Bike cleaner stuff

Deadeye Duck · July 2009

is this the same as degreaser but just works on everything?

All I have so far is all weather lube, an old toothbrush & a rag, so I'm in pretty much need of everything.

I was thinking of getting the muc off tub kit. which has all the brushes as well as cleaners & a bucket as I'm getting told off for keeping asking to use the dish from the kitchen

would the bottle of bike cleaner in that work on the drivetrain, or would I still need degreaser?

What makes to avoid?

Am I making a mistake getting muc off?

Thanks for the help folks.

cjcp · July 2009

What's bike cleaner?

You know, I can't honestly remember what order I use it in, but I think it's like this:

Black bottle of Muc Off de-greaser
The Muc Off bottle with the pink stuff in it
Water
Then lube.

To clean the cassette, you're best off taking it apart and giving the sprockets a good soak in a bucket of hot water and this awesome lube stuff (which I can't remember the name of, but got it with the Dragon Ride finishers' pack a couple of years ago. "F-something").

MartinGT · July 2009

I use degreaser with my chain cleaner every now and then, the rest I just use hot water and standard washing up liquid, jobs a good un

Jamey · July 2009

Don't spend much money on brushes as they'll get dirty, to the point where they'll actually start making things more dirty (just sort of smearing the dirt around in streaks) and at that point they'll need to be replaced because even soaking them (fully submerged) in white spirit or meths for a fortnight won't get them clean again.

I know, I've tried doing exactly that.

So just buy a 35p washing up brush from somewhere like Woolworths (I know, that's why I said somewhere like Woolworths) and replace it every few times you've cleaned your bike.

Or get an old ice cream tub (or old tupperware) and fill it halfway up with white spirit then remove the drivetrain parts and clean them 'underwater' (or 'underspirit') with an old toothbrush.

Then use wet wipes or something else that's disposable to remove the worst muck from the frame and finish with a sponge and soapy water once it's clean enough that it's not going to do the same thing to the sponge that it does to brushes, as mentioned above.

Wallace1492 · July 2009

To clean chain: remove from bike, put in an old cassarole dish, cover with a mixture of 25% cold tea, 25% Whisky and 50% cremola foam.

Place in oven at gas mark 6 for 2 hours.
Remove chain, dry with silken bedspread, grease with goosefat then put back on bike.

Works every time for me.

Deadeye Duck · July 2009

Thanks guys... apart from wallace

cleaning the brushes is a bit of a pain, but it is doable. Using 2 brushes against each other while under spirits is a good way of shifting it off. It's what i do to the old toothbrushes when they get gunked up to the point of not helping.

il_principe · July 2009

TBH there's no need for all the brushes etc. I use a bucket of warm water (with some citrus degreaser if required) and then a succession of old rags, wipe down and rinse. Best to take the wheels off and remove the cassette - clean separately.

Personally as far as chains go, I follow the KMC method - no degreaser, wipe clean, lube, spin, leave overnight, wipe clean. Done.

N.b this is for roadbikes, I'd imagine CX/MTB need more intensive methods.

As others have said, baby wipes are also excellent!

Deadeye Duck · July 2009

I dare say that works if you've always kept it in good nick, but when I bought it off the guy before me, it looked like he'd cleaned everything but the chain/crank/cassette as there was a thick black build up.

the chain's got a powerlink on it, so taking it off is not a problem. Will I need any specialist tools to get the cassette off and to bits?

il_principe · July 2009

Deadeye Duck wrote:

I dare say that works if you've always kept it in good nick, but when I bought it off the guy before me, it looked like he'd cleaned everything but the chain/crank/cassette as there was a thick black build up.

the chain's got a powerlink on it, so taking it off is not a problem. Will I need any specialist tools to get the cassette off and to bits?

Yep, you'll need a Chainwhip and a CassetteTool

Jamey · July 2009

And at this point I'm going to recommend the Pedros cog wrench (and matching lockring spanner) instead of a normal chain whip. Costs more but loads more stable and an absolute doddle to use.

amnezia · July 2009

Wallace1492 wrote:

To clean chain: remove from bike, put in an old cassarole dish, cover with a mixture of 25% cold tea, 25% Whisky and 50% cremola foam.

Place in oven at gas mark 6 for 2 hours.
Remove chain, dry with silken bedspread, grease with goosefat then put back on bike.

Works every time for me.

you forgot the bit about chanting the spell

Deadeye Duck · July 2009

Last few questions I promise:

How do I find out if the cassette itself is shimano? I have shimano F&R derailleurs , STI shifters, but a ISIS bottom bracket & quest crankset. All I know is that it's a 9-speed
cassette and theres not a lot of metal to each sprocket, and they're dirty

speaking of makes, can I get a quest/isis crank tool/bb tool, or would I have to get a shimano or campag one and hope?

Oh also, does the type of chain on a chainwhip or cogwrench matter? as in, is there a 9-speed chainwhip, 10-speed, 8-speed etc...

davmaggs · July 2009

You can get big bottles of engine degreaser* in the 99p shops that will clean off all the oil on the chain extremely effectively.

The Park Tools chain cleaning tool is really good if you want to avoid taking the chain off. One observation though is that degreasing a chain completely can take out the manufacturers soaking of lube and you can end up with rust if you don't do the job really well and make sure that all the cleaner is out and the new lube is soaked in.

* slightly off topic, but it's interesting how the moment something is labelled as a specialist item then the prices shoots up. For example put lube into a tiny bottle and sell it in bike shops and the price shoots up compared to bulk bottles. An LED torch costs half the price of an LED bike light etc etc </rant over>

Deadeye Duck · July 2009

[off topic]and LED torch doesn't last half as long as a bike light, it cetainly doesn't come with a bracket for your bike, flashing options for getting you noticed more and are, alot of the time, not that waterproof either. There's your pricetag.

the 99p engine degreaser, also tends to corrode paint. it's meant for the baths you have in garages. It's also usually not biodegradable in the slightest, and stains like buggery.

why use cleaner at all when you've got good old fashioned washing up liquid? Because that eats at rubber seals, into your hubs/BB & at your paint too. and to top it all off, it's hard to get rid of and if it gets between your new layer of lube and your chain, you'll soon know about it.

These bike specific things are created for a reason. just like you wouldn't clean your dishes with whitespirit.[/off topic]

I really can't see the point in chain cleaners after looking up what they actually do. Get a toothbrush, and some elbow grease.

il_principe · July 2009

Deadeye Duck wrote:

Last few questions I promise:

How do I find out if the cassette itself is shimano? I have shimano F&R derailleurs , STI shifters, but a ISIS bottom bracket & quest crankset. All I know is that it's a 9-speed
cassette and theres not a lot of metal to each sprocket, and they're dirty

speaking of makes, can I get a quest/isis crank tool/bb tool, or would I have to get a shimano or campag one and hope?

Oh also, does the type of chain on a chainwhip or cogwrench matter? as in, is there a 9-speed chainwhip, 10-speed, 8-speed etc...

It'll be Shimano or Shimano compatible. I have a lockring spanner with Campag on one side and ShimaNo on the other, v handy but no idea where I found it!

Any chainwhip'll do.

You don't need a BB tool - unless you know what you are doing I'd leave the BB to the pros...

Bike cleaner stuff

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