toast3d

Like many people, I use isopropyl to clean the brake pads and braking surfaces. Sometimes I also wipe dirty spots on the frame with it. It works well and evaporates quickly. So I started wondering recently if it would be a bad thing to use it to wipe down the chain? So I did some quick searching, and I found an article that actually recommends this.

So my question to the mechanics is whether this is actually a good idea or not. Specifically, I wonder whether it is a good idea at all to wipe down just the outside of the chain with rubbing alcohol, and further, would it be bad to just drip it from the bottle directly onto the rollers. Could this have any negative effects?

For the sake of clarity, I'm not specifically asking whether it is an effective degreaser per se. Although I'm not actually sure whether it technically qualifies as one or not. Nor am I asking whether it can take the place of one. I'm merely asking whether the practice itself would be safe for the drivetrain.

gsa103

Wiping the outside is fine. Dripping directly onto the rollers isn't going to accomplish what you want. If you want to clean the old lube off the rollers a degreaser, like OMS, is better. If you want to lube the chain, use chain lube. Isopropanol will just wash some of the old lube out, but not enough to be an effective cleaner.

pass the peas

Agree. IPA is not the best solvent for this. You're going to create more mess than you'll actually clean up.

woodcraft

I'm a fan of alcohol for cleaning & light degreasing,

but it's not great for full on chain cleaning.

Won't hurt anything, 'tho.

JohnDThompson 

Isopropyl alcohol is not an ideal solvent for chain lubricants. I'd suggest using odorless mineral spirits (OMS) instead. OMS can be reused; just put the used liquid into a container and let the particulate matter settle out. Decant the clean spirits off the top the next time you need to clean your chain. Replenish with fresh spirits as needed from the original container.

toast3d

Well, I tried it. It seems to work pretty well on the outside of the chain. The chain is nice and shiny. But I can still see a tiny bit of black gunk between the plates, even though when I grab the chain with my fingers and wiggle the plates, I can't feel any "grit" (I take this as a sign of a clean chain). So it's great for an exterior polish, but seemingly not for a deep clean (it was already free of that "gritty" feeling before I used the isopropyl). And yes, I added oil afterwards. It was already time to do that anyway.

How often do you guys completely clean the chain? I rarely do that. Usually I just wipe it down regularly, and add more oil when it feels like the previous application has gone dry. Very rarely will I give it a bath. By the way, I really hate the park tools chain cleaner. It's so messy. It does seem to do the job, but the cleanup sucks.

Litespud

70% isopropyl will make the chain shinier, but won't really get to the heart of the matter ie, internal gunk. Otherwise, it's a great general cleaner. I buy three chains when I get a new cassette, then rotate them every ~500 miles, so that when I take the dirty chain off, there's a properly clean chain ready to go on, and I can spend a little time getting the chain clean. It also ensures that chain and cassette wear proceed in a coordinated manner. Every ~1500 miles (1 full round of chains), I pull the cassette, chainrings and jockey wheels and give them a good clean. Derailleurs get degreased and relubed. To clean the chain, I use heavy duty degreaser and a nailbrush, and slosh it around in mineral spirits. Finally, it gets a good rinse in running hot water, then hung up to dry. A hot chain usually dries in ~30 min, so no rust.

toast3d

Eh... I'm nearly at 1500 miles on just the one chain. I measure the chain wear with a special tool. Park Tools CC-3.2. The chain still isn't worn yet and everything still shifts fine. Would it be a waste to switch the chain at this point? I've been using the same chainrings and cassette for all of those miles.

easyupbug 

Might be, I would check your "special tool" with a steel tape or ruler, they can be quite far off. Plenty of info available with the search function on this site.

Dan Burkhart 

If anything, I find chain wear checkers tend to give false positives for wear, so generally speaking, if the chain checker says it's good, it should be.

rm -rf

I used to remove and thoroughly clean the chain about once a month. Disconnect the quick link. Shake the chain in a half gallon milk jug with a cup of mineral spirits (then let the spirits settle, and reuse it). Still not perfectly clean, so shake with water and dish detergent. Dry completely overnight with a little heat. Relube and wipe down. Back on the bike.

I got 4000+ miles from the chains this way.

