[Closed] Easiest way to clean the chain?

No need for a stand, just turn the pedals backwards.

But the easiest way to clean a chain is to degrease it 10 months ago then just use Scottoiler UBS as your chain lube.

re-useable link and a jar of solvent

Chain cleaning tools aren't that great in my experience - they get dirty pretty quickly and you can't clean them. I find two toothbrushes (especially the ones with rubber bristles in) held tightly on either side of the chain is about as effective as anything else. Don't see why you couldn't do this with the bike upside down. Or I just the the chain off and soak it in white spirit while I clean the rest of the bike then give it a good rub down with a cloth and stick it back on.

Inside or outside, I think a bike stand would revolutionise your bike fettling world. Makes life a whole lot easier.

Brake disc cleaner and an old plastic bottle and shake.

Take chain off and soak it in white spirit until clean. Re-fit and lube.

Take chain off and soak it in white spirit until clean. Re-fit and lube.

This is what I do, with RnR lube so I don't need to do it very often, but

Scottoiler UBS as your chain lube.

This is what I'll do when my big bottle of lube has run out.

Since I started using dry lubes instead of wet ones, I've only had to wipe the chain clean with a rag. It doesn't get manky enough to necessitate degreasing and cleaning it thoroughly.

I thought chain baths in degreaser were supposed to be bad because they wash the grease out of parts of the chain which lube (and muck) don't really reach?

I've been very impressed by my Barbieri Tornado chain cleaner. Unlike previous devices, it doesn't have to be clamped around a jockey wheel. Just run the chain through, apply foam and keep back pedalling. Rinse and lube.

good guide from KMC, it's what I follow: http://www.kmcchain.eu/maintenance

Rag in hand around chain, run pedals backwards until most muck is lifted. Drop of lube on inside of each roller. Soak in degreaser if alternating chains, after wet rides blast chain with WD40 by spraying onto chain at lower jockey wheel while running pedals backwards.

If you have HT2 BB or the like, an [url= http://andystand.co.uk ]Andystand[/url] is perfect for all of this.

Diesel does the job for me

Baby wipes are the way forward.

Taking it off and throwing it in paraffin sounds like hassle but it gives the best clean, makes the least mess, and generally is easier to do than it sounds. You'd be amazed what comes out if you do it with your "clean" chain

The only issue is, a proper clean needs a proper relube, a halfassed clean leaves dirt but also lube so will work out better than a proper clean and a halfassed relube.

I use a parks chain cleaning tool then remove the chain and bast it with brake cleaner, refit and lube. Usually done fortnightly.

Bast -> blast obviously,

i use parks chain cleaning tool, with Citrosol citrus cleaner, dont understand the reason to remove chain with this combo?

bit ott to remove chain and jar it i think, the park tool chain cleaner has worked for rather well for the past 4+ years!

Rock and Roll blue and a rag. Not got a noticeable drop in life expectancy

Rock and Roll blue and a rag. Not got a noticeable drop in life expectancy

+1 from me. Wipe chain with a rag, apply lubricant of choice. Wipe off. I used to bother with degreasing and getting chains nice and spotless. Other than looking nice it didn't make any difference IME, also takes a lot time and uses environmentally unfriendly chemicals.

Off and diesel. Cleans and lubes at same time.

R n R + rag. That's it. Just do it frequently.

Why do anything else? (Apart from clean the bike)

Remove chain, drop into 500ml diet coke bottle with a couple of inches of white spirit.
Shake vigorously, then leave to soak for a bit.
Shake again the tip fluid away (via a coffee filter back into the bottle for me)
You'll probably need to cut the coke bottle to get your chain out.
Dry chain on old towel - lube and refit.

Doesn't take very long at all an you can clean your jockey wheels while the chain is off.

Rock n Roll lubes are apparently gone. No UK distro any more. 🙁

baby wipes for me 😛

Morgan Blue chain degreaser, a cut off water bottle and paint brush for me.

I just use the power hose when I clean the bike, easy, quick, effective and cost zero. Dry chain and oil or dry lube.

Since I started using dry lubes instead of wet ones, I've only had to wipe the chain clean with a rag. It doesn't get manky enough to necessitate degreasing and cleaning it thoroughly.

This.

I used to take the chain off and put it in a jar of degreaser. Now I don't bother, just wipe the dirt off with some paper towels then reapply dry lube.

Wipe off significant dirt and lube it. Anything extra is more work for no gain (or may even make things worse) IMO. Certainly answers the original question.

Park Cyclone chain cleaner fo me, bit of Swarefega degreaser diluted with water and then a washing up brush to clean the cassette (and chain) afterwards.

No need for a stand just pick a middle sprocket on the cassette and pedal backwards.

