How clean is clean - chain wise?

[Kalidurga]

I don't know if this will totally answer your question, but I had an interesting chat with my new favorite LBS tech this evening about just this subject.

I asked him about whether a particular degreaser on his shelf would work well in my Finish Line chain cleaner. His reply was that he really doesn't recommend using degreaser on chains. When I raised my eyebrows at that, he explained that it's very difficult to get all of the residue from the degreaser off of the chain, and that residue then makes it just that much harder for the lube to adhere and work itself in to where it needs to go. With a really good self-cleaning lube, the degreaser is basically unecessary because the lube will float all of the grit to the surface. You just then have to be very scrupulous about wiping the chain down thoroughly to remove as much lube as possible. "Wipe it down like crazy" is how he put it. He went on to suggest that if the chain ever became so grungy that I really felt the need to run it through the chain cleaner with degreaser, that I should follow that with another run through the chain cleaner filled with rubbing alcohol. As the alcohol evaporates, it'll apparently help to remove the degreaser residue so that the lube will have a totally bare surface to adhere to.

My chain's not super shiny and silvery looking anymore, but I'm thinking I'm gonna try just cleaning it with my good ol' Rock-n-Roll Gold lube for a while and see how that goes. I usually "wipe it down like crazy" until I can just barely see a sheen on my skin when I swipe a finger along the chain, and I've had bike techs at a couple of different shops tell me my drive train looks very well cared for.

[KnottedYet]

I second the thing about the "degreaser". I used the Park Tool degreaser that came with my chain gang. It cleaned my chain beautifully, but the residue was a major pain in the buns.

Next time I do the chain I will use good ol' Simple Green. (or dish soap)

[yellow]

I like my chain and cassette to be super clean, with only enough lube to do the job. I use Simple Green Automotive and haven't noticed a residue problem.