Now, I just wipe off the outside of the chain with paper towels dampened with rubbing alcohol. Relube, wait a few minutes, then wipe the chain with dry paper towels.

The chains still go for 4000 miles.

cyccommute 

Would it be a bad thing? No. Would using alcohol of any readily available flavor be ineffective? Yes. Basically, you would be wasting your efforts. The chemical reason is that isopropyl alcohol is polar while lubricants are nonpolar. The alcohol is similar to water and the lubricant is an oil. They don't mix. You want something to dissolve the oil that is like oil, i.e. nonpolar. Mineral spirits as others have suggested is a better choice. It nonpolar so it is "like" the lubricant and will dissolve the old lubricant.

Bottom line: The alcohol is safe but it just doesn't work. Mineral spirits...odorless or otherwise...is also safe but it works.

toast3d

Apologies, but I did some searching on the forums looking for a measurement of the chain checker tool to compare mine to, and I didn't find anything. All I found was a bunch of people arguing about the tool. Short of measuring the chain itself, which I also see people complaining and arguing about, I really can't find a way to make sure that the chain checker has been created with accurate dimensions. Of course that may not be the exact issue that some people are complaining about. Not wanting to get into error caused by play in the rollers or whatever, which I believe the tool is intended to measure in the first place anyway, I will just trust the tool for now. That is unless of course you'd care to provide more helpful information. With respect, thank you.

Perhaps I will look into getting a different chain checker tool to compare against.

easyupbug 

No apologies needed in that as I think about it this forum can turn into a pi$$ing contest on just about any subject. What I probably should have said is basic knowledge on bikes can generally can be found quickly and most find accurately on Sheldon Brown's site, he is no longer with us but Harris Cycles came to the rescue. Here's that input, note the last paragraph, I have one of the recommended checkers, it calibrated with a steel rule very close and it is close enough for me:

Measuring Chain Wear

The standard way to measure chain wear is with a ruler or steel tape measure. This can be done without removing the chain from the bicycle. The normal technique is to measure a one-foot length, placing an inch mark of the ruler at the side of one link pin, then looking at the corresponding link pin 12 complete links away. On a new, unworn chain, this link pin will also line up exactly with an inch mark. With a worn chain, the link pin will be past the inch mark. For accurate measurement, the chain should be held under some tension -- either on the bicycle, or hanging. Also, use a metal ruler or tape measure. Wood, plastic and cloth all can expand or shrink. Measurement is also possible with a metric ruler -- see below.

This technique gives a direct measurement of the wear to the chain, and an indirect measurement of the wear to the sprockets. first, let's look at how to do this with a ruler that measures in inches.

• If the link pin is less than 1/16" past the mark, all is well.
• If the link pin is 1/16" past the mark, you should replace the chain, but the sprockets are probably undamaged.
• If the link pin is 1/8" past the mark, you have left it too long, and the sprockets (at least the favorite ones) will be too badly worn. If you replace a chain at the 1/8" point, without replacing the sprockets, it may run OK and not skip, but the worn sprockets will cause the new chain to wear much faster than it should, until it catches up with the wear state of the sprockets.
• If the link pin is past the 1/8" mark, a new chain will almost certainly skip on the worn sprockets, especially the smaller ones.

There are special tools made to measure chain wear; these are a bit more convenient, though by no means necessary, and most -- except for the Shimano TL-CN40 and TL-CN41 -- are inaccurate because they allow roller play to confound the measurement of link-pin wear.

toast3d

Thanks!

davidad

Chain care, wear and skipping by Jobst Brandt

coffeesnob

I use a park tool chain cleaner. I put some citric cleaner in the reservoir and chain looks brand new when I am done.

Hondo Gravel

Slightspeed

I use citrus degreaser from the 99 cent store. I have used Simple Green, but for 99 cents, this works just as well. Spray it on, wipe it thru a rag. I use an old toothbrush to scrub the tough to reach inner areas. I've also used the Finish Line gadget with the little roller brushes in the plastic housing that snaps over the chain. You pull the chain thru it and thru the degreaser in the reservoir. It does a good job too, but spray and rag works as well for me. I use the citrus spray and tooth brush on the jockey wheels too.

Hondo Gravel