Taking the chain off has become more a a pain (for me) since moving to 10 speed as I've yet to be able to successfully disconnect a 10 speed Sram Powerlink, don;t have this issue with 9 speed ones though...

[url= http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html ]How to clean a chain[/url]

Nice.... For the time taken you'd probably be better off using a chain a ride.

Taking the chain off has become more a a pain (for me) since moving to 10 speed as I've yet to be able to successfully disconnect a 10 speed Sram Powerlink, don;t have this issue with 9 speed ones though...

Buy the both way quick link pliers for about £8 off CRC. I never bothered before I had 10speed, now I'm glad I have them.

prolink extreme - just cycle the drivetrain backwards whilst applying liberally - cycle round a few more times, then wipe the chain with a towel. Clean and lube in one go...

On the mtb I just wipe it and relube when needed which is pretty much every ride through winter. Always use a wet lube.

Take more care on my road bike. Baby wipes work well, as does dry lube to prevent build up.

The KMC link made me laugh. Looks like those are Fox fork levels of service/inspection interval. I'd be getting off during my longer rides to check my chain. I'll need to check it twice on the ride I plan for Saturday!

Quick links & pop into dishwasher along with dinner plates. They even provide a special chain shelf at the top to make the most of the steam & heat.

for those doing the full clean thing how much extra life do you get? I've not been hard enough on chains to be that concerned.

Hi,

Where are people buying Rock 'n roll blue from?

Thanks,

mikewsmith - Member

for those doing the full clean thing how much extra life do you get? I've not been hard enough on chains to be that concerned.

TBH I don't think I know- chain life varies so much. But a really good clean and lube means the chain and shifting works better for longer, that's the main benefit imo. The actual cost of a chain is pretty trivial in the grand scheme but having your bike play up midride or mid race is annoying

but the deep cleaning also removes the grease from inside the chain (unless you do the massive regrease process) again not sure how much better my shifting is without deep cleaning/removing the chain and deep cleaning. Maybe I'm lucky or have lower standards but I really could not be arsed to go through a lot of the stuff people here do.

I think you're overestimating the difficulty/time tbh, it takes a couple of minutes for me to completely clean and properly relube a chain. There's some waits between stages but you can do other things. Take off chain, throw in jar, shoogle (maybe soak if it's really manky), take it out, wipe it, lube it, refit it, done.

I don't think I could be arsed to do it [i]on[/i] the bike now tbh, doesn't take significantly less time and doesn't do as good a job.

I need to clean the chain on bike I picked up eBay - chain seriously minging, so plan to take off and soak.

Is Gunk any good for cleaning chains? Or stick with white spirit?

Cheers

I've been using GUNK since the mid nineties. Although I don't do thorough cleans as much, less time and can't say I've noticed difference in chain life either way, just shifting when proper mucky.

Degreaser on rag followed by squirt lube after every ride

For those using Rock & Roll a quick question... Having moved back to Scotland from a much warmer place, I'm finding my Rock & Roll lube turns to a waxy mush as soon as I put it on the chain - before I can even wipe it off it gets big waxy boogers between the links and in the cassette. Does this happen for others, and if so do you do anything about it or just leave it as-is?

PS: happens for both the blue and the gold for me...

Just take the bike to a forecourt and hose it down with the diesel pumps.

Don't use petrol though, that's explosive.

I only use ProGold Prolink Xtreme on my bikes, all year round, really don't like 'wet' lubes.

I clean chains with a microfibre cloth (that's normally got wd40/gt85/oil/muc off bike spray remnants soaked into it), just cycle chain backwards, clamp cloth around chain tight, might give it a more thorough rub a section at a time if it's really manky. That normally gets it clean enough, then apply lube over 2-3 full revolutions of chain, keep cycling it, then wipe of excess.

A mate fully cleaned his chain Saturday, lubed with a wet lube, rode on dry trails with minimal dust, 8 miles, chain was minging after, mine was spotless. Shouldn't be using a wet lube I know, but it attracted so much crap, it definitely did more harm than good, and I couldn't see any visible excess lube on his chain before we started

Is wiping with a cloth/baby wipes adequate enough ? It only seems to clean the outside of the chain and not the links in the middle ?

I currently spray chain degreaser on the chain and then use a cloth to clean the chain. Then I put wet lubricant on it and wipe it again. Its a dirty job and was wondering if there was an easier way. Is it really necessary to do this after every off-road ride that involves mud, even outside of the Winter? Most of my rides are moderate in length (about 20-30 miles) and involve a lot of moorland.

Despite getting unlimited quantities of IPA, white spirit and various other solvents for free from work, I'm now following the KMC guide and not using them as it definitely strips the lube from inside. I've had an SLX chain rust after this, with lube on it! Just a wipe with rag to get the worst off after spraying with a hose seems enough.