wingless

That is also my first step in chain maintenance. I use a jar holding the chain, instead of directly into my heated ultrasonic cleaner bath and the soapy water, permitting multiple solution swaps until chain is clean, clean, clean. I then repeat w/ mineral spirits, followed by denatured alcohol, also in jars, all prior to Molton Speed Wax in my modified wax warmer.

The final result is a drivetrain that remains clean to the touch, dead silent with looong lasting lubrication, unless i get caught in the rain.

RiceAWay

I have a piss poor memory because of the concussion but I don't remember ever hearing the term "brake cleaner". At the local auto parts store they have a super degreasing soap. I put about a 50-50 solution in my ultrasonic cleaner, allow it to come up to temperature and give it a 5 minute cleaning. These things are REALLY cheap ($30) and effective as long as you let the temperature come up to the point where it will melt wax lubricants.

As for lubing a chain. I put in a couple of candles and some fine Teflon powder into a Hot Pot bring that up to temperature and cook the chain in it for 10 minutes or more - when you CAREFULLY remove the chain with tongs, it should be hot enough that the wax flows off of it like water. I then hang it from a finishing nail in the garage high shelf and allow it to cool and drain any excess wax off. Be very careful since the chain will burn you. Properly done the Teflon permeated wax will be in the rollers and very little on the exterior of the chain. It will last several weeks rides and there won't be any wax build up on the cassette. As soon as the chain starts making noise repeat. I have found that regardless of how much you pay for a chain they are rather short lived anyway so it is usually best to buy a Shimano 105 chain and change them as soon as they are worn rather than paying a small fortune for a Wipperman Connex which will last twice as long and cost four times as much.

Univega

Think cars, not bikes: https://www.grainger.com/product/CRC-Brake-Cleaner-and-Degreaser-13P447?ef_id=CjwKCAjwkJj6BRA-EiwA0ZVPVotxusfn9GjmS0SKXrc-6RGwX9yWvN1jD7Ryjq2Qad0DHBx-6g8w0hoC_m8QAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!317451746049!b!!g!!&gucid=N:NSaid:GGL:CSM-2296:9JMEDM:20500731

Pratt

IIRC the chlorinated degreasers also can be absorbed through your skin, and, as an added bonus, they are toxic to your liver

Toespeas

y
what dangerous about gas , wh is everyone on here a safety expert LOLOL , its just as flammable as any other cleaner , its usually the cheapest thing that will deep clean everything from a chain in less than 10 minutes at about 3 dollars per gallon , you can also use lamp oil thats 2 dollars more and you get maybe a liter , or dw40 thats 4 dollars more , im talking taking the chain off the bike soaking it in a glass jar , swishing it around an dreating 3 or 4 times !

Kabuki12

I use kerosene in a coffee can. Let it soak for an hour or so and then blow it out with compressed air( outside) and then wax , let sit for24 hours before riding.

basscadet

There is no need to use anything more powerful than Simple Green or similar degreaser on the powertrain unless you want to remove and ultrasonic once in a while.

I'm super anal about a clean powertrain and a few cheap brushes and some simple green in a spray bottle will keep your gear clean enough to eat off of. The Park Tool chain cleaner tool makes it a lot easier too. Bonus points for an air compressor to dry it off properly.

cyccommute 

No, gasoline isn’t “just as flammable as any other cleaner”. It is far more flammable. Gasoline is formulated to ignite easily and quickly with minimal amounts of energy needed to ignite it. It also need to ignite at low temperatures so that you can start your car on a cold winter morning.

Other hydrocarbon based cleaners don’t need to start cars and have much higher flash points, which is a measure of flammability. Mineral spirits, for example, has a flashpoint of around 120°F. Gasoline has a flashpoint of -40°F.

Using gasoline is just plain dumb when there are other, better options. Ask your local fire department about dealing with gasoline fires caused by some idiot cleaning parts with it.

CAT7RDR

I thought Simple Green was not that great a cleaner, TBH. I found Pine-Sol worked great when I used it after using Simple Green and now continue to use it as my degreaser and deep cleaner.

Any downsides to using Pine-Sol?

Reflector Guy

Pine-Sol is another one that can damage paint. It probably won't hurt the paint if you use it and then wash it all off quickly, but I wouldn't risk it.

55murray

This. I have moved completely away from petroleum solvents of any kind in recent years except for maintenance on internal parts. The water soluble degreasers are so much easier to use.

Someone mentioned tri-flow for cassette rollers? Seems thin for that, I use wet chain lube.

ofajen

I used gasoline to clean bike parts when I was a kid. It was available and I didn’t know better. Haven’t done that for 45 years and this is why.

Otto

diggida

Decided to clean my bike before going on a ride yesterday. Not sure I've ever cleaned a bike before, haha.

I sprayed down the cassette, chainwheel, chain, and derailleurs with a lot of Simple Green and let it sit a bit. Sprayed the bike down with a hose and put some dish soap in a bucket with water and wiped the whole bike down with a rag. Got a brush nice a soapy and brushed all the drivetrain parts. Hosed it all off again.It was hot out so it was all pretty dry by the time I was done, but got a can of air and sprayed parts out. I applied some of the DuPont spray wax stuff pretty liberally (maybe too much? IDK!?!).

