Best Chain Cleaner

I was amazed at the difference when I cleaned my chain the other week. I used a combination of wd40
washing up liquid and a toothbrush.

Even so cleaning the chain is a damm messy & time consuming process. I ve heard these clip on baths
are actually quite good. Any one reccommend one ? and where I can get it cheaply.

Pete. Halesowen West Mids.

Pete Rollason wrote:
> I was amazed at the difference when I cleaned my chain the other week. I used a combination of
> wd40 washing up liquid and a toothbrush.
>
> Even so cleaning the chain is a damm messy & time consuming process. I ve heard these clip on
> baths are actually quite good. Any one reccommend one ? and where I can get it cheaply.
>
> Pete. Halesowen West Mids.

I have one, it seems to work nicely, although whether it cleans deep down is another matter, it get
the visible muck off in a couple of mins and leaves the transmission sounding a lot smoother.

After a couple of uses it has loads of gritty bits in it, disassembly, cleaning, and re-assembly
takes 15 mins or so.

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this: Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/

Pete Rollason wrote:
> I was amazed at the difference when I cleaned my chain the other week. I used a combination of
> wd40 washing up liquid and a toothbrush.
>
> Even so cleaning the chain is a damm messy & time consuming process.

It is like that but removing chain, putting in a jar of white spirit and shaking is not - and chain
ends up much cleaner as well. A PowerLink helps - see previous threads for more on those.

> I've heard these clip on baths are actually quite good. Any one reccommend one ? and where I can
> get it cheaply.

The Barbieri one works reasonably well. £6 post free from:

www.mwdyason.ltd.uk/shop.asp?no_category=19&text_company=MAINTENANCE%20PRO DUCTS

....but it's still not as clean, cheap and good as the above method.

~PB

"AndyMorris" <AndyMorris@DeadSpam.com> wrote in message news:<b96p6t$f9p$1@newsg4.svr.pol.co.uk>...
> Pete Rollason wrote:

> > Even so cleaning the chain is a damm messy & time consuming process. I ve heard these clip on
> > baths are actually quite good. Any one reccommend one ? and where I can get it cheaply.

> I have one, it seems to work nicely, although whether it cleans deep down is another matter, it
> get the visible muck off in a couple of mins and leaves the transmission sounding a lot smoother.
>
> After a couple of uses it has loads of gritty bits in it, disassembly, cleaning, and re-assembly
> takes 15 mins or so.

I washed mine in hot water and the little plastic shafts holding the rotary brushes melted.

:-)

--
Dave...

"Pete Biggs" <pLime{remove_fruit}@biggs.tc> wrote in message
news:b96qrs$g23co$1@ID-144931.news.dfncis.de...
> Pete Rollason wrote:
> > I was amazed at the difference when I cleaned my chain the other week. I used a combination of
> > wd40 washing up liquid and a toothbrush.
> >
> > Even so cleaning the chain is a damm messy & time consuming process.
>
> It is like that but removing chain, putting in a jar of white spirit and shaking is not - and
> chain ends up much cleaner as well. A PowerLink helps - see previous threads for more on those.
>
> > I've heard these clip on baths are actually quite good. Any one reccommend one ? and where I can
> > get it cheaply.
>
> The Barbieri one works reasonably well. £6 post free from:
>
> www.mwdyason.ltd.uk/shop.asp?no_category=19&text_company=MAINTENANCE%20PRO DUCTS
>
> ....but it's still not as clean, cheap and good as the above method.
>
> ~PB
>
yeh I have that one - paid a lot more for it than that and it's very good. Fits snuggly with the
little wheel attachment thing, locks nicely, is solid and does a good job. Use it every 1/2 weeks.

Pete Rollason wrote:
> I was amazed at the difference when I cleaned my chain the other week. I used a combination of
> wd40 washing up liquid and a toothbrush.
>
> Even so cleaning the chain is a damm messy & time consuming process. I ve heard these clip on
> baths are actually quite good. Any one reccommend one ? and where I can get it cheaply.

A friend has the Park one that he picked up cheap at his LBS. Worked well when we used it at
Coed-y-Brenin last summer.

I picked up the Finish Line one as a sale item at Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op IIRC, some months ago. I
found it lurking, half forgotten for six months, at the weekend, so I decided to clean both bike
chains with it, and again, it worked well.

Both are similar in operation and effectiveness.

If your chain has an SRAM power link, then it's pretty easy to just remove it and leave it to soak
in solvent. I have to admit, the chain cleaner is easier.

--

Mark Davies

pete.rollason@virgin.net (Pete Rollason) wrote in message
news:<37d528a6.0305051215.281c4aa9@posting.google.com>...

> Even so cleaning the chain is a damm messy & time consuming process. I ve heard these clip on
> baths are actually quite good. Any one reccommend one ? and where I can get it cheaply.

