Please Evaluate My Chain Cleaning Process



Bill Sornson wrote:

> Not to mention, of course, that my post was intended to be good-natured and
> not in any way insulting. Perhaps you failed to grasp that?
>
;-)
 
:)
"Blair P. Houghton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Fitz wrote:
>> Man! That's what I need to ask the wife for: a new centrifuge!
>>
>> I'll be the envy of every garage mechanic on the PLANET!!
>
> You have a centrifuge.
>
> Put the chain back on the bike and spin the pedals backwards
> as fast as you can.
>
> --Blair
>
>
 
[email protected] wrote:
> Fitz wrote:
>
>>I use a 9-speed HyperGlide chain and a SRAM PowerLink. SRAM highly
>>discourages use of a PowerLink with a HG chain, but I've not had a
>>single problem in over 4000K or use.
>>
>>I need your thoughts on the following:
>>
>>To clean, I soak the chain in Nashbar biodegradable solvent and then
>>hose it off with high-pressure water.
>>
>>I lay the chain out on newspaper and allow it to "drain." Then I put
>>the chain in a tub of motor oil and allow it to soak overnight. Then I
>>hang the chain and let it drip. Finally, I wipe the excess oil off and
>>place the chain back on the bike.
>>
>>Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>
>>Fitz
>
>
> Dear Fitz,
>
> Lather, rinse, repeat!
>
> On a slightly more practical note, I used to fuss with my chain a great
> deal, too.
>
> Now I just replace it every 3-4 months with $6 chains bought on sale
> from Nashbar, one of the advantages of older 7-speed technology.

I replace my 9-speed chain with a new $10 KMC
(with powerlink) chain from Nashbar every couple
of months. I might drip some lube on it if I've
ridden in the rain.

--
Scott Johnson / johnson dot sa at comcast dot net
 
a fleet of bikes means more work and more parts to maintain. i'm not
_trying_ to make work for myself.

owning just one bike means: the work gets done right away, or there is
no ride.






Mike Causer wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:31:11 -0700, sal bass wrote:
>
> > 12+ hours to clean a chain????
>
> No problem if you have a selection of bikes to ride. The downside of
> which is that they can all get relegated to the back of the shed awaiting
> some repair or other until to your surprise none of them are ridable.
>
>
> Mike "down to two of four"
 
Fitz wrote:
> I use a 9-speed HyperGlide chain and a SRAM PowerLink. SRAM highly
> discourages use of a PowerLink with a HG chain, but I've not had a
> single problem in over 4000K or use.
>
> I need your thoughts on the following:
>
> To clean, I soak the chain in Nashbar biodegradable solvent and then
> hose it off with high-pressure water.
>
> I lay the chain out on newspaper and allow it to "drain." Then I put
> the chain in a tub of motor oil and allow it to soak overnight. Then I
> hang the chain and let it drip. Finally, I wipe the excess oil off and
> place the chain back on the bike.
>
> Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Fitz

If you don't mind going to that much trouble and your method works for
you, I would say to keep on doing it. In the past I used to go to a lot
of trouble cleaning chains. These days I just use Prolink, applying it
by directing it at the chain and spinning the pedals backwards. Then I
either go for a short ride or run the bike through all the gears on the
stand to work the lube into the chain and let its' cleaning action
work. If the chain is really filthy, I sometimes use one of those
on-bike cleaning machines, but this is rarely necessary. Using these
procedures I get long life out of my chains without spending a lot of
time on them. I don't buy the expensive chains, either, usually just
the cheaper SRAMs.

Smokey
 
Thanks for your response. I appreciated your comments.

