I'm fairly certain that I have more education and degrees than you, and I agree with the bolded sentiment; in fact, I'd bet that people in my field are confronted with that attitude more often than in yours. But I also know that theoretical knowledge is not the be-all and end-all -- sometimes it is wrong, and sometimes it's correct but irrelevant. For example: while using water to rinse a bike chain may promote rust development, that might not matter much if I can't see the rust (even after breaking the chain) and it never compromises the chain's lifespan. So, while the theory may be correct, the degree of its impact is trivial.

tl;dr: it's just fine to rinse a bike chain with water, just as it's fine to ride in the rain. Just wipe down the chain with a dry rag, let it air dry for a bit, and re-lube. You don't need a degree in chemistry to see that it all works out just fine.

I have a fairly simple regimen. About every other month I spray my chain liberally with Easy Off degreaser (I use degreaser a lot and this is the best I have found) before I wash my bike. As I wash the bike, I simply spray it off. After that, I apply Finish Line Dry lube. The Dry lube doesn't fly off or attract grime. I have never had any rust and shifting goes as it should. I have no idea how long my chains last. I have a Park cleaner that works great, but I haven't found a need for it since I have gone to the Easy Off method.

Never said you were a brainless dolt. I made the statement that you post about it often. We also know you have a degree in chemistry, thanks for the reminder.

I don't doubt it works well, but Easy-Off is pretty strong and nasty stuff that will burn your skin and eyes, and also strip the anodization off your aluminum parts.

I think Easy-Off was the demise of the terminator.

I agree that you don’t need a degree in chemistry nor even that much knowledge to know that water and steel don’t play nice together. If you aren’t worried about rust, why relube in the first place. It’s not like we’ve haven’t known what happens to iron in the presence of water for, oh, 3000 years or so.

I post about chemistry often but I don’t think I mention being a chemist all that often. If you don’t like it, you have the option to put me on an ignore list, you know don’t you?

Look what turned up today!

The cage on the middle latches it shut. As I recall, you hook the cage on the end over the RD cage and run the crank backwards

I was using that, just a spray into a bottle and then diluting with water, to clean my chain (in the bottle) before I discovered the mineral oil and Park cleaner. I figured sodium hydroxide is more environmental. I also tried Simple Green diluted but it worked terrible, did not dissolve the oil, even after being left to soak for days, which began to cause rust. So for oil it'll be mineral oil as solvent, perhaps an additional solvent before melted wax.

And yeah, sodium hydroxide/lye (oven cleaner in the yellow can) will immediately destroy any anodizing, so keep away from anodized cookware, and also will etch aluminum and copper. I used it once on an expensive All-Clad aluminum pot from goodwill where the outside dark anodizing was 95% gone from washing in automatic dishwasher detergent, so I stripped off the rest for a uniform appearance.

I've tried the park tool device. Done the various wire brushes, and for the cassettes the 'gear floss'.
Now I'm lazier, and find that I'm fine with spraying some Clean Streak on a rag and running the chain thru it for a bit. Let it evaporate and relube.

I had one of these worked great and inexpensive at Wally World till it broke. Replacement was a different manufacturer and with Simple Green regular strength (didn't know about the harsh properties) the plastic cracked. Got a replacement from the seller and that one cracked also. Purchased the Park Tool and with the Park Tool cleaning fluid it worked great. Park Tool informed me about the full strength Simple Green and now I use Simple Green for bicycles purchased from Home Depot. Chain never looked so clean but now it does.

Now you're making a straw man argument. Nice.

I never stated that I'm "not worried about rust," though I will acknowledge that it doesn't keep me up at night. I only stated that rinsing a bike chain in water won't create any problems.

Sigh.

Slightly off-topic, but one often overlooked bike cleaning tool is the plain corrugated cardboard shipping box from your internet chain cleaning machine order. Tear off a paperback book sized piece and its edge will fit perfectly between the gears of your cassette. Work your way around. The torn edge works particularly well compared to the factory edge. Repeat as needed. Works with the wheel/chain on or off the bike.

Put more cardboard under your work to protect the floor.

I am using Easy Off degreaser, not Easy Off oven cleaner.

I use either distilled white vinegar or 90% iso with a few drops of dish soap. Run it through the Park Tool, then once with water then wipe and lube. Never seen any rust.

I won't say what I do with the residue

If we are using vinegar for cleaning and vegetable oil for lube we are well on our way to salad dressing. This must be the pepper.

Or maybe iron supplements

Ah, thanks. I once tried their blue-can "no fumes" oven cleaner on cookware with baked on grease, useless, and I didn't like all the chemicals listed that I had difficulty pronouncing.

I'm still a fan of sodium hydroxide oven cleaner for cleaning up stainless steel (usually triply) cookware from the thrift store, brings back to like new.

Easy Off degreaser... that's like other products brought out by WD-40 that are not actually WD-40, it gets confusing. STP that's not STP, Loctite that's not Loctite, Arm & Hammer & Sickle that's not baking soda...

I used some Morgan Blue chain cleaner to remove the factory grease from a new chain and then rinsed it with soapy water (as per the instructions on the bottle). A final rinse with plain water and then left it to dry in front of a fan for a couple of hours. Then I fitted the new chain and applied some Silca drip wax and left that overnight to dry.

It’s been running fine for a few hundred km since. Just re-applied another dose of Silca wax.

The chain hasn’t rusted, so that’s a relief.

Maybe I’ll try mineral spirits next time I fit a new chain.

That's pretty much what I've been doing for decades, though I only recently switched to the Silca drip wax lube. Works fine.

Same here with various cleaners/degreasers and lubes. Never had a chain rusting issue from chain cleaning to date. I’ve been using Silca drip wax for a few years now. Previously used Squirt for many years, but the Silca seems to penetrate better on application and runs even cleaner.

For years I used the Park Tool Cyclone and it worked very well but earlier this year I bought a 6L heated Ultrasonic Cleaner which turned out to be a complete game changer for me. Nothing cleans the chain and parts quite as well with no effort on my part. The only downside is that you have to remove the chain but that takes about 5 seconds using a quick link.

I use a blow torch and set the chain on fire. 🔥. Re-lube with my extinguisher.

If the chain wears out from use before it rusts visibly, is that oxidation actually of any consequence?

Needs a small dollop of good mustard to properly emulsify for even distribution.

I use odorless mineral spirits...a lot cheaper than some of the dedicated chain degreasers.