The Park Cyclone Chain Scrubber gadget CM-5.2
 

I decided to upgrade my chain-cleaning frequency from Never to Sometimes, and I had read about this Park gadget on CyclingTips.com. I am skeptical about this kind of thing; I had one of these clamp-on-the-chain gadgets in the previous century, and it wasn't too good. But I am more lazy than I am skeptical, so I bought one.

I like it.

I was done cleaning in less time than it would have taken just to remove and restore the chain. I used a Zep citrus cleaner/degreaser, because I had some, and then some Dawn dishwashing liquid in water, and then clean water. When I do this again, I will put these fluids in small squeeze bottles and will skip the Dawn/water mix. The process is a bit messy, liquid dribbles out of the gizmo and and also drips from the chain. I put down newspapers, that was adequate.

Inside the blue plastic case are some roller brushes and a sponge. At some point these will need replacement, and parts are available.

The CM-5.2 has been replaced by a 5.3. My LBS had the older one. The only difference is that the new one will attach the handle on either side, for e-bikes that backpedal backwards.

I know I could take the chain off the bike, swirl it around in a jar of goo, etc., but I won't, so this is still a step forward for me and my chain.

Coincidentally I got one of these recently, and I'm pleased with how far these devices have come in the years since their first introduction. The plastic is of high-quality, the lid clips into place positively, there is minimal drip because of the sponge placement, the handle is solid, and most importantly, your chain gets clean.

I bought a 5l bottle of generic degreaser from Halford's (the Ireland/UK equivalent to Autozone) which seems to work well. It's significantly cheaper and does the same job as little bottles of degreaser marketed specifically for chains.

While it does clean the big stuff off, it is like taking a bath in dirty bath water. That is unless you do multiple iterations of cleaning and replacing the fluid.

True. When I use one of these, I do a couple batches of fresh fluid (diluted degreaser, or even just water and Dawn dish soap) and then rinse with clean water from a hose.

Still seems like less fuss than removing the chain every time I want to give it a good cleaning.

My Park chain cleaner is ~15+ yrs old. I use simple green undiluted twice, and then a third chain run through
with simple green 50% in water. Then water rinses until the water that is left in the cleaner is clear. This will
take 3-4 rinses with the chain cleaner. Overall, this may take 15-20 minutes. Chain is wiped several times
post clean with paper towels to reduce water left in chain. I do this on sunny days and lean the bike
against a wall in the sun and lube it several hours later. A stack of unfolded news papers under the chain
catches most of the drip off. Since the recyclers only value newsprint at $0.01/lb or less I don't feel bad
about trashing the paper.

Yes, that's a good analogy. I did four total rinses, changing from degreaser to degreaser, then Dawn/water, then clean water. I dumped the used fluids in a bucket, and I could see that the last rinse was clean. Will skip Dawn/water next time, maybe do an extra water rinse instead.

https://www.wish.com/product/5d0369e...SABEgKVGvD_BwE
This is the best way to clean a bike chain. before I got sick I ran 7 and 8 speed chains and easily got over 16k miles on them using the cleaner and dilute chainsaw bar oil.

I'm sure an ultrasonic cleaner does a much better job than the Park gadget, but it's a far greater commitment in time and toys.

I got one to clean the chain, but it just is too inconvenient - I just use it to clean small parts now. The park is too messy and doesn't get the chain all that clean. I take my chain off and clean it with OMS and reuse the OMS.

Good to hear. I have one left over from the last century. I'm not sure how well it cleaned the chain, but it did a great job of getting my hands dirty.
Has anyone done the four rinses and then taken the chain off for a trip to the ultrasonic spa to see if the chain gadget left anything behind?

If you guys are going to all the trouble of using ultra sonic cleaners and doing multiple sessions in mineral spirits, you should really look into hot waxing your chain. You will only need to do deep clean/degreasing one time. Once you wax it, then all you need to do is use boiling water to clean/melt the old wax before a re-dip in the hot wax. Your drivetrain will remain spotless and have zero grease residue. How often do you need to wax your chain? I just did a rewax on mine after 200 miles. I could have gone longer but, I just felt like doing it. A rewax is quick and easy because you are not doing all that deep cleaning/degreasing.

I did hot wax in a Fry Daddy over 20 years ago and found that it didn't last and the wax flaked off as a black goo. The black everyone frets about is metallic wear from inside the chain.

That's a sign that the chain is not fully degreased prior to the wax application, or it's also possible that you were using additives to the wax. With a fully degreased (and clean) chain, pure paraffin (no additives) wax will not do what you describe. My chains shift like butter and I don't have a spec of grease on my drivetrain.

As far as I was concerned it was a sign that it didn't work that well. I clean my chains every 800 miles or so and they shift well and stay lubed in the rain. Waxed chains need rewaxing after riding in the rain.

A follow-up: I have used the Park cleaner three times now, and still like it. I bought a couple of condiment-type squeeze bottles and filled one with degreaser and the other with water to make refilling the chamber quicker. I dump the used fluid in a bucket. A rag placed under the drivetrain catches the drips. The Park works well.

I was motivated to clean the chain today to try out a new chain lube, but that's just clickbait! :lol: