Originally Posted by
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.
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.