There is only one effective way to clean a chain, and Sheldon Brown had it -- clean it in a bottle like a cocktail shaker.

He preferred Pepsi bottles because of their wider mouth. Use diesel or kerosene. You should be able to do the whole job without getting your hands even remotely dirty (that is, if you are good at getting the quick links off). Two cocktail-shaker-like cleansings with clean solvent and your chain will be fine; no need even to rinse in water. Just dry and lube. (I do use water, boiling in fact, to wash away the solvent and have the chain dry very quickly rather than wait around for hours -- alcohol works well, too).

You can filter the used solvent with a stocking or rag into a storage bottle for another use later. You'll also get a real idea of the grit and metal that comes out.

On-bike chain cleaners seem to be next to useless. The brushes look like they mean the business, but they only do a cosmetic job.

Cleaning a chain on the bike presents the real danger of the solvent running down the cassette/freewheel and into the axle bearings (and on freewheels, into the pawls and bearings). This more so if you lean the bike over to the left to do the cleaning. Trust me on this... take the chain off to clean it.

If you really insist on doing the chain on the bike, get a big can of WD40 or spray degreaser, preferably with a tube extension that fits in the nozzle, and spray the solvent into each roller, from above, on the bottom run of the chain. Let the solvent run out before turning the cranks. You should get the solvent running clear fairly quickly.

Oh, and if you really are desperate, go to a car wash or get a Gurny, and point the high-powered spray head along the bottom run of the chain (only!). That's get the gunk out real quick, but don't point the spray at the wheel or BB bearings.

Of course, a chain cleans up really well by riding n the rain and through puddles (clean ones preferably). Haven't you ever noticed how a chain goes squeaky so quickly after riding in rain because all the lube has washed away?

Anyway, the essential point is to get the old lube and grit out from between the rollers and rivets, and between the sideplates where they contact. If you want the chain to look spiffy, yeah, go for it with an old toothbrush or whatever, but generally what the brush removes is irrelevant to the chain's longevity.

If you want to clean the cogs, take them off to do it. Don't do it on the bike for reasons detailed above. Same with the chainrings -- I mean, you do clean the chainrings at the same time, don't you? But, take the crank off the bike to avoid the solvent running into the BB bearings.

People also apply way too much lube to their chains. One small drop (the tiny drop that comes out of an eye-drops bottle is adequate) per roller is all you need. 105 to 110 drops total that take less than two minutes to apply (yes, I've checked the time).

If you need a rag to wipe off the excess, you've put way too much on.

I won't mention the type of lube I use at the risk of turning up the flame war too many notches.

But I will say that the Ultegra chain I put on the Merlin when I built it, ticked over 900km before I applied any of my lube to it. I just relied on the lube that was on it when it was packed... again, one S. Brown suggested it was the best lube you could get for chains. I rode through two downpours with it, and had I not, I suspect I would have turned the 1000km mark before it started to get chirpy.

Of course, the standard caveat -- YMMV.

I'm no expert, but here is an expert opinion.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

Oops, he was a Coke man... and I did not necessarily agree with all that Sheldon had to say, and in this case, I don't on the commercial box and brush cleaners (his judicious use of the word "may" indicates he also wasn't totally convinced).

There was a very extensive thread on the Bicycle Mechanics forum quite some time ago that I was involved in that discussed chain wear, and I have this strange feeling that Sheldon might have altered the page that has been referenced to include some of the points from that discussion. We won't ever really know, I suppose.

I've heard bad things about Simple Green as well. But not until after I'd been cleaning my chains with it for about 10 years. I make sure I rinse everything off really well after scrubbing and I've never had a problem. This is no guarantee that you won't, so I take no responsibility for what I've just written.

We may be a bit old fashioned in our approach to keep chains on our tandem + one single bike clean.
Remove chain and soak in kerosene or diesel. Scrub with stiff brush and wipe down with rag, then let dry.
We use a one burner electric stove (outside) and put metal can with a couple bars of canning wax to heat and melt. Drop/lower dry chain carefully into melted wax for several minutes. Shut off electric burner and remove chain carefully with long handled pliers and let dry,
After chain cools, wipe it with rag a couple times and re-install chain.
For first couple rides you may notice some black flakes on chainstay (that's dried wax).
You can grab chain bare handed and not get dirty like with oil.
The liquified wax has penetrated where lubrication is needed: around the pins.
Chain that is waxed does not attract dirt like wet lubes/oil.
Do not toss out the can with the re-hardened wax . . . it's re-usable for several more times.
Living in a dry climate (Arizona) we can easily go a couple thousand miles before we hear a slight chain squeak . . . then it's time to repeat the process.
Been using this method over 30 years and works for us.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

I use an Ultrasonic Cleaner with Palmolive (green but that's only because what my wife keeps in the kitchen) with water, 25/75. You can watch the crud come OUT of the nooks and crannies. Then I wrap it in a towel, rolling it lenthwise and wrap it agaist the tub of my washing machine. 1 spin cycle later it's fairly dry, I put it on a patio table in the sun for a few hours then lube it up. So far it's worked well.

