Chain Grease on My Right Leg

[withm]

Chain ring grease is easier to wash off from your leg than it is from your clothes.

[TigerMom]

Chain ring grease is easier to wash off from your leg than it is from your clothes.

I totally agree with the above.

I use Simple Green and a rough cloth to wipe off the grease.

Team Estrogen Members: Let me know what is safe to use on clothes. I don't know if I am supposed to be using the Simple Green on my clothes or not also?

[ny biker]

I clean grease, sunscreen, road grime, gnats, etc. off my legs with Wet Ones. I keep them in my bike bag along with my other gear. I also keep them nearby when I'm cleaning the bike and lubing the chain, so I can clean my hands right away before I get up and touch a light switch or cabinet handle or whatever. They work great to get grease off your skin.

For clothes, I don't know, I just try to pre-treat with regular laundry detergent.

[Irulan]

I used Dawn and/or Simple Green spot treatments, works fine for me.

[OakLeaf]

I prefer olive oil when it's my skin.

[kajero]

Oh My,
I thought I was the only who suffered from this malady. If it is normal, I will just clean it off as suggested.

We went riding today. My SO watched me get off and one the bike. Apparently it is happening when I get on/off the bike and put my foot down by the chain. I tend to lean the bike that way. Maybe I will have to learn to get on/off from the other side.

[Crankin]

Watch how close your calf is to the chain..
I use orange degreaser to take the grease off of my skin. I have put it on cycling clothes (a little to pre-treat), but generally I use regular stain removal stuff on clothing.
I don't have this problem much, as my DH and son teased me mercilessly when I first started riding, about the chain tatoo being the mark of a newbie. My friend, who has been riding for 20+ years, always has a large one when she finishes a ride. I think when she got her new bike, this started, so it's something about the geometry.

[OakLeaf]

Apparently it is happening when I get on/off the bike and put my foot down by the chain. I tend to lean the bike that way. Maybe I will have to learn to get on/off from the other side.

You're supposed to lean the bike toward the foot you're putting down. Leaning it the other way would be very awkward and a little dangerous. You might not be aware of it, but the way you get off a bike is by initiating a slight lean first, then putting your foot down as the side of the bike gets closer to the ground.

Chain lube is pretty much normal. But if you're getting it much more from one bike than you are from the other, my guess is it's the difference in the lean angle when you dismount. Which you can control somewhat, but you don't want to be putting your foot down too far away from your center of gravity, either.

[marni]

I almost always end up with a clear imprint of the teeth from the front derailleur on the back of my right calf because when I stop I put my right foot down and the push the handle bars away from me a bit and then stand with the bike leaning to the left . If I remember I try to pull the handle bars a bit closer after I step down, but its a hard habit to break. Like someone else commented, if I haven't got a grease imprint or at least a smudge on my leag it is obvious I am not riding enough.

I keep simple green spray bottles in the kitchen and laundry room for cutting counter grease and burn on stick and for spot treating clothes. I buy a bottle of the concentrate and then water it to 50%. I keep handy wipes, Windex window cleaners or Lysol kitchen wipes out by the bike to get the stuff off myself and the bike as I come in from a ride. If I am doing a deep clean on my bike, I use simple green diluted pretty much overall, rinse and dry thoroughly, grease and re-lube and then finish it off with a swipe of pledge furniture spray on the frame to polish it off and keep it a little muck resistant.

[buffybike]

I prefer olive oil when it's my skin.

This or baby oil.