Cleaning and lubing the chain for the first time: what can go wrong?

[BonnieS]

Wow, tons of great advice! Thanks everyone. This is super motivating.

Bike Writer, I have seen that blue contraption on YouTube. Is it easy to use? I'm all thumbs, you see. If you recommend it, I know where I can get it for a reasonable price. Thanks for the tip about degreaser on the frame. For the frame I'm going to use a rag/sponge and soapy water plus Q-tips for those hard to get areas. I know a lot of people use hoses, but I don't have one in my apartment! It'll have to be an old-fashioned bucket for me and little by little so I don't soak my living room, which is where I keep my bike. I get the feeling I'll end up making a mess though despite my best efforts

[withm]

Do NOT attempt to clean your bike or chain inside your house or apt. I would not even do it in a tile tub/shower. The grease will invariably get on the one surface that cant' be cleaned, including all of your walls, floors, clothes and towels. I know this.

This is an outside project to be performed with gloves, rags, and clothes you don't care about.

[Owlie]

Just mind that you don't pull the chain toward you while you're cleaning.
If you've applied so much lube that the chain is dripping, it's too much.

I've done it in my bathtub. Also over lunch wearing work clothes. Well, maybe I did change, first.

*Gigglesnort*

[ny biker]

Do NOT attempt to clean your bike or chain inside your house or apt. I would not even do it in a tile tub/shower. The grease will invariably get on the one surface that cant' be cleaned, including all of your walls, floors, clothes and towels. I know this.

This is an outside project to be performed with gloves, rags, and clothes you don't care about.

I clean my bike indoors all the time. I live in a condo with no outdoor option except for an unshaded balcony that was recently deemed unsafe for heavy loads by the condo association (replacement planned in the fall).

Most of the time I just clean and lube the chain. I take papers out of the recycle pile (I usually have some sale papers from the grocery store that I can use, though ripping pages from a glossy catalog will also work) and spread them out on the floor to cover an area larger than the bike, then I put the bike upside-down on top of them. I make sure to have a roll of paper towels handy as well as a container of Wet-Ones to clean my hands. I clean the chain and wipe the gunk off those two small cog wheels at the back whose name I can't think of right now. Then I apply lube (current brand is Rock n Roll, which is a bit messy but not too bad). I hold paper towel under the chain to catch the excess as I put a few drops of lube on each link. I make sure to place the bottle of chain lube and anything else that might be messy on the paper rather than directly on the floor.

If the frame needs to be cleaned, I either use a damp rag or some pink bike cleaner that I bought years ago. I spray it on some paper towel, clean an area and then wipe it off with clean paper towel.

I have some pale purple pajamas that still sport a small grease stain from when I wore them a few years ago while cleaning the bike, but otherwise I don't think any clothes have gotten permanently stained. I did get grease on my pink flannel bathrobe once but was able to get it clean.

I currently have old wall-to-wall carpet that I hate, so I don't much care if I get it dirty. I'm hoping to get rid of it soon and replace it with new wood floors and area rugs. When that happens I'll probably buy a cheap vinyl shower curtain to use as a drop cloth, since that will protect the floor better.

If the bike is really dirty, like with dirt and mud from riding in wet conditions, I will wipe the whole thing down with paper towels before I bring it in the house.

During the winter, I bring the bike to the shop for annual clean-and-tune service. Usually I do this in January when they offer special deals to get people into the shop during the slow winter season. This is also a good time to hang out and chat and get to know the LBS people, because they are usually pretty bored and maybe even kinda lonely at that time of year.

[Bike Writer]

Wow, tons of great advice! Thanks everyone. This is super motivating.

Bike Writer, I have seen that blue contraption on YouTube. Is it easy to use? I'm all thumbs, you see. If you recommend it, I know where I can get it for a reasonable price. Thanks for the tip about degreaser on the frame. For the frame I'm going to use a rag/sponge and soapy water plus Q-tips for those hard to get areas. I know a lot of people use hoses, but I don't have one in my apartment! It'll have to be an old-fashioned bucket for me and little by little so I don't soak my living room, which is where I keep my bike. I get the feeling I'll end up making a mess though despite my best efforts

It's fairly easy to use and you can get the hang of it pretty quickly. Expect the chain to hop off once or twice and you'll have to handle a greasy wet chain so have plenty of rags handy. When you're working with degreaser, cleaning a bike/bike drive-chain it's hard to be neat. It's just one of those jobs that isn't. Can you seek a friends driveway with hose handy? Relative? I live in an apartment and have done it outside on the patio with a couple of buckets of sudsy water handy and we also have a car wash area with hose and stuff. I don't have a bike repair stand to hold it up off the ground so the pedals spin easily and my success is more dependent on what I've rigged up to hold the bike where the pedals will turn. The better job I do of that, the easier the cleaning goes. Good luck with whatever choice you make!

This thread motivated me to clean my drive chain and bike today, it needed it from several dirt road rides in the last couple of weeks. Looks sweet now!

Edited to add;
I usually do two treatments because the first time the container is just black and oily. It's a bit less so the second time and if time permits I do it once with sudsy water then dry it holding the chain lightly between my fingers while holding a rag.