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Originally Posted by TheBrick
I am with Landgolier. Fizzy pop bottle + white spirit / petrol / diesel + shake + time + shake + dry + lube.
A tip for getting the chain out of the contain while keeping your manicured hands clean is to use a peace of wire such as an cloths hanger with a little hook bent into the end to pull the chain out. |
vegetable oil soak....shake....repeat as needed
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Originally Posted by Shiznaz
Then I come back and spray it with WD40 to force out the remaining water, wait a little while, wipe the chain off, and then apply my lube of choice.
Thanks Shiznaz! Re: degreasers of choice, MEC gets you a gallon of biodegradable degreaser at maybe 10 bucks. I can't find Simple Green in Quebec anymore, but it was my favorite - really mild on skin but worked really well, and smelled and looked so good that I was nearly tempted to drink it; it smells like the Kool Aid flavor that never was but should have been. Also a second on reusing degreaser as much as possible - I use it until it turns brown. Let it settle, pour off the clean stuff, dump the residue and particles at the bottom. I've been using the same liter of mec degreaser for 2 years, and a 2L bottle of simple green lasted me like 4. |
I just wipe it down with a burlap square and re-grease when needed (throw on latex gloves, cover my pointer finger and thumb in lube, and do a few rotations). I also swap out the chain around 6 months.
I don't know if it's considered playing it overly-safe or bad bike maintenance, but so far so good. |
rock and roll gold. cleans and lubes... all at the same time!
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For my cheap chain I soak it in a coffee can with hot water and dishsoap, usually Sunlight. Shake alittle, shake some more, rinse well, wipe, WD40 then wait 10 minutes and lube. Works well enough for me.
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Vegetable oil and wd-40? Nonononono
90wt gear oil or a chain specific lube. And stay away from 3 in 1. It'll be smooth for like 2 days and then it gums. I really recomend the wax...it fills up all the voids in the chain. It wears off various areas, that's when ya hit it with the oil. |
Every couple of rides I just spurt some lube (Prolink is my current favorite) on the chain while spinning it on the stand--I then use my daughters old panties to wipe off the slop. Sick as you want it to be but young girl panty quality cotton makes for excellent wipe fodder.
Noone seemed to mention it yet but after a good soaking in degreaser (Nalgene 1 litre bottle) a hot water rinse followed by a quick hit from my wife's hair dryer to get the water out seems to get everything spiffy. Lube up, then wipe with whatever panties are available and viola! |
Originally Posted by john_iverson
Every couple of rides I just spurt some lube (Prolink is my current favorite) on the chain while spinning it on the stand--I then use my daughters old panties to wipe off the slop. Sick as you want it to be but young girl panty quality cotton makes for excellent wipe fodder.
Noone seemed to mention it yet but after a good soaking in degreaser (Nalgene 1 litre bottle) a hot water rinse followed by a quick hit from my wife's hair dryer to get the water out seems to get everything spiffy. Lube up, then wipe with whatever panties are available and viola! |
Man, the cops are going to have a field day when they see dozens of girls' cotton panties soaked in various chemicals in your garage :)
(old giveaway t-shirts are equally effective, and less questionable) |
I use road sand and salt to form a protective layer of surface rust on my chain.
Then I throw it away once the weather gets nice. I just gave up on trying to keep my chain nice and clean. I wash my bike in snow after every couple rides and keep it outside so it doesn't go through freeze/thaw cycles. |
Originally Posted by john_iverson
Every couple of rides I just spurt some lube (Prolink is my current favorite) on the chain while spinning it on the stand--I then use my daughters old panties to wipe off the slop. Sick as you want it to be but young girl panty quality cotton makes for excellent wipe fodder.
Noone seemed to mention it yet but after a good soaking in degreaser (Nalgene 1 litre bottle) a hot water rinse followed by a quick hit from my wife's hair dryer to get the water out seems to get everything spiffy. Lube up, then wipe with whatever panties are available and viola! |
1 bucket
1 razor knife 1 liter of Kerosene 1 pair gloves 1 pair goggles (even though I hate them) 1 stiff brush cut bucket so that it is shallower, pour the Kero in there. remove chain drop it in carefully so as not to splash scrub it on the sides and upper/lower areas with the brush remove hang and let air dry, or wipe dry install rejoice I take the Kero and pout it into a container...I drop it off with the motor oil at the reclamation center, but the Kero, if properly contained, can do a lot of chains, so its not like you are throwing it out everytime you clean your chain. |
stolen from someone else on the forum:
I usually dip my chain once in the trash and go out and get a new one |
If I really need to clean a chain, I will put about a half inch of gasoline in a coffee can and toss the chain in there for a day or two giving the can a shake every couple hours. Pull the chain out, toss it on an old shirt/towel or whatever and let it sit for a while.
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since this can only be answered on fixed gear, the best way to keep in clean is preventative--- use a dry lube.
Otherwise, break the chain, throw in in an empty soda bottle, add degreaser, shake it up, let it sit, shake some more, use a coat hanger to remove it, wipe, dry, put back on bike. And use dry lube. |
depends on the conditions. Dry lube is definitely not always the best choice.
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Originally Posted by filtersweep
since this can only be answered on fixed gear, the best way to keep in clean is preventative--- use a dry lube.
Otherwise, break the chain, throw in in an empty soda bottle, add degreaser, shake it up, let it sit, shake some more, use a coat hanger to remove it, wipe, dry, put back on bike. And use dry lube. |
A little periodic maintenance goes a long way with keeping one's chain running clean. Once a week, I wipe off excess crap with a rag while the chain is spinning, apply some lube, spin the drivetrain to let some more gunk work out of the system, wipe down the chain again along with the cog and chainring, and then just give it a little more lube to make everything all buttery and nice again. The lube you choose also has a lot to do with how clean your chain stays in the first place. Different things work for different people, and what works for you has a lot to do on riding style, ambient conditions, climate, etc. I swear by Boelube T9, but others swear by stuff like White Lightning, which had my chain perpetually filthy for as long as I used it.
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Originally Posted by Landgolier
This is exactly what you shouldn't do if you use a detergent, you now have soap that hates lube in your chain.
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Two chains.
One soaks for a few hours in Kero and then gets wiped and layed out to drain. Install the last(clean chain #2) one you did the same ritual with a month ago. Every 3 or 4 days inbetween, a quick WD-40 and toof brush cleaning on the bike, follow up with yer favorite lube. I like thin lube often becuase heavy holds more dirt and grit. |
Originally Posted by john_iverson
I then use my daughters old panties to wipe off the slop. Sick as you want it to be but young girl panty quality cotton makes for excellent wipe fodder.
I feel the same way. :rolleyes: |
Originally Posted by Landgolier
I keep a big glass jar mostly full of mineral spirits around the shop; this does take a pretty big jar, we're talking pasta sauce ones don't always work but do use something with a screw-on lid rather than a yogurt type container, those lids are not airtight. When a chain is dirty I pop off the master link and throw it in there. I keep the master link separate and clean it by hand, you can get to all the parts of a master link so elbow grease and maybe a few drops of lube are all that is needed. You can throw it in if you want, I just hate fishing them out. It hangs out in there anywhere from an hour to a few days before I ride the bike again, and every time I see it, I shake it. When I take it out, I lay it on newspaper, outside and in the sun if possible, and give it at least an hour to dry. These chains are clean after this treatment, there is no residue and no gritty sound if you twist them. Reinstall, relube, wipe off excess lube, and go. I get about 3-4 chains out of a jar before it starts getting really gross, at which point I let it settle for a day, decant through a coffee filter into a new jar, and chuck the old jar with a little bit of mineral spirits and a lot of gunk.
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Liberal application of Pro-Link. Wipe, wipe, wipe. Ride. Repeat.
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Originally Posted by ieatrats
I've found that chain cleaning machines barely do a better job than laying on fresh lube, spinning the cranks a lot, then holding a rag to the chain as you keep spinning. If you got the chain really filthy or gritty, riding in mud or say in the spring melt when your town uses lots of salt, sand and gravel, repeat.
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