Bicycle Mechanics - Degreasing a drivetrain

I've never done a thorough cleaning on my bike (bought Dec. 04') and was wondering what the process was. I've got a bottle of Nashbar degreaser and a set of bike cleaning brushes from Park Tools, as well as a can of Giant Liquid Silk LPD-9 lube. Is there a specific order or process for cleaning the drivetrain? I'm not sure if this makes a difference, but I'm riding an 05' Trek 2300 with a 10-speed Ultegra drivetrain.

Repost

You'll need a few things.
A SRAM power link (makes chain removal a snap)
A plastic container (I'm partial to Country Time Lemonade powder containers but 20 ox Pepsi bottles work well with the wide mouth)
Some degreaser (Simple Green works well as does the dollar store's Awesome Orange))
A toothbrush (One that you no longer use for your teeth)
Water
A large rag of some kind
Remove the chain and place it in the container, then fill the container 1/2 to 3/4 full of degreaser.

Seal and shake for a minute or five.

Remove the chain.

Use the brush to get any residual gunk off (there won't be much)

Rinse the chain using water.

Proceed to do a general drying of the chain using the towel (doesn't have to be perfect as you'll let the rest air dry)

Reinstall and relubeIn your case you'll need a Wipperman link
Next timehttp://img11.exs.cx/img11/8525/search2qq.gif

Oh, has degreasing been covered already? By the way, someone had the nerve to accuse me of baiting you. Can you believe that?

Oh, has degreasing been covered already? By the way, someone had the nerve to accuse me of baiting you. Can you believe that?
When was this? Heck if you were baiting me our conversations would be a lot more interesting

It wasn't even my comment about what fork I was putting on my injured bike either. Oh, maybe the read my comment about the supabad tandem.

Could have been... Oh well I figured you were paying me back for that joke I made about your wife.

You're still a complete stranger (very strange, perhaps) on the other side of the world. You're not very likely to insult me. The only thing that gets under my skin on this site is the BMX kids hoo kent rite wel.

You're still a complete stranger (very strange, perhaps) on the other side of the world. You're not very likely to insult me. The only thing that gets under my skin on this site is the BMX kids hoo kent rite wel.
Fair enough

I love that .gif, Raiyn!

I admire it, but I don't get it.

I find that the newer synthetic lubes don't come clean with these "boutique" degreasers. Simple Green for example, is simply useless. The old standby mineral spirits doesn't work all that well anymore either on the lubes I use: Finishline Teflon -Plus (road) and White Lightning (ATB). The chain will look clean, but there's stuff left in the chain's internals which will come out with either disc-brake cleaner or Gunk Engine cleaner (soak the chain in it for a while and do it a few times). It's the internal wear that causes chain stretch and the consequential wear on the rings and cogs.

I'll presoak in a few changes of Mineral Spirits (deodorized version) and then follow with soakings in the other stuff. That disc cleaner needs to be used outside. I'm still experimenting, but so far this is my best approach. I use a chain stretch tool, a nice luxury, and keep a mileage log on both bikes to asses how well I'm doing.

I also clean the cogs/rings and jocky wheels with a cotton ragg with a little mineral spirits on it

I have the same problem with the newer grease formulations when I do wheel bearing maintenance on my old 4WD, travel trailer and boat trailer.

Al

Thanks folks. Still being somewhat new at all of this, I didn't do a search for previous posts before asking my question. Please accept my apologies. Your info has been helpful, as well as some previous posts which linked to the Park Tool web site. Looks like I'll be getting a little messy!

Walmart (or any brand for that matter but WM is only .93 cents) carb cleaner does a bang up job on chains but DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT get it on anything plastic ESPECIALLY your tires. I think it's mostly acetone. You can spray it into a plastic container to clean the chain though.... a coffee can might work better. 409 works good for spot cleaning the derails but I like to pull the pulleys and clean them seperatly
D