After that I threw my bike on my bike rack and drove to the beach and road for a couple of hours (and drank for a couple more!). Between cleaning and lubing my drivetrain, my recently repacked front bearings, and pushing my seat back an inch or so, I had about the easiest ride I'd ever had. I do this same ride from Venice Beach to about Hermosa and back and it was SO much easier yesterday with a clean and lubed bike (duh). Eye opening for sure. I'll definitely be keeping my bike clean from now on! :-)

SVTNate

Probably picking nits here, but dish soap can dry out paint and clearcoats, a dedicated car wash soap is a better choice.

Apply to painted or clearcoated surfaces with a microfiber wash mitt or cloth, not cotton.

Rinse, and if you don't have an air compressor to dry the bike, an electric leaf blower works excellent. I use that myself. Top to bottom, then I'll hit the cassette really well, slowly rotate the chain while blasting it dry.

I follow up with a microfiber and spray wax on most of the bike, which is not necessary.

diggida

Thanks for the tips! I didn't have much left in my can of air, don't have a compresor nor a leafblower, so I'm not sure I got it super dry. Hopefully the combo of 90 degree weather, driving with it on my car, and riding it for a couple of hours dried it out well enough! 😬

79pmooney

My chain cleaning routine is pretty simple, cheap and easy. I wipe it clean with rags that are well past their prime as bike parts cleaners. Lube with TriFlow (summer and good bikes) or Finish Line wet lube (MTB) for winter. Let soak in and wipe clean again. Ride, Repeat as necessary. (Oh, and lube with drip bottles, a drop at each sideplate so two drops per pin. A little slow but minimizes waste, mess and rags.)

Milton Keynes

I just pulled the chain off my old bike and it was horribly gunked up. I put it in a pan with some solvent and it cleaned all the crud off it. My chain has never looked cleaner. I may use it to clean my chain in the future whenever I need to re-lube. I may need to pour some into a spray bottle.

brunes83

I use the Pool Tool chain cleaner with dish soap and that gets the chain and gear system super clean. Then I use a wax lube, which works super well because it doesn't collect small particles.

Toespeas

its not dumb , its the cheapest , easiest way to strip everything off a chain , there is nothing that comes close , maybe if you make your own vodka or something , you dont have the numbers to back up your argument , i use gas all the time , the only argument that can be made is its not easy to dispose of gasoline properly and for that you can recycle it in your old mower or just bring it to the local garage and pay a few bucks , brake cleaner sure isnt going to be properly disposed of when washed off the bike , and if you want a full strip nothing comes close for the price , anything that does come close will cost more and be just as toxic , lamp oil would be my next choice because it will strip everything but still costs more and take a bit more rounds to get the chain stripped ,
i clean my chain for races and TT , as well as commute , so i have different levels of clean , for commute i barely bother , just spray it with wd40 and scrub , but that stuff is going into the environment so its less eco friendly , you are going to have to make a choice , de-greasers only remove oil , and barely do that , mostly just push it around , they dont break down the dirt and wax and oil at the molecules like gas does ,
the gas i use goes from one can into a glass jar and back into a car , if you are sir harry smokes a lot and not careful in general you could light any cleaner on fire , but swishing around some gas out side or in the garage is the same as pouring gas into your car or mower , its as safe or dangerous as anything in life , grow a pair !!

400E

I do the same, except for using Park chain lube. I read about this method a few years back from a long-time bicycle mechanic as a minimalist method for chain maintenance. The main thing is to start by wiping the chain as much as needed until no more oil or dirt comes off the chain. Applying your lube of choice and running the chain for a few minutes, followed by meticulous wiping off all visible lube and dirt, seems to do a good job of cleaning and lubing the chain.

Koyote

Let's see you grow some new skin.

ofajen

Yup, cheap and lazy, er, easy, that’s me! Same routine. I’ve noticed since I went back to SS that I pick up a lot less dirt and grime on the chain when riding on our crushed stone trails. It seems like the derailleur picks up a lot more dirt.

Otto

cyccommute 

There’s this thing called a period. Comes in handy. Tells people when you’ve ended one sentence and started another.

As for not having the number to back up my arguments, I already gave you the physical chemistry numbers. But if you don’t like those numbers, how about 60,000 (plus some change). That’s the number of fires per year started by gasoline per year in the US according to the National Fire Protection Association. If you don’t know, those are the guys who put out fires.

As for “growing a pair”, I don’t need to because 1. Already got a pair; 2. I’m not going to lose a pair because I’m not dumb enough to clean with gasoline; 3. I’ve got a brain that has studied chemistry and I learned a long time ago there are better solvents than gasoline...solvents that not only clean better but doesn’t require skin grafts.

C9H13N 

Simple Green should never be used on anything made from aluminum. Like bike parts, for example...

jay4usc

after you clean and degrease everything I highly recommend using Squirt Chain lube and you will never have to degrease your bike again. Cleanest lube ever but your drivetrain must be spotless before you use it.