Cyclone chain cleaner and chainbrite
 

UPS showed up and brought them today along with the speed V saddle and pedro's dry lube. Tried the chain cleaner and realized how fast you can go thru this stuff.

To those who use the cyclone and CB, do you do it once, then empty the cyclone, clean it and refill it and do it a 2nd time? Seems to me thats the only way to really get it clean because the fluid and sponge get so dirty that the chain can only get so clean. But i don't wanna be going thru this chainbrite stuff like water....that could get expensive. I was wondering whether it would be ok to use something else besides chainbrite for the 2nd cleaning, which i think it needs to remove the dirty chinbrite thats still on the chain after the 1st cleaning. I used a rag to get that off, but some other fluid with a 2nd cleaning would do the job better i think. I thought of water with some dishwashing liquid would work great, but then i imagine the water would be bad for it. Or how about if i did that and then dried the chain in the oven?

Anyway, waddayathink? Any thoughts are welcome. It all boils down to not wanting to spend a fortune on chainbrite. After all, with the initial cleaning the chain is clean of dirt, but is saturated with dirty chainbrite. Or is that ok as long as i lube it well?

The speed V seems softer, but i'm wondering if it's gonna be a big difference. I saw a saddle at a bike shop the other day that was the same size yet felt considerably softer. In any case it'll surely be an improvment........just how much tho remains to be seen. (hopefully this weekend if it stops raining)

Dazco,

The water won't hurt the chain, but the dishwashing soap would be a mistake. I can get into the links and you have to sure to get it all out. I would try just rinsing the chain with a low pressure stream of water, and then following that with a wipe down with a rag after you have done the intial chain cleaning. Make sure you have thoroughly cleaned the chain before rinsing even if the water looks dark-I think my cleaner recommended backpedaling something like 20 times and then rinsing. Sometimes the chain might just need two spins through the cleaner if it was a really muddy ride or lots of stuff got attracted to the chain. At the end of the season or if the chain seems hopelessly gunked up, you can remove it and soak it, which might penetrate deeper into the links. You would need a chain-breaker for this.

-Moab

Raiyn, I will have to try some of that Awesome Orange. Meanwhile I have been very happy with full strength Simple Green in my chain cleaner. Lot less expensive than Chainbrite as well. I used Chainbrite the first time I used my chain cleaner and was disgusted with it. I used Simple Green to get the Chainbrite off and haven't looked back.

Even the best of those things make an awful mess on the garage floor, and, unless you go really, really slow several times, you can't be getting the dirt that's way down, deep within the rollers (if it's there, that is). When you really want to get the chain clean-as opposed to just "pretty", you have to remove the chain, put it in a bottle, immerse it in solvent (not detergent, SOLVENT!!), and shake vigorously. My chains last at least 4k miles. Some longer. Powerlinks make chain cleaning quick and easy.

How readily available is simple green? I never notice it in stores. Are there any large chains stores that carry it?

You can find Simple Green in any big department/hardware store. I get it at the local Wal-Mart. Its in or near the atuomotive section. They have several different size bottles.

-Moab

Thanks, i'll grab some at Walmart.

People keep telling me that simple green will hurt the rollers and doodads but as long as i have used it,no problems so far.

Ya know, i started thinking about it and it hit me.....who cares if some product might not be good for your chain?! It's a lousy $10 item. How long will it take for some perticular chemical to damage it? A year? 2 years? Who cares.......i spend almost $10 at lunch every day !! Buy a new chain every 6 months and fuggedaboudit !!:D

Yeah, I suppose if you are buying $10 chains, go for it. A $10 chain is pretty much cr@p straight out of the box anyways, so not much could make it worse...

OTOH, people such as myself, who buy only the top-end anodized chains (like SRAM pc-68's, Campy chains, etc) and have anywhere from $30 to $60 invested in their chain, no, you don't want to use Simple Green on it.

I replace my chain every 2000 miles or so,maybe 3000 but after that,replace with a nice $20 chain.60 bucks for a chain,ouch.

Nashbar usually has SRAM PC48's for sale around $11 good chain for the money.

I just use Simple Green - diluted. I guess full strength wouldn't hurt the chain. Haven't tried it in my new Park Tool chain cleaning thingy, yet. It should work better than just using a rag. I love Simple Green - it cleans anything.

slotibartfast,

You should consider that Park cyclone cleaner. It really cleans the heck out of the chain quickly. I paid $17 for it.........well worth the money IMO.

Because I live in a dry climate, I lubricate and clean my chain with White Lightning. I don't bother with solvents or heavy-duty chain cleaning. I follow Sheldon's admonition to replace a chain after it stretches by 1/16" per 24 half-links (0.5 percent). By the way, I use SRAM chains exclusively and pay less than $20 each for them.

How long does it generally take before your chain stretches to that point where you replace it?

I say the same thing orange based cleaner, non toxic environmentally safe and cheap (it is usually sold in concentrate form) and it is multi functional. Clean your chain,bike,kitchen, and bathroom all with one product. Leaves no lingering fumes for you to absorb into your lungs and come back at you in 20 years with respiratory or skin problems. Oh yeah on top off all that it works better than any of the bike degreasers I get as free samples I would rather pay for it than use those. You can also use it in a chain cleaner device if you choose

Dazco,

I beleive one way to see if your chain has gotten to the point where it needs to be replaced is to measure from the center of one pin to the center of a pin twelve links away. This distance should be very close to 12 inches. Much variance at all would mean that it might be getting time to replace yourt chain. Park tool also makes a tool to check the chain more eaasily.

-Moab

Because I live in a very wet climate, chain cleaning is very important. My road bike uses a $40 chain, and I'm not going to throw it away twice a year, so I clean it the correct way-with (in this case, citrus) solvent, off the bike, in a bottle, rinse it , dry it , then re-lube it.

hey dazco

I've used the finishline chaincleaner tool, and the park tool cyclone, and I think the finish line one did a better job, but it broke after a while and i think the park tool one is more sturdy. However you're right it does take a lot of chainbrite to fill, and you don't want to be chucking it all away. I would recommend, after cleaning the first time let the cleaner rest for say half an hour, in this time, the magnet and indeed gravity will sink everything to the bottom. At this point you can pour 95% of the clean chainbrite out into a container, then get rid of the mucky 5% at the bottom, rinse out and refill it with the 95% + top up and you're ready to clean the chain again.

In the long term having a jam jar or something with a lid that won't get dissolved by the cleaner is a good solution otherwise it will just evaporate if left in the cleaner.

Hope this helps,

Simon