 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
how do you do it ?
Two old tooth brushes taped together so the heads act as a scrubber.
I used a cassette cleaning brush as well if you scrub where the chain is on the chainring it's quite easy easy.
You don't it'll be 'reet.
Or the bog roll trick.
Feed bogroll with degreaser sprayed liberally between chainring and chainget a good few rotations then feed it back out.
In general I just point the hose at it and back pedal a bit before adding more lube.
The only other technique which I use on my commuter as it rarely gets muddy is to get a rag with some white spirit on and then just back pedal as I wipe the chain. Gets most of the external build up off.
On the few occasions it does get cleaned I leave it in the garage a few days until it's dry the use a wire brush on it. It the gets treated to some spray grease.
muddy chain is not a problem let it dry and brush and re-lube. The recent cold snap means a rather oily gritty gunk that I just seem to be moving around.
spot of wet lube this time of year, means a scrubbing brush with soapy water sees it clean with a hose flush. Oily, claggy chain is jizer back pedal to loosen in the roller and then hose and scrubbing brush. 5 mins and done.
Wet lube will suck in all the crud and make a right mess if it's muddy. Though at least you haven't got a cassette and mech 😉 . 'Wet' just means it's a wet consistency lubricant. It's better for roads with a lot of wet spray, or if you ride through rivers and streams a lot. Dry lube is fine in wet weather generally, especially if it's more mud than water.
But... forget all that 😉 . Degrease chain and get some Squirt. Apply that, and you'll only be wiping down the chain after a ride and it will be shiny clean again. 😀
As for degreasing, you can use a chain cleaner device. I just use a dash of detergent and water myself. Rarely ever have to do it though.