, some very good or at least perfectly adequate.

Yeah, it's just trying to get the balance right. I felt that when using a normal degreaser and scrubbing brush i never get it quite clean.

imposter2.0

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Yeah, it's just trying to get the balance right. I felt that when using a normal degreaser and scrubbing brush i never get it quite clean.

At the end of the day mate, it's a bike chain - not a surgical instrument.

wolfsbane2k

Imposter wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Yeah, it's just trying to get the balance right. I felt that when using a normal degreaser and scrubbing brush i never get it quite clean.

At the end of the day mate, it's a bike chain - not a surgical instrument.

Yep, but as my form of transport to & from work, I need to mininise maintaince and keep reliable.
Therefore having options for mid week after a completely caked chain is helpful to keep it going until the weekend when I can get it a proper clean& relube

sheffsimon

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Yeah, it's just trying to get the balance right. I felt that when using a normal degreaser and scrubbing brush i never get it quite clean.

At the end of the day mate, it's a bike chain - not a surgical instrument.

Yep, but as my form of transport to & from work, I need to mininise maintaince and keep reliable.
Therefore having options for mid week after a completely caked chain is helpful to keep it going until the weekend when I can get it a proper clean& relube

It will keep going to the weekend without a midweek clean. In fact it will keep going all winter or all year without cleaning. Its not going to snap or fall apart just because its a bit grimy.

surrey_commuter

You are doing approx 4,000 miles a year which if you did the bare minimum cleaning would only require two chains. With your cleaning regime taking up possibly 100 hours a year you might get an extra 1000 miles out of a chain saving yourself somewhere in the region of a tenner.

Maybe my guesswork is out and it only takes 50 hours a year, and you save £20 on chains but you get my point.

wolfsbane2k

Surrey Commuter wrote:

You are doing approx 4,000 miles a year which if you did the bare minimum cleaning would only require two chains. With your cleaning regime taking up possibly 100 hours a year you might get an extra 1000 miles out of a chain saving yourself somewhere in the region of a tenner.

Maybe my guesswork is out and it only takes 50 hours a year, and you save £20 on chains but you get my point.

That's what I thought, and was doing so earlier in the year but with a chain dying at 500miles, despite the weekend cleaning, i was rather pissed off! I could almost feel the chain suck, and could definitely feel the shifting change.

It's not just rhe chain, but then cassette and crankset as well :-)

But yes, I get your point. Which is kinda why I want something very quick and efficient for a grimy chain :+p