candt

I found this bike chain cleaner at this link, can anyone tell me if it is any good, or a waste of money?

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

Just looking for a cheap way to clean my chain, if possible with stuff I already have laying around the house, that would be great too. I dont have a lot of miles on my bike, but I can see that the chain is getting dirty from the trail riding I have been doing. Thanks.

Wind 'N Snow

I have had several competitor's versions. They worked really well for a quick clean. Just keep the solvent off your frame!

Ricardo

Save your bucks. Don't buy one of those useless gizmos, take your chain off, put it inside an old Pepsi bottle with some Varsol and shake vigorously. Then rinse and relube. Cheap, fast and effective.

Ricardo

neil0502

It's worth a few minutes to search the forum for chain cleaning, cleaners, degreasers, etc.

This topic comes up all the time. You'll find much info within.

MudPie

Check the archives on this topic. It's a common subject.

Personally, I remove the chain and soak it in Simple Green. I have a SRAM Powerlink link which allows disassembly and assembly of the chain using only fingers and taking a few seconds.

Also, I use a dry chain lube, which does not attract dirt/dust. After every other ride, I use a dry brush to knock off any dust on the chain, then reapply the lube, one drop per pin. You might want to consider a dry lube for trail use. Also, chain lube is probably one of the most popular discussion topics. Search the archives on this too.

candt

Thanks for the help guys, I will do a search.

Applehead57

I've used one like that. It worked just fine.

Walkafire

Sometimes it's overwhelming what you get on a Search...

It is nice to be able to Post a Question here and there and get the Answers you are looking for without searching several hundred postings.

Candt: I bought the Finishline brand of that chain cleaner device, works great.
It is about the same as the one you were looking at. I clean my chain every weekend. I too use the (Finishline) Tephlon Dry lube on my Chain. I am not about to break it just to clean it... not a pro racer here.

You would be surprised on how many people never even lube their chains.

beowoulfe

I guess I'm old school. Those gizmos make the chain "look" good, but I don't think they really get down into the rollers where the real cleaning must take place.

I take my chain off, put it into a coffee can (large one in my case), cover the chain in mineral spirits (saved from the last cleaning), upend a variable orbital sander and set the can on top of the sander. The sander provides excellent agitation, far better than you can achieve by shaking manually. I usually let it run the length of a good song for each cleaning step.

It usually takes 3 steps to get the chain the way I prefer it. I save all of the mineral spirits as by the time I'm ready to clean again, all of the gunk has settled out to the bottom of the storage can.

I hang my l o n g chain from a couple of unbent coat hangers from the ceiling for a day.

Any help??

Jason Curtiss

beowoulfe,

I think your orbital sander scheme for vibrating the dirt particles away is a clever idea; can't wait to try it!

Jason

simplify

I completely agree with the "old school" approach. You have to take off the chain to get it clean. I had the Park version of the clamp-on chain cleaner gizmo, and I would use clean solvent every time and really run that chain through it over and over, and it never got all the grit out. I could still hear grit in the chain by holding it in two places about a foot apart, and twisting it. The grit gets suspended in the solvent and brushes, which just flush it repeatedly back into the chain rollers. If you take the chain off and put it into a container full of water-based solvent, like Simple Green or Pedro's, you can shake the bejeezus out of it (or get an orbital sander) to get all that stuff out, and then run it under a strong water stream to rinse out all the loose particles and degreaser. I dry mine with towels and a hair dryer to get the water off ASAP, and then use Pro-link. I live in a *very* sandy place, (nickname: Sandy Eggo), and my chains are immaculate. I have 1000 miles on a SRAM PC-68, and there is *no* sign of wear on it. But I don't go to all this trouble just to prolong the life of my chain, that's not the point. The point is that as your chain wears, it lengthens, and hastens the wear on your entire drivetrain. So all this diligence is to preserve my drivetrain. And that's worth the trouble. Once you have the routine down, it takes about 10 minutes start to finish. Less time than the clamp-on cleaner, and results in a cleaner chain, *without* getting solvent all over you, your bike, in your hubs, etc etc.

jur

Don't have a variable speed OS