Chain Cleaning

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Plax

Guru
Location
Wales
What is the best way to clean your chain?
Now that the weather is getting bad my bike is getting caked in mud from the path along the lake I use to avoid the narrow bendy main road.
The chain is all "gritty" and the cogs etc muddy. I usually give the dirtiest parts of the bike a quick clean with an old toothbrush. I have sprayed the chain with GT40 and then run the chain through a cloth. Dunno if this is the best thing to do but the chain is still "gritty".
Is something like this any good;
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=270146689426&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=017

Ta
 

gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
I use something like that. But the best thing I've found is to use a powerlink on the chain. If it gets really bad you can whip the chain off easily.

I leave it to soak in citrus degreaser, give it a good brush down, rinse in water, dry with a cloth, use wd40 to remove any last bits of water, dry again, refit to the bike.

Wait for the WD to evaporate & use a bike specific chain lube
 
OP
OP
Plax

Plax

Guru
Location
Wales
I'm probably being really thick, but what's a powerlink?
(In my defence I only started cycling to work at the end of August!:biggrin:)
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
Hi Plax and Welcome to the strangely addictive world of the bicycle....

This is an oft debated topic. See here for all the options (there are links within the link too).

There are 2 schools of thought, use degreasers or don't. I've settled for the non-degrease route after reading the advice from KMC Chains, so mostly I'll just wipe of the black gunk, wipe with oily rag and then re-lube. Others like to strip the oil out completely and then soak the chain.
Over the years I've done everything!

Good reading and good cycling!
http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=5849
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
You need to do the Sheldon Shake. There is no better way of cleaning a chain properly (basically take the chain off, put it in a plastic coke bottle with solvent, shake it, and completely clean it).

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html
 

Tetedelacourse

New Member
Location
Rosyth
Plax - heed Mickle's advice. He's the Daddy. (in an "I am your Father" kind of way). Actually on that note, that scene would have been much more entertaining if Darth had had a Santa hat on.

Also - welcome!
 
BentMikey said:
You need to do the Sheldon Shake. There is no better way of cleaning a chain properly (basically take the chain off, put it in a plastic coke bottle with solvent, shake it, and completely clean it).

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

This assumes that your chain is dirty. Followers of The One True Path do not suffer from dirty chains and as a result have no need to expose themselves or the environment to nasty solvents.
 

gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
Only thing I’ll add to my post is that before commuting I was MTBing. The muckier the better. My chain cleaning regimen relates to how I cleaned the chain on my MTB, which used to get seriously caked up.

The commuters not had the chain cleaned since new. Just a new bit of lube every now and again.

Have you considered using a wax lube? From what I understand this clings to the crap and then falls off as you go, kind of self cleaning. When I do get round to cleaning the commuters chain I’m intending giving it a go (that or the ‘purple extreme’ samples I got)
 
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