I wonder if waiting untill your chain "chirps" is a good idea. Hasn't some damage been done by the time you hear it? Additionally, you have to get home unless you keep some lube under your seat.

Don

In the case of the Ultegra I mentioned, the chirp was only for a short time past the 900km mark before I relubed it. I can't ride with noisy chains, and anything making a noise is consuming energy.

The problem with modern chains is that the narrower they become, the less metal they have available to wear away, and so the percentage wear rate, in my estimation, is much higher on nine-speed and especially now 10-speed chains compared with wider chains.

I have got over 10,000km on a set of eight-speed chainset, cogs and chain and probably could have gone another 5,000km but I sold the bike as-is. I can still get between 5,000km and 10,000km on nine-speed. I have seen no need to go to 10-speed.

Incidentally, it's not the pins where the lube is most important, it's around the shoulders of the sideplates that support the rollers. On modern chains, the pins basically are there to keep the assembly together. The real action occurs between the rollers and the sideplate shoulders, at least until the shoulders wear out... by which time the chain is totally useless because it has elongated so far.

Sheldon also made an interesting point in that referenced article -- that with modern chains, lubing the chain with traditional lubes (as opposed to zona's wax) actually helps to flush some of the crud out because of the link design, compared with old-style chains.

I've been experimenting with this on my fixed gear and commuter bike, that both have beefier chains than 9 speed.

I haven't cleaned the 6-speed commuter chain in around 6,000km; it has had the lube washed out a lot this past Australian winter with rain and big puddles; and all I have done when it has got noisy is, relube it.

The FG chain (1/8th) likewise hasn't been off the bike in over 4,000km for a cleaning.

Of course, if you want shiny clean, then I'm not really your man.

On my geared bikes, I have tried to standardise to 9-speed Shimano (while 9sp road is still available). It means I can swap and change things like chains between MTB and road, as well as cogs and even chainsets (eg, my tourer is equipped with one as well as the MTB). I can get spares when they are offered cheap and don't have to fret over whether my bikes will accept them.

The commuter and FG are my workhorses, so they will still have more robust, low-maintenance transmissions on them.

If you are willing to spend 5 minutes cleaning/lubing your chain every 100 miles, bicycletutor.com has the right method for you. Use a nappy towel and it works great. (Costco has a 60 pack) Add cleaning between the rollers with a pipe cleaner and you are up to 8 minutes. Floss the cassette with the towel edge and you're at 11 minutes and your drivetrain will always be shiny clean. The best part; the chain never has to come off the bike. bk

What? Every four days cleaning a chain? You've got to be...

I am sure Shimano is talking about acid based cleaners of which any citric based cleaner would be a part of.

+1 Diesel

Simple Green Is Corrosive to Metal

Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn - Not-so-Simple Green

https://velonews.com/article/9216





Use only Extreme Simple Green® Aircraft & Precision Cleaner on bicycles.

https://industrial.simplegreen.com/in...ts_extreme.php

Yeah, Rowan I clean my chain, floss the cassette and chainrings once a week. Takes 10 minutes and the chain stays on the bike. Is that too much for you? Clean, lightly lubed drivetrains just work better. That's why I do it.

I'm sure all the other methods work well, too. But the chain in the Pepsi bottle and chain machine setups are made for the guys who clean their chains twice a year, whether it needs it or not. bk

Yep, twice a week makes 20 minutes when I could be out riding instead of wasting time for no good reason.

Can you provide a more accurate link to the page to which you refer? The one I have up says clean the chain once a month, doesn't mentioned anything about flossing and, frankly, is totally ineffective except for appearance's sake, in my view. I don't download videos (I am on dial-up).

The author says he isn't familiar with Pedros Syn Lube and other well-known brands, then says the removal of a chain, soaking in solvent and using a toothbrush is "an excellent technique".

He also makes a great point about him working in bike shops -- maybe your technique is all they use on customer's bikes.

You've really got to wonder.

If you can't spare the 20 minutes, definitely go to the Pepsi bottle method. I'm just a clean freak when it comes to drivetrains. bk

Fair enough. Clean is usually good, but I did provide my escape clause in another post -- if you want shiny clean, I'm not really your guy!