Road Cycling - Cleaning your chain, whats the best way?

Again I need all of you expert advice. Always after i get back from ride i clean my whole bike (wipe it down, etc) but is there an better and quicker way to clean your chain rahter then cleaning it the whole thing with a rag and q tips becuase it is very time consuming.

Again I need all of you expert advice. Always after i get back from ride i clean my whole bike (wipe it down, etc) but is there an better and quicker way to clean your chain rahter then cleaning it the whole thing with a rag and q tips becuase it is very time consuming.

Replace one of your links with a SRAM PowerLink, Wipperman ConneX Link or some other similar removable link. Then when you need to clean your chain, simply remove it, soak it in some degreaser (I use Simple Green) in a cheap tuperware bowl. It's also best to stick it on top of a washing machine that's running to let the vibration shake stuff loose. Then rinse the chain thoroughly and hang it to dry. Remount the chain and drop a dollap of lube into each roller while backpedalling. Wipe off the excess and you're done.

Replace one of your links with a SRAM PowerLink, Wipperman ConneX Link or some other similar removable link. Then when you need to clean your chain, simply remove it, soak it in some degreaser (I use Simple Green) in a cheap tuperware bowl. It's also best to stick it on top of a washing machine that's running to let the vibration shake stuff loose. Then rinse the chain thoroughly and hang it to dry. Remount the chain and drop a dollap of lube into each roller while backpedalling. Wipe off the excess and you're done. Well put! :beer: If you don't have time... just use the chain cleaners the totally wipe the chain down then use the lube.

I use a towel, and some jet-spray Brake Cleaner from the Auto Parts store. Flip the bike upside down, hold the towel under the chain, and spray the section between the crank and the derailleur. Wipe dry, then rotate it a bit and repeat. It blasts the stuff out and eats the old grease very well. It's also great for getting glue off your tubular rims, but it eats rubber and plastic, so be carefull.

You can also remove the rear wheel, and blast the cassette with it, and then lean the wheel against the wall (Outside!!) cassette side down to drain/dry. Don't spray it near the seals etc.. It will make your cassette as clean as it was when new.

None of the above is really enviromentally correct BTW.

With your bike on your hitch-mount bike rack, drive to the DIY carwash after your next ride, apply green degreaser to chain, then spray w/o pulling trigger directly onto chain while you backpedal by hand. Avoid spraying your hand.

See my post:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=59324&highlight=car+wash

Again I need all of you expert advice. Always after i get back from ride i clean my whole bike (wipe it down, etc) but is there an better and quicker way to clean your chain rahter then cleaning it the whole thing with a rag and q tips becuase it is very time consuming.

It sounds like you do this on a pretty regular basis - kudos for your dedication! Don't know what others think, but given that you are not out to do major grime-cutting considering how clean it sounds, you might try a crank-through chain cleaner. Can be a little messy if you don't do it the right way and buy the wrong one (check reviews, I don't use 'em anymore)...I actually don't do this at all anymore, because I solvent-cleaned the entire drive train and now use White Lightning (non-oil based) before every ride - a drop on each pivot on the inside (teeth-facing) side of the chain. Have done this for years and have experienced very little chain/tooth wear and no sludge accumulation. Takes two minutes, but I hated cleaning the drive train...

Cheers.

I use a towel, and some jet-spray Brake Cleaner from the Auto Parts store. Flip the bike upside down, hold the towel under the chain, and spray the section between the crank and the derailleur. Wipe dry, then rotate it a bit and repeat. It blasts the stuff out and eats the old grease very well. It's also great for getting glue off your tubular rims, but it eats rubber and plastic, so be carefull.

You can also remove the rear wheel, and blast the cassette with it, and then lean the wheel against the wall (Outside!!) cassette side down to drain/dry. Don't spray it near the seals etc.. It will make your cassette as clean as it was when new.

None of the above is really enviromentally correct BTW.
this works ok on the chain. but it works better to take the chain off and put it in a dish and then spray it. to save money but still ahve the speed acetone works great. shake it a bit dump it three tiems and the chain is usualy clean and dries fast.

I use a Park Chain Cleaner.

http://www.parktool.com/images/tools/CM_5.jpg

Mine is an older model...I've had it for 10 years :p

Put your favorite degreaser in the thing and back pedal for a couple minutes. Wipe down and it's clean enough to eat off of :D

-murray

I also use a chain cleaning contraption. It is made by Finishline and came with some degreaser and lubricant. It works very well and is quick. Takes some getting used to, but once you do it a few times, it is much quicker than the way you were doing it. Make sure you let it dry very well before re-lubing or else the left over will remove the new lube.

Here's a nifty thing I do that works GREAT - after you've pulled the chain / cleaned with a bio-degreaser, let dry / put a drop of lube on each link (Ice is good) / let dry and then soak the chain in melted wax (candle wax is fine). When it's dry shake off the extra wax and put the chain back on. It stays really, really clean for months. I got that from an MTBer I saw finishing his ride. The bike was a muddy mess but the chain was clean as a whistle. Motorcyclists do it, too.

I second the Park chain cleaner. I use Simple Green in it and it takes all of 5 minutes.