ilovecycling

What a big waste of time...I'm only posting this to save other people the trouble.

I have always avoided hosing my bikes down with water, but today I had no choice. The other day I crashed off the road (see thread here) into the bright orange dirt here in North Carolina. I had orange dirt packed into the chain, chain rings, and RD....and I have a Campagnolo 11 speed chain so taking the chain off the bike was not an option. Hosing it down seemed like the only practical thing I could do. Before I went for it, I read a bunch of threads and blogs on how to properly wash a bike. I basically followed this method:

https://www.purpleextreme.com/cleaning.html

I even have a nice Park Tool fork-mount mechanic's stand and my apartment complex has a nice car wash port. I figured how hard could this be? So I went for it...only to find out that Simple Green was not up to the job. The chain still had the sticky factory grease and was already filthy before I crashed into the dirt, so it was really dirty. I scrubbed the crap out of it with the Park gear brush and the little brush you see in the pic. I kept spraying Simple Green directly onto the chain and soaking the brush in a water/simple green solution before scrubbing each section. I also sprayed it directly onto the cassette. It was able to break up the grit and wash away the dirt, but that base layer of black grease/grime wasn't going anywhere. I basically moved the grease around and smeared it as it thinned out. I'm also worried that there's still grit inside the chain rollers, so I don't want to lube the chain and ride it just yet even though it looks much better than before. I'll just let the pics speak for themselves.

sideshow_bob

Depends how hard core you want to be with your baby. Obviously if you avoid hosing it, I'd say you probably treat it too gently. If it was me I'd go to the hardware store and buy normal aerosol degreaser. Hose the bike, spray degreaser into the chain liberally on the rear cassette. Let it sit for 5 minutes - I usually bucket wash the bike while doing this. Hose it all off including the chain. Repeat if necessary with another round of the degreaser. Scrub the chain as it passes the rear cassette with a stiff nylon brush and lots of soapy water (I use regular car wash). Hose everything off, dry it all then once the chain is dry-ish, use white spirit on a rag to give the chain some more scrubbing.

sd790

With your bike on the stand, lube it up liberally with a thin lube, Turn the cranks a few time to help the lube get into the rollers. Let it sit for 10 minutes then wipe every bit of the lube off. Quit worrying about it and go ride.

And shame on you for letting your bike get that dirty to begin with! Don't let your bike get that dirty again! Just a light lube and wipe every 100 miles is all you have to do to keep it nice.

Jed19

The way to use Simple Green is to spray/foam it on, wait a few minutes, scrub and rinse. I don't use Simple Green on my chains, as I remove the chains and clean with Odorless Mineral Spirits. I do use Simple Green on my FD, RD and chainrings, and it works well.

LowCel 

Consider buying a Park chain scrubber?

hhnngg1

It actually works pretty well if you Simple Green, scrub, then shoot water from the hose onto the drivetrain to knock off the debris. I know some folks are aghast at the idea of any mildly pressurized water around their drivetrain, but I've been doing it for years with no problems (yes I lube the chain after it dries ASAP.) The pressurized water (nothing fancy, just a thumb over a garden hose) made all the difference for me - without it, my SimpleGreen didn't do squat it seemed, but after the water rinse, the cassette sparkles.

MrTuner1970

That would work.

Or use WD-40 as the solvent for the chain/drivetrain.

OldsCOOL

There it is.

This need not be made to be a complicated maintenance task.

mechBgon

This is one task I do for a living, so here's some advice: get some rubber or nitrile gloves and eye protection on. Get some Finish Line Citrus Degreaser and a paintbrush. Swab it onto the greasy stuff and backpedal the drivetrain. It runs easily into your chain rollers. Let that sit for a couple minutes while you mix up some hot sudsy water (Dawn dish detergent works fine).

Now get your Simple Green and scrub down the stuff that the citrus degreaser has been chewing on. Whoa, pretty cool effect, huh?

The next step is to use your hot sudsy water to flush away the degreasers, followed by plain hot water, followed by a drying with compressed air if you have that option, or dry the chain by backpedaling it through a towel for a while. Now promptly re-lubricate to fill the rollers up with lube and displace remaining water. Lay your bike on its side and feed some lube into your pulley bushings too.

A variation on this routine is to use a chain scrubber to contain the citrus degreaser, shifting across all gears to distribute it.

If that's too much labor, pick up some Rock & Roll Gold chain lube, which is pretty good at cleaning and leaves a light lube (silicone?) that doesn't attract dirt much, and is pretty easy to wash off your other drivetrain parts with sudsy water alone. Apply, wipe off excess, repeat until satisfied.

ilovecycling

You are probably right.

