Chain Cleaners - Worthwhile ?
 

I've seen chain cleaners by Finish Line, Pedros, and I think Simple Green might have one. Reading older reviews these were frustrating & frequently broke on the first few uses. But they have been redesigned & maybe pretty good - especially if they're as fast and thorough as I've heard. I don't mind taking my chain off & going thru the manual process, but I have 4 bikes in the family and several friends who never clean their chains.

Are these now pretty good? The Finish Line is in my local EMS store at $25 for the kit.

Peter

I've got one of the Finish Line chain cleaners. It does an ok job, but the chain is definitely still dirty at the end of the process (clean on the outside, dirty on the inside). Ok for a quick clean, but no substitute for taking the chain off the bike and giving it a proper bath.

Yup, and the best bath is gasoline.

I remember something I heard from a drag racer when I was a kid: " Nitro is for racing, alky is for drinking, and gas is for washing parts."

First,I get a couple of those 1 liter wide mouth drink bottles. I fill one bottle about half way with gasoline and the other bottle gets filled half way with lacquer thinner. The chains goes into the gasoline filled bottle and the cap gets screwed on. Then I shake vigorously for a few minutes -- I shake the bottle, not myself. The chain gets fished out of the gasoline bottle with a wire coat hanger and dropped into the lacquer thinner bottle and the process is repeated. The chain is then fished out of the thinner bath and hung up to dry -- doesn't take long since lacquer thinner dries very quickly.

After the chain is dry, I put it in a foil pan -- the kind you get from a take out place -- and hose it down with some spray motorcycle chain lube. When the motorcycle chain lube solvent evaporates, it leaves the chain nicely coated with lubricant, then it gets a quick wipe down and back on the bike it goes.

At this point, I cap the bottles and put them back on the shelf in my detached garage.

A few words of warning: Unless you are brain damaged, you've probably figured out that this operation should be performed in the great out doors. You should also not smoke, or play with fire, while you are doing this. If you live in an apartment, or have an attached garage, leaving gasoline filled drink bottles lying around the living room is a bad idea. That is all.

I think they are great. I run through the cleaning process about three times, maybe four, for each cleaning. I just use 409 or something similar as a solvent and rinse thoroughly with water and repeat. I dry it thoroughly the las time around and then oil. I attempt to wipe the chain after oiling as though trying to remove all the oil. Seems to leave behind the perfect amount of lubricant on the inside of the links. Oh yeah, I do this perhaps every 4 or 5 weeks when washing the bike.

agree with cruentus!!

only difference is i use diesel in both bottles. since diesel really is a very thin oil, the chain doesn't become dry. only very clean :)

I've used diesel as well; cleans nicely and eliminates the bomb factor...

:eek:

I have the Park Tools version and it works pretty well. I use Simple Green as the solvent. But it's a messy job, even with these, since you have to clean the cleaner.

I may get a power link next season to make taking the chain off/on easier and try that technique, but I'm more interested in riding than cleaning, so other than making sure the chain is lubed, I don't worry about it all that much. After all - chains aren't that expensive.

Paint thinner (mineral spirits) is the solvent to use; doesn't stink like diesel fuel (odorless only costs about $4/gallon) and is fairly safe to use.

I use a "dry" lube on my mountain bike, so after every ride, I brush off the dirt and reapply the lube. This process takes a few minutes and is very easy.

I also have a SRAM chain with Powerlink. You can disassemble and assemble the Powerlink feature with two fingers in a few seconds. Every now and then (more then than now), I do a good soaking in Simple Green.

I have yet to adopt this, but my ride partners have two chains, one on the bike, and one that's been cleaned well, and these chains are rotated at some interval, essentially, there is always a fresh one ready to use. With the Powerlink, it takes a couple of minutes to install a chain.

I've used chain cleaners for years with the citrus degreaser made for it. I imagine Simple Green would work just as well. Sometimes I run it twice or more, but most times once. Simple and effective (enough).

I've also done the take-off-the-chain routine in the past but got lazy with the chain tool. Now that everyone and his brother has one of these easy-to-use master links I may go for it and remove the chain for a good bath more often.