Sincerely,

Fitz

===========================================
Smokey wrote:
> Fitz wrote:
> > I use a 9-speed HyperGlide chain and a SRAM PowerLink. SRAM highly
> > discourages use of a PowerLink with a HG chain, but I've not had a
> > single problem in over 4000K or use.
> >
> > I need your thoughts on the following:
> >
> > To clean, I soak the chain in Nashbar biodegradable solvent and then
> > hose it off with high-pressure water.
> >
> > I lay the chain out on newspaper and allow it to "drain." Then I put
> > the chain in a tub of motor oil and allow it to soak overnight. Then I
> > hang the chain and let it drip. Finally, I wipe the excess oil off and
> > place the chain back on the bike.
> >
> > Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Fitz
>
> If you don't mind going to that much trouble and your method works for
> you, I would say to keep on doing it. In the past I used to go to a lot
> of trouble cleaning chains. These days I just use Prolink, applying it
> by directing it at the chain and spinning the pedals backwards. Then I
> either go for a short ride or run the bike through all the gears on the
> stand to work the lube into the chain and let its' cleaning action
> work. If the chain is really filthy, I sometimes use one of those
> on-bike cleaning machines, but this is rarely necessary. Using these
> procedures I get long life out of my chains without spending a lot of
> time on them. I don't buy the expensive chains, either, usually just
> the cheaper SRAMs.
>
> Smokey
 
I just discovered a new way to clean my chain. Using the chain
cleaning machine I drip my paint thinner, candle wax concoction into
the small hole at the top since the detergent they give you is not real
effective. back pedal a hundred times dripping mixture as needed.
Wipe off. It is already lubed with the wax. and continues to get
cleaned while the wax fall off with dirt. Least thats what they say
anyway. time saver ++
 
Fitz wrote:

> To clean, I soak the chain in Nashbar biodegradable solvent and then
> hose it off with high-pressure water.
>

You need to agitate the chain in the solvent, not just soak it, to
flush the crud out.

> I lay the chain out on newspaper and allow it to "drain."
>

I would whip the chain around to get the water out, and then wipe it
down. Maybe use a hair dryer on it, too.

> Then I put
> the chain in a tub of motor oil and allow it to soak overnight. Then I
> hang the chain and let it drip. Finally, I wipe the excess oil off and
> place the chain back on the bike.
>

Sounds good.

Art Harris
 
i don't find cleaning the chain as much pain in the butt as cleaining
the casette, the crank, and the jockey wheels. For the chain - I just
use pedro's chain cleaning tool and orange solvent (can anyone suggest
a cheaper non-oil solvent?). The solvent evaporates overnight, I then
apply lubricant in the morning and go.

the casette, the crank, and the jockey wheels take more work, and there
is no "self-contained" apparatus to clean them. If there were bike-wash
stations, like car-washes, I'd gladly pay $5 to clean my drivetrain.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:

> If there were bike-wash
> stations, like car-washes, I'd gladly pay $5 to clean my drivetrain.

I came across one on the street in Beijing two years ago. It's just like
a commercial drive through wash with motorized roller brushes on either
side and the top all enclosed in this perspex cage. I remembered the guy
charged RMB5 and bikes came out the other end dripping wet and a guy
would wipe the bike down for you. I got a photo somewhere for the
novelty value. Absolutely unique.

I was just a tourist and didn't have a bike to try it out myself. ;)
--
 
> I came across one on the street in Beijing two years ago. It's just like
> a commercial drive through wash with motorized roller brushes on either
> side and the top all enclosed in this perspex cage. I remembered the guy
> charged RMB5 and bikes came out the other end dripping wet and a guy
> would wipe the bike down for you. I got a photo somewhere for the
> novelty value. Absolutely unique.
>
> I was just a tourist and didn't have a bike to try it out myself. ;)
> --

how do they do it at big races? Like TDF? I don't like a the water hose
idea, escpecially b/c I don't see grease solbilize in water. Using a
WD40 hose and adding filter to recycle WD40?
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:

> > I came across one on the street in Beijing two years ago. It's just like
> > a commercial drive through wash with motorized roller brushes on either
> > side and the top all enclosed in this perspex cage. I remembered the guy
> > charged RMB5 and bikes came out the other end dripping wet and a guy
> > would wipe the bike down for you. I got a photo somewhere for the
> > novelty value. Absolutely unique.
> >
> > I was just a tourist and didn't have a bike to try it out myself. ;)
> > --
>
> how do they do it at big races? Like TDF? I don't like a the water hose
> idea, escpecially b/c I don't see grease solbilize in water. Using a
> WD40 hose and adding filter to recycle WD40?

