On Friday, June 8, 2018 at 9:17:37 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-06-08 07:59, Duane wrote:
On 08/06/2018 10:36 AM, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-06-07 17:02, sms wrote:
On 6/6/2018 7:35 AM, Joerg wrote:

snip

I clean my chain thoroughly using interdental toothbrushes. My wive
found a brand at Costco that is more rigid than the usual ones so the
job goes faster now. First used for my teeth, then later some day for
a chain. Afterwards scrubbing with an old regular toothbrush, followed
by a good wipe-down with Kleenex. Once the chain is really shiny I
apply White Lightning Epic Ride. If you shake the bottle well the waxy
stuff in it dissolves and thus gets onto the chain as well. I use a
Q-Tip to dab it onlto the links, then gently wipe off any excess with
a Kleenex.

That way a road bike chain can run 150-250mi between cleanings
depending on whether I ride more roads or more bike paths. Gets
dirtier on roads. 40-50mi on the MTB, mostly on dirt trails. The
upside is that this method does not require me to take the chain off
the bike which I would really dread.

OMG, is anyone really spending that much time on chain maintenance?!

Get yourself a Park chain cleaner (or some other brand).
Fill it with kerosene and run the chain through it. Repeat with clean
solvent until the chain runs clean.

Unless the chain is in the solvent, and moving, you won't get it clean
on the inside.

When it's clean, lubricate it with a foaming chain lube.


So how long does that process take? And I mean with clean-up including
the cleaning of the tools used. For most of those of us who are
married clean-up is necessary, we can just leave the stuff sitting on
some bench.


The bike is already on the stand for washing.


Last time I washed my road bike was ... ahm ... nineteen-sumpthin. The
MTB doesn't get washed either, it just wouldn't make sense.


... I have a pan in my shed
with a bottle of degreaser (not kerosene but something biodegradable)
and the Park chain cleaner in the pan. Takes a few minutes to fill up
the tool and run the chain through it. The pan catches the slosh. I
don't usually change the degreaser. A couple minutes in the chain
cleaner works well enough for me. Hose out everything and let it dry
while the bike is drying. Certainly takes less time than what you
describe with the toothbrushes.


Well, yeah, if you just put the bath, the pan and so on back on the
shelf as is. Not gonna happen here.

What? No shelves? You can buy shelves at Home Depot you know. Is it about your wife? Does she check your wash buckets to make sure they're clean inside with no biodegradable solvent-filled chain cleaning machines in them? Mine too! She was up at like 2:00 AM this morning going through all my buckets in the garage . . . totally ****ed off at the condition of some of my bike cleaning brushes. So I asked her about the dust under the refrigerator . . . "have you seen that . . . have you? How could any self-respecting wife allow that disgusting accumulation? And your hair in the drain! It's like stringy snot! I want a divorce!"

-- Jay Beattie.