I've used the Barbieri one, which makes a mess but works acceptably - however, the technique that
works best is the Sheldon Shake. Start here: <http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

> > Even so cleaning the chain is a damm messy & time consuming process. I ve heard these clip on
> > baths are actually quite good. Any one reccommend one ? and where I can get it cheaply.
>
> I've used the Barbieri one, which makes a mess but works acceptably - however, the technique that
> works best is the Sheldon Shake. Start here: <http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html>

Don't you just love Sheldon Brown - he almost makes this group redundant.

Chain cleaning? I find that the water and mud I ride through washes out any oil on every ride. The
chain gleams after an off road ride in Mid Wales. I then lubricate it with chain saw oil - very
cheap and very clinging. It probably (possibly) lasts an hour or two on a typical muddy ride.

I won some Pedro's dry lube one Sunday some years ago - it lasts minutes and costs about the same as
3 litres of chain saw oil.

Chains cost about £7 and I replace them after a few hundred miles - my XT chainrings and cassette
last a long time. I put this down to changing the chain a few times a year - but I have no concrete
evidence that this is the case.

John

Pete Rollason wrote:
> I was amazed at the difference when I cleaned my chain the other week. I used a combination of
> wd40 washing up liquid and a toothbrush.

Both products are useless for that exercise, doesnt make sense to use them together. I'd suggest
using a citrus degreaser which both degreases and cleans, then wash it off, then use WD40 to
disperse any moisture, before re lubing with a proprietry product. The lube used would depend on
your type of riding and the terrain to be covered.

My clip on box works well but on my mtb I prefer to switch two chains over every couple of months.
That way I can soak the chain in a container of degreaser and use the tooth brush on it. There are
two boxes advertised in the current Parrot catalogue.

I've been using chainsaw oil from B+Q and it tends to hold particles of gravel in the rollers. My
trick is to tape two brushes together with the bristles facing each other, to dip it into degreaser
and scrub the rollers on the chain from both sides. But then I've retired and I've got the time to
play these games. Mike

Taywood <taywood@deadspam.com> wrote in message news:b9c3du$hv4gn$1@ID-131715.news.dfncis.de...
> Pete Rollason wrote:
> > I was amazed at the difference when I cleaned my chain the other week. I used a combination of
> > wd40 washing up liquid and a toothbrush.

I bought one from Probikekit.com for £6. I've never seen one that doesn't leak at all. Powerlink is
your best bet and dunk it..Connex or SRAM work well.

--
Mark
____________________________
Practice does not make perfect... Perfect practice makes perfect

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Someone bought me some Park Tool Chain Brite.I must say it works a treat.Not cheap though.

Sam Salt "MSA" <onyerbikemark@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:b9ec81$n16$1@hercules.btinternet.com...
>
> Taywood <taywood@deadspam.com> wrote in message news:b9c3du$hv4gn$1@ID-131715.news.dfncis.de...
> > Pete Rollason wrote:
> > > I was amazed at the difference when I cleaned my chain the other week. I used a combination of
> > > wd40 washing up liquid and a toothbrush.
>
>
> I bought one from Probikekit.com for £6. I've never seen one that doesn't leak at all. Powerlink
> is your best bet and dunk it..Connex or SRAM work well.
>
>
>
> --
> Mark
> ____________________________
> Practice does not make perfect... Perfect practice makes perfect
>
>
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>
>

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"Eatmorepies" <janmundayPLUG@lineone.net> wrote in message
news:<b9987o$gf1jc$1@ID-109188.news.dfncis.de>...

> Chains cost about £7 and I replace them after a few hundred miles - my XT chainrings and cassette
> last a long time. I put this down to changing the chain a few times a year - but I have no
> concrete evidence that this is the case.

My chains cost more like £20 each, and I have three joined end to end, so I try to get a few
thousand miles out of them :-)

Of course, I ride almost exclusively on road, which brings its own problems but generally less
serious than the mud immersion suffered by chains on bikes used for technical offroad.

"Pete Rollason" <pete.rollason@virgin.net> wrote in message
news:37d528a6.0305051215.281c4aa9@posting.google.com...
> I was amazed at the difference when I cleaned my chain the other week. I used a combination of
> wd40 washing up liquid and a toothbrush.
>
> Even so cleaning the chain is a damm messy & time consuming process. I ve heard these clip on
> baths are actually quite good. Any one reccommend one ? and where I can get it cheaply.
>
> Pete. Halesowen West Mids.

Go down to your local market and buy two cheap scrubbing brushes for 50p each. Then get yourself
some Muc-Off. Spray brushes liberally with muc-off then sandwich the chain between them and back
pedal the cranks spraying on some more muc-off occasionally. Make sure you sandwich the chain top to
bottom and side-to-side. Finally rinse with a hosepipe. This operation probaby takes longer to
describe than it does to carry out and its cheaper and more effective than those chain bath doofers
with the rotating brushes. Mind you, don't leave the muc-off on your bike for any length of time
though. Its brilliant for removing all sorts of cack but it can knacker the finish on shiny alloy
bits if left on more than 5 mins.

Neal