I used to have a Vetta chain cleaner that I used for 12 years on 3 bikes and it finally gave up. I replaced it with a Park version, very heavy duty. So far it is working great. Chain cleaners are faster and easier to use than taking the chain off and cleaning by hand. On the other hand they don't get the chain quite as clean.

Tim

i would NOT use gasoline... dude...
it it very very very hazardous. fumes stick to your hands, soak into your clothes. It takes very little to set off gasoline and it burns fast and hot.
dumb dumb dumb dumb...
(It's also no good at getting gum out of hair, cleaning your dog, stripping paint off the floor... (all been done, all went boom)

My favorite is a spray bottle of multi surface kitchen cleaner. 409 is good. Spray and brush with an old kitchen brush until theres no dirt. Then spray degreaser till it shines and ice wax.

If the price of gas keeps going up, I just may start washing the chains in Johny Walker Blue Label.

BTW, I've been using gasoline to wash car parts, motorcycle parts and bike parts for 25 years now. I haven't blown myself up yet, and its hardly brained my damage.

I agree, gasoline is very nasty and very old school as far as cleaners go. It really doesn't do a better job than the non flamable/toxic cleaners available today. Plus the additives used are very toxic and easily absorbed through the skin.

Tim

Since these little boxes were invented in the 80's I've not once encountered one that worked well and lasted. Some of the aerosols seem to be pretty effective. Either way it's a mess.

I second...or whatever, the Finish Line Chain Cleaning machine. I use to remove the chain and soak and scrub, but now with this cleaner I don't have to, plus because it's so easy I find myself cleaning it more often. And the Finish Line Cleaning solution is biodegradeable with no bad gases to greet you.

I just started using Park Tool thing. Its a thing you snap onto the chain and do a few back revolutions and its done. It cleans it really really well. I like it :D

Can the park chain cleaner be used with paint thinner or the similar solvent?

My process for cleaning chains is a little different, but if you really want it clean, this is the way.

I got an ultrasonic cleaner typically used for cleaning electronic parts from a friend for free. They're not too expensive new. I put the chain(s) and cassette in the parts cleaner. Fill until parts are covered with Simple Green. Use the 35 minute timer and let it do it's job. This truely gets the chain amazingly clean with little more work than removing the parts. One problem with all 'green' cleaners is they leave an organic residue. I dunk the parts in a jar of toluene and then dry them to remove any residue. Toluene has a higher flash point so it's a lot safer than gasolene and I think even mineral spirits.

You can get an ultrasonic cleaner on ebay for about as much as one of those silly chain cleaning kits and it will do a much better job with far less work.

i use cheap carb cleaner.

That works quite well; for long while I removed the chain and stuck it in a solvent sink, but as I get older I get lazier thus the Finish Line Cleaning Machine came into play, it's much faster and cleans almost as well but I don't eat off the chain so it doesn't need to be sparkling clean! I still remove the chain though about once a year to give it real good cleaning, though I been finding that since I use Finish Line Cleaning Machine regulary that it really is never that dirty so I may stop removing it altogether.

That works quite well; for long while I removed the chain and stuck it in a solvent sink, but as I get older I get lazier thus the Finish Line Cleaning Machine came into play, it's much faster and cleans almost as well but I don't eat off the chain so it doesn't need to be sparkling clean! I still remove the chain though about once a year to give it real good cleaning, though I been finding that since I use Finish Line Cleaning Machine regulary that it really is never that dirty so I may stop removing it altogether.

I've been a lot happier since i quit worrying about my chain. I used to fuss with all sorts of ways to clean it, most of them tedious and few of them successful. I decided to quit the messing with it. Unless i get it wet or very muddy, i generally just wipe it down with a rag occasionally and relube.

I haven't noticed an difference in chain wear and if anything i think they might be lasting longer since i quit lubing so often. I know they aren't as dirty as they used to be.

Citrus cleaners are no good, they are water based and acidic. Both are bad news for chains. I'm a road rider so my chain doesn't get that dirty to begin with. I Take a small towel, soak a strip with Brakleen and grip the chain as I rotate the crank. Repeat 2 to 3 times. Then I clean between the rollers with pipe cleaners. Once around the chain. R repeat with brakleen one last time. Let the solvent evaporate for a few minutes before lubricating. This works well and you don't have to remove the chain. Also, brakeleen won't hurt the paint.