Cleaning my drivetrain

[KnottedYet]

I use the Park "chain gang" plastic doohicky that you clamp onto the chain and run the chain through. Generally I use plain ol' dishsoap. Cuz I'm too cheap to go buy anything else...

I've had nice luck using Boeshield lube, seems to handle the Seattle slop nicely. Don't know if it would be a lot different for a bike on a trainer.

[Tokie]

At our house, we wipe down the chain with a terry shop towel after every outdoor ride, and "floss" the cogs with a terry shop washcloth(thinner edge to get between cogs). then there is less lube on the outside of the chain to attract road grime and grit, as well as less of the dirt.You only need lube on the inside of the little chain joints. I lube with dumonde tech, the light formula, but I live in coastal southern California. I think your lube choice depends on local weather(wet vs dry) and road conditions. Some of my friends swear by Triflow. And I don't think you'd need much cleaning on the trainer either, but it can't hurt to wipe the chain off from time to time, and lube when it gets too dry. Tokie

[OakLeaf]

I use Simple Green for everything (almost )

The only thing about it is that it's slightly acid, so you have to rinse very thoroughly. As long as you do that, it's harmless.

What I actually want to try next for waterless drivetrain cleaning is CitraSolv. It claims to contain no petroleum distillates and no toxic solvents (unlike most of the citrus degreasers on the market). Anyone use that? TriFlow is seriously toxic.

[Mr. SR500]

ProLink Gold, best stuff ever, and I've tried them all. Cleans and lubes. I usually do it about once a week in season. Chains last almost forever with proper maintenance. Use Prolink to wash away dirt and old lube, keep drying/cleaning chain with paper towel. After you no longer get a lot of "black" on your paper towel, but mostly a grey, chain is clean. Give one last application and sock up any excess with a paper towel. If done regularly, it only takes a couple minutes, a bottle of lube will last a couple months, and you only need a few paper towels. Quick, easy and works great - quiet drivetrain, long chain life, and no rust.

[li10up]

I spray the entire drivetrain with Simple Green, let sit for a few minutes than rinse off with no pressure. If it's really dirty I'll use Simple Green in one of those drive chain cleaner do-hickies and then rinse with water. I clean the jockey wheels with a rag/small brush then take a rag to the chain until it's "clean". Then I lube the chain and wipe off any extra lube. Then I take the rear wheel off and take a brush/rag to the cogs. After the drivetrain is clean I wash the bike. Works for me.

[firenze11]

Thanks this was a huge help. I think I'll take a cloth and floss the cogs tonight to get the grit out from my last outdoor ride and leave it at that for awhile. I might try the Simple Green thing when I can start riding outside in Spring, that way I'll have access to a hose to wash it off well and dry it down.

And thanks for the tips on lube preferences/use. I've been using mine to clean the black junk off the chain so that seems to be working ok. It just seems like it gets black again pretty quickly.

Oh and I'm in awe of all of you riding outside in the snow/slush. Being really new at this I can't imagine me doing that right now but I think you're pretty amazing. We have so much snow up here I can't make it to our barn (it's down a little trail from our house) without snowshoes anymore.

[Melalvai]

"floss" the cogs with a terry shop washcloth(thinner edge to get between cogs).

You know what else works well, when you've used all your terry washcloths and haven't done laundry yet? A t-shirt! We are inundated with bike-event volunteer tshirts and bike ride tshirts. Cut it down the middle and go to town.

[PscyclePath]

Dawn dishwashing detergent for cleaning, rinse with fresh water and dry, then apply Pro-Link Gold. Best to let the ProLink set overnight, but it works well even if you get right back on and ride. Wipe down every now and then with a rag wetted with ProLink.

I tried Purple Extreme for a couple of whiles, but found it didn't work as well as ProLink, and the chain started squeaking before the advertised 400 mile interval.

Tri-Flow is a good wet lube, but it tends to get kind of messy, and just about as much tends to get on my sock or ankle as stays on the chain ;-)