General Cycling Discussion - chain cleaners

On a post somewhere I saw or thought I did that "simple green" made a good chaincleaner or was I dreaming.
Any sugestions as to what to use?

Postie

Pedro's Bio Degreaser works well enough. I pour it into a chain cleaner (Park) then just backpedal till it's clean enough. Then I lube it.

I use simple green in my Park chain cleaner. It works well.

I'm using Pedros Bio Degreaser in the Pedros chaingang cleaner....and the degreaser works well, but the chaingang doesn't work as well as it was intended; it claims that you can just set it on the deraileur....not so you have to hold it in place while spinning the chain through *shrugs

I use Simple Green also. I had a Pedro's Ghaingang cleaner but it broke. Check mtbr.com for reviews in that.

When I have time, I take off the chain, put it in a small container, fill with Simple Green, shake, rinse and dry the chain. It works pretty good.

when in a hurry, I squirt the chain with SG, let it sit for a minute and then hold a rag to the chain while I spin the crank with my hand. Not as good but it seems to work ok.

I want to try the new park chain cleaner with the removeable handle. Anyone tried it yet?

I have the newer Park Cyclone Cleaner, model CM-5. It works a lot better compared to the older version since they added bristles that clean down in the links. It still has the problem of squirting fluid out the front and rear chain exit/entry points when you first start cranking the pedals rearward, but, I think all of them will do that to a degree.

I bought it in one of the ChainGang Cleaning Kits that come with the BioChainBrite Cleaner and drivetrain brush.

The BioChainBrite cleans well, but, save your cash and just buy one of the Cyclone cleaners, go to your local discount store and buy some Simple Green, then you will be set.

I would advise you not to apply Simple Green and leave it on due to its alkaline properties. Always do a good thorough rinse after application/cleaning. You should do that with any degreaser though.

OK, for those who still haven't heard me say this, I will repeat it for the 1000th time:
Simple Green contains detergent! You do not want detergent residue in any moving part, be it a chain link, bearing race, or whatever!
What you need is a decent solvent (like Pedros, mineral spirits, kerosesne, etc.) not a cleaner!

I've been using 409 orange power in my chain cleaner for the last few months .Works great and I have not had any problems...:crash:

I will stick with the Simple Green. It has worked fine for 15 years and is relatively inexpensive compared to the bike company branded cleaners.

Rinse with hot water and you have zero problems.

I just by 32 ounce containers of performance degreaser. With one of these, I can clean my chains weekly for 6 month to a year. It works pretty well too.

Originally posted by D*Alex
What you need is a decent solvent (like Pedros, mineral spirits, kerosesne, etc.) not a cleaner!

Won't petroleum based solvents affect seals negatively, such as those on my shocks?

Probably, but:
a) not as much as the acid in Simple Green will
b) what does that have to do with chains?

you mean alkali, not acid. most ALL detergents and their relatives are SLIGHTLY alkaline. you're right about acid being bad for metal... it will eat it right up. That's how rusting actually happens, in fact... the water on the metal releases metal ions, which in turn become oxidized, and leave the water slightly acid.. and this process repeats itself. Tooth decay works this way too, in fact :). But alkali is supposed to be very safe for metal... which is why they use very concentrated bases (Sodium Hydroxide) in drain cleaners... because it is safe for metal piping.

Originally posted by martin

I would advise you not to apply Simple Green and leave it on due to its alkaline properties. Always do a good thorough rinse after application/cleaning. You should do that with any degreaser though.

Seems I mentioned that Simple Green was alkaline before. deliriou5, thanks for reiterating what I said. ;)

http://www.simplegreen.com/msds/sgmsds.pdf
is the material safety data sheet for Simple Green. You will find it has a ph value of 9.5. In the world I live in that is alkaline. If you need to brush up on your high school chemistry here is a link that will explain basic ph:

http://www.phpaper.net/aboutph.htm

I use engine degreaser like Gunk or Brite. I use the foam spray. I let it sit on the chain for a few minutes then I scrub with a brush before rinsing with high presser water. Works great and clean as a whistle.

Bones,
At first I thought you wrote Brake Cleaner...had to go back and look again:D

I was looking at that stuff, along with other heavy duty/automotive style degreaser formulas the other day and found that most of them have the same active ingredient as that found in Simple Green. The major difference appears to be the concentration.

Originally posted by D*Alex
b) what does that have to do with chains?

I was just mentioning this because I have been using simple green for both my shocks & my chain. I use a more concentrated solution on my chain, and what I use on my shocks is very diluted. My LBS said that using petroleum based cleaners on the shock seals will eat away at them. This is the same reason condom labels say not to use petroleum lube. Still, I don't know all that much about simple green. Perhaps I'll switch to a better degreaser for the chain & stick to windex on the shocks.

My LBS, by the way, did not know what Simple Green is.

yup, organic solvents like gasoline, benzene, toluene, acetone, turpentine... these will dissolve anything organic, like the seals on your shocks