I did this.

ilovecycling

I've heard chain scrubbers are pretty much useless, a pain to use, and get dirty very quickly. Never used one myself though.

Isn't WD-40 pretty oily for a chain solvent? I realize oil breaks down oil, but there has to be something in between that can break down ALL the gunk with scrubbing and a blast water, but still rinse off pretty well without leaving an oily residue. That's what I'd have in an idea world.

Then again, maybe the trick is to get all the sticky stuff off of the factory chain before installing and then wipe down with more lube every 100 miles like some of you are recommending. I'll have to try this next time I get a new chain.

I admit that I let it get too dirty, but damn does the factory stuff get grimy.

ilovecycling

This is exactly what I did, but the results were not that great.

The reason I'm not impressed with the simple green is that I re-applied and scrubbed like 3 times back to back. The first time got most of the dirt and gunk off from the crash. The second time I was able to see the metal plates shining and starting to clean up rather well. I was sure that by the 3rd time it would come out sparkling clean, but it didn't. It simply doesn't cut grease all that well.

I've used Finish line's speed degreaser, and man oh man does that stuff work well. The only problem is that it's $12 for a can that doesn't last long and it's horribly toxic. I'm looking for a cheaper, more environmentally friendly degreaser that works just as well if I put a little elbow grease into it.

hhnngg1

Actually, the one thing that you did mention that SimpleGreen and most other lubes do fail on - that darn factory lube. That stuff is nasty. It's so friggin' adherent that everything sticks to it AND it doesn't come off. I know a lot of folks recommend to NOT remove it because it's allegedly the best lube for your chain, but I hate it so much I'd strip it all off if I could do it readily. (I've tried a bunch of solvents, and none of them did a great job on that tacky gluelike stuff.)

Once you get most of that tacky stuff off, SimpleGreen works very well for removing the chain grease and the dirt attached to it. That tacky new-chain stuff is horrible though.

ilovecycling

I think you are right. Have you tried the Finish line aerosol speed degreaser? It will literally blast all the black grime and tacky factory stuff right off your chain. But like I said before, it's expensive and I don't like breathing it in.

dorkypants

Another point to keep in mind is synthetics attract greasy oily substances. Avoid brushes with plastic bristles. Brushes with natural bristles may cost more, but grease won't cling to them to re-smear over what you're trying to clean.

WD-40 is an effective oil/grease solvent and rust-preventive. Just don't expect it to be a lube, it isn't.

Dishwashing liquid is effective for cleaning chains too, if used with a natural-bristle brush. Or just keep cleaning your plastic-bristle brush frequently with the dishwashing liquid too.

milkbaby

I just use a lube that has mineral spirits as part of the formulation... it does a pretty good job on the stuff that new chains come in, though I usually wait 100-200 miles before I lube a new chain.

Nuggetross

Bike Wash With a BMC Mechanic at the Tour de France:
https://video.bicycling.com/video/Bik...BMC-Mechanic-a

mechBgon

This is a before-&-after using a Park Tool Cyclone with the routine I mentioned above:




Works pretty good actually Since we're on the topic of cleaning, I'll also put in a good word for the Finish Line Professional Brush Set. I mainly use the largest two brushes from the set and find them indispensable at work.

Finish Line "Clean Streak?" Horrors man, don't breathe ANY of that When I use it, it's just a tiny spritz on cassette cogs so I can "floss" them with a rag. Any extended use of it warrants busting out the 3M solvent respirator. Otherwise, take it outside and stay upwind of it.

thenomad

Brakleen anyone? Of course you may not want to get it on your paint but itll rip through any grease issues you have.


Ok, I really just use simple green and WD-40

Axiom

I use park tool cleaner mixed with industrial food industry grade degreaser. Doesn't hurt the paint and tears through grease.

Muffin Man

How do you dispose of the degreasers and/or mineral spirits? Im assuming you dont just pour them down the drain?

LowCel 

I've bought two of them in ten years, use them regularly, have a clean chain about a minute after I start. But, I'm sure what you have "heard" is more reliable than what I have experienced.

My chain is clean. Is yours?

LowCel 

Simple green is natural so it is pretty easy on the environment. Unfortunately the left over grease and oil that runs down my driveway isn't.

Bob Dopolina 

^^^This. /Thread.

Bob Dopolina 

^^^And this.//Thread.