Chain Cleaning

[mjcneat]

Just wanted to share my experience with a Park Tools CM5 chain cleaner that I bought yesterday.

I have previously used a chain brush and aerosol citrus degreaser but never managed to get the chain shining again. After some bad weather and lots of road grime gathering during my commute this week, I went and bought the CM5 from Evans yesterday. Picked up a 1L bottle of Bikehut degreaser and gave it a go this morning.

Really impressed with the quality of the CM5 and after around 60 seconds my chain looks new again! Definitely worth the £27.99 and feels like a robust bit of kit.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/park/cm5-chain...

[sjg]

I've never got on with those things. Fit a powerlink, can whip the chain off in seconds - into an old jamjar with degreaser, shake, sit, shake again, rinse and leave to dry before refitting and lubing it again.

Gets it properly clean for very little effort.

[Gren]

Nice one. Got one of those for Crimbo but not got round to using it yet. I find a quick wipe and lube every week means a full clean happens only around 4 times a year.

[Watchman]

[J B L]

I use the same technique on my MTB than the R1: WD40+rag, dry chain lube. If some spots of rust start to appear I coat and then rub the chain with ACF50. It's been through mud in all weathers and it still looks like new.

I tried the expensive stuff for the motorbike and ended with 10 different bottle on the shelves, it was ridiculous. I keep it simple now.

Am I doing it wrong?

Edited by J B L on Saturday 28th January 21:38

[shouldbworking]

sjg said:

I've never got on with those things. Fit a powerlink, can whip the chain off in seconds - into an old jamjar with degreaser, shake, sit, shake again, rinse and leave to dry before refitting and lubing it again.

Gets it properly clean for very little effort.

Seconding this route. I've done the toothbrush route, the chain cleaner route, a dozen different types of cleaners and honestly powerlink and jamjar is so much easier, more effective and uses a tiny amount of cleaner compared to traditional methods.

[MadDad]

shouldbworking said:

sjg said:

I've never got on with those things. Fit a powerlink, can whip the chain off in seconds - into an old jamjar with degreaser, shake, sit, shake again, rinse and leave to dry before refitting and lubing it again.

Gets it properly clean for very little effort.

Seconding this route. I've done the toothbrush route, the chain cleaner route, a dozen different types of cleaners and honestly powerlink and jamjar is so much easier, more effective and uses a tiny amount of cleaner compared to traditional methods.

Totally agree, I use a power link on all of my bikes and dump the chain in a jam jar of petrol after a 'dirty' ride, otherwise I do it about once a month. Petrol is the main ingredient in a lot of the degreasers, and unlike a lot of the dedicated cleaning stuff evaporates within a couple of mins of removing it from the jam jar.

[SkinnyBoy]

As above. Powerlinks on all my chains. Whip em off into a pop bottle with some turps shake and leave to soak. Clean rest of bike and then come back to the chain which should be lovely and shiny now. I do it after every ride since the riding here is either dusty or muddy or both! Refit lube and away ya go!

[Floor Tom]

Only problem with the power link tactic is that 10spd powerlinks are not removable or reusable, bit of a shame really.

[jodypress]

Floor Tom said:

Only problem with the power link tactic is that 10spd powerlinks are not removable or reusable, bit of a shame really.

Just to clarify the above. It's only SRAM's 10speed powerlink that isn't reusable. KMC's are.

[okgo]

jodypress said:

Just to clarify the above. It's only SRAM's 10speed powerlink that isn't reusable. KMC's are.

Yup. That's why I buy kmc chains off eBay, cheap and awesome.

I also do the white spirit thing, but nothing could save my recent chain it had done between 7-9k miles and felt
Horrid.