I think it's like a washing machine, they ran a soapy water phase and
then rinse it off with plain water. There were a few people lining up
for the service, but they were all regular street bikes with regular
commute dirt. No muddy ATBs waiting there. :D
--
 
this is OT, but type "machine to wash bicycles" into google, and click
any 2-3 links on the very 1st page. Remarkable how people prefer to
steal ea other's writing as opposed to writing smth themselves.
 
On 8/15/06 2:25 PM, in article
[email protected], "Fitz"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I use a 9-speed HyperGlide chain and a SRAM PowerLink. SRAM highly
> discourages use of a PowerLink with a HG chain, but I've not had a
> single problem in over 4000K or use.
>
> I need your thoughts on the following:
>
> To clean, I soak the chain in Nashbar biodegradable solvent and then
> hose it off with high-pressure water.
>
> I lay the chain out on newspaper and allow it to "drain." Then I put
> the chain in a tub of motor oil and allow it to soak overnight. Then I
> hang the chain and let it drip. Finally, I wipe the excess oil off and
> place the chain back on the bike.
>
> Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Fitz
>

You are an idiot...........
 
ST wrote:

> You are an idiot...........

Wrong group, you are looking for "rec.bicycles.racing".

--
Tom Sherman - Behind the Cheddar Curtain
 
Tom Sherman writes:

>> You are an idiot...........

> Wrong group, you are looking for "rec.bicycles.racing".

Beyond that, the correct phrase is "You are a idiot" it lending more
emphasis to stupidity, as in "you are a ass!"

Jobst Brandt
 
ST wrote:
> On 8/15/06 2:25 PM, in article
> [email protected], "Fitz"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I use a 9-speed HyperGlide chain and a SRAM PowerLink. SRAM highly
>> discourages use of a PowerLink with a HG chain, but I've not had a
>> single problem in over 4000K or use.
>>
>> I need your thoughts on the following:
>>
>> To clean, I soak the chain in Nashbar biodegradable solvent and then
>> hose it off with high-pressure water.
>>
>> I lay the chain out on newspaper and allow it to "drain." Then I put
>> the chain in a tub of motor oil and allow it to soak overnight.
>> Then I hang the chain and let it drip. Finally, I wipe the excess
>> oil off and place the chain back on the bike.
>>
>> Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Fitz
>>
>
> You are an idiot...........

POTM
 
[email protected] aka Jobst Brandt wrote:
> Tom Sherman writes:
>
> >> You are an idiot...........
>
> > Wrong group, you are looking for "rec.bicycles.racing".
>
> Beyond that, the correct phrase is "You are a idiot" it lending more
> emphasis to stupidity, as in "you are a ass!"

My favorite is "I is a college graduate".

--
Tom Sherman - Behind the Cheddar Curtain
 
On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 22:47:44 GMT, Robin Hubert <[email protected]> wrote:

>[email protected] wrote:
>> Tom Sherman writes:
>>
>>>> You are an idiot...........
>>
>>> Wrong group, you are looking for "rec.bicycles.racing".
>>
>> Beyond that, the correct phrase is "You are a idiot" it lending more
>> emphasis to stupidity, as in "you are a ass!"
>>
>> Jobst Brandt
>
>Are you so sure?
>
>http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslart.html
>http://www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter/esl.html
>http://www.refdesk.com/factgram.html (many links)
>
> Robin Hubert

Dumbass -

Over in RBR we only need one word.

Ron
 
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