The Most Efficient Way To Deep Clean Your Bike Chain

Nothing feels better than a sparkly clean chain! Ollie is here to talk you through one of his favourite and most effective ways of stripping and cleaning dirty chains.

Useful Links:

Let us know your chain cleaning process in the comments 👇

Watch more on GCN Tech...

🎵 Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵

Bubbles a la Carte - baegel
Caribbean Desert - Tiki Tiki
Ridiculo - Martin Landstrom
Safe Travels - Matt Large
The Nckbrker - Matt Large

#gcntech #gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife #chaincleaning #bikechain

📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sprint Cycling Agency

Brought to you by the world’s biggest cycling channel, the Global Cycling Network (GCN), GCN Tech is the only channel you need for all things bike tech – past, present and future.

Simply put, we’re obsessed with tech: we seek out and showcase the best in bikes, components, tech, accessories, upgrades and more from races and events, tech shows and product launches across the globe to bring you the best in road bike technology.

We’ve also got great maintenance videos to help you get the most from your bike; pro-bike tours from all the biggest races; special features and the weekly GCN Tech Show. We also take a deeper look into the future of cycling, apps, smart tech and virtual riding.

Join us on the channel and the GCN App to submit your content, vote on the latest tech and keep abreast of exciting new trends.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Watch our sister channels:

[gcntech]

Let us know your chain cleaning process 👇

[sandro]

Extra details on the last comment from Ollie: Chain stripper is a great product but it is designed for brand new chains and stripping factory grease. Josh from Silca points out in the Silca channel, using chain stripper on a used chain is a bit of an expensive route. You can save yourself some money using a citrus degreaser (do several baths) + a final acetone bath.

A fcouple of details that are not quite right:
- The chain stripper is bio-degradable and safe, but what about all the black gunk coming out of the chain... not so much, i.e. pour it on the sink at your own risk.
- You can still hot melt immerse a used chain, but only if it has not been used enough to wear the initial tungsten (or othe alloy) coating... ~200 miles of use.

Note: I got these details from watching the videos on the SILCA channel... Josh, the company owner, is an amazing engineer.

Kudos to GCN from moving away from Muc OFF to Silca as a sponsor, Silca is just a superior company with superior products.

[Bonneville]

The chain stripper product may be safe to dispose of down the sink, but once it has been used to clean a chain it contains grease and other contaminants that should be disposed of properly.

[chillipepper]

My method… plastic container with screw lid, petrol just enough to cover, swish around for a couple of minutes, repeat again with fresh petrol. Then, drain the petrol, add isopropyl alcohol to cover chain and swish for a couple of mins then drain. Then get a cheap plastic kitchen colander, pour 2 kettles worth of boiling water over the chain. Allow to rest for 5 mins to cool, run the chain through a micro fibre cloth to dry. You’re now super clean and ready to use any lube/wax you want. This method has saved £’s over the years vs. expensive branded gimmicks… #hack! 😉

[larrylem]

At the end, I was expecting Ollie to say what he recommends to clean a dirty chain. Instead, he repeats that he doesn't recommend using the Silca chain stripper for anything but a new chain.

[PoulHansenDK]

As with all (expensive) cleaners, just leave it in the glas, let the crud settle on the bottom, till next time, where you can decanter the clean top liquid and only discard the smal amount of crud on the bottom.

And as with all cleaners, even watersoluble ones, wash the item in hot soapwater and rinse, to remove all remnants of the cleaner.

[stephencharles]

As is often the case in these types of comms, yes, the stripper liquid may be friendly to polar bears. But after it has been mixed with your old chain gunk, well, not so friendly after all!

[brianschiff]

Using carburetor cleaner will strip the grease off a chain just as fast for a quarter of the price and you’ll get four times as much. After washing with water, soak the chain in Isopropyl alcohol to displace any remaining water trapped in the links and the chain is clean.

[alexanderscott]

Use mason jars so you can properly reseal and reuse the contents, over and over. If your cleaners get mucky you can filter them with a funnel and paper coffee filters.
Install the master link on the chain for the process, so it gets treated at the same time.
Oiled/greased chains:
- Jar clean in naptha
- Wash with soap and water
- Jar clean in methanol
- Air dry
- Wax
Waxed chains
- Boil in water
- Jar clean in methanol
- Air dry
- Wax

[Gsyncro]

That's a fine setup for clean dirt... When I'm running winter mode, the chain is a disposable really!! I just run it through brake cleaner and oil it with 5W or whatever my car craves!! It's a weekly routine... I may skip a week if it's really cold and dry and there's not too much road salt and slush... If it gets really wet, then I might do it twice a week. Also, with the brake cleaner I use 2 jars... So the chain goes in a clean jar and I pour in the cleaner. After the chain has been washed, I leave the dirty solvent to decant for a while and pour the clear stuff into the second jar. The dirty jar gets wiped clean and the process repeats.

Like I said, this process is extreme and won't give you a nice clean chain, but for the winter beater it gets that chain through it's season and saves you the watts from the crusty rust that's bound to form regardless!! I think I should start burying my chain in a cemetary and put up little crosses on each tomb!!

[markroberts]

Do it old school, clean your chain and cogs quick. Pine-sol or Pine-O-Pine. Natural degreaser and cheap.
Everyone I knew competitively racing for five years did the same cleaning.
Do this outdoors. Mix the cleaner @ 4:1 water to cleaner.
Apply with a nylon brush like a chain brush, while rotating your crank/wheel/cogs. You’ll see a lot of dirty liquid coming off your chain and cog. Shortly sparkling clean. Spray with water, while rotating. Allow to air dry. Lube.
I’m all for protecting my gears. Chains are cheap. Time is the thing we wanted to save, and be willing to clean frequently. We did, because this is cheap. Use the lube of your choice. Many of us used Pedro’s.

[Seppster]

Can someone send Ollie a box of nitrile gloves?? 😁

[Jacob]

Beware - tapping glass with metal may cause glass failure

[asifditta]

Great way to deep clean your chain I use white spirit 😊 cleans and sparkles my chain

[charleshulsey]

For USA - a clean Gatorade bottle works best

[EatMyPropwash]

Dirty waxed chain: shake the chain in a jar of mineral spirits. Let sit for 30min, remove and wipe. If still dirty repeat until towel wipes are clean. Then, drop chain in denatured alcohol, shake, remove chain, and dry completely, but don’t let it sit longer than 10 min or it’ll rust. Then you’re set for waxing.

[socopower]

Did you just remake Alex’s chain-cleaning epic jar clip so you can advertise Silka’s stuff?? Btw, letting your wet, unprotected, chain to air dry is a BAD idea unless you like building rust on it…

[declanbroderick]

How environmental is it to wash the oil and grease from the chain down the sink?

[Kenjiro]

Clean mineral spirits in a thick plastic jar with a tight lid. Chain goes in, gets swirled around and comes out completely clean of everything, waxes, grease, dirt, lube. I have always used firearm oil to lubricate each roller/pin because the bottle comes with a needle tip and the oil is a great viscosity for bike chains; it's thick enough to stay in the rollers, but thin enough not to be gummy.

[abedkaoussarani]

I do the same with the addition of a final rinse with isopropyl alcohol 99%. It will displace water quicker and the chain will dry way faster.