UKC

If you havent used one before and cycle regularly, get yourself one asap, its amazing how shiny your chain gets with it.
I use the park tool chain scrubber with muc off cleaner, then rinse with water and spray with wd40, then apply my usual thin lube.
This should prolong chain life and make cycling easier.


Anyone else agree? How do you clean your cassette?
Or anyone have any other 'must do' tips?

In reply to ow arm:

Yep. As good as it gets cleaning wise without removing the chain from the bike. Can't remember the make of mine but use Fenwick's bike cleaner with it. Gets most of the grime off the cassette whilst you are doing it but then I use an old toothbrush and pipecleaner with more degreaser to get the rest off. I also tend to use a lot of cheap supermarket own-brand J-cloths to wipe things down, generally clean up, at under 10p a go it's not going to break the bank.

In reply to ow arm:

I agree they are good.

However that muck-off stuff is not allowed with in a mile of any of my bikes. It is the spawn of all evil, and wrecks bearings in days

In reply to balmybaldwin:

interesting re muc off, what do you use then?

In reply to ow arm:

Cassette? None of that these days for me. No need to worry about cleaning when there's only one gear. On my geared bike (which is about a 7 hour drive away from me, sadly) I used to use a park tool chain scrubber or just take the chain off. Cassette got done with a rag folded, pulled tight, bit of cleaner and rubbed between the cogs. Ahh I used to enjoy spending a few hours on a sunday afternoon in the sun with a beer taking the bike to bits, cleaning it and putting it back together again. Thems were the days.

In reply to ow arm:

LIDL have these on sale at the moment for the princely sum of £3.99 including degreaser. Can't say fairer than that!

In reply to ow arm:

I just use a citrus degreaser.

To be fair he muckoff chain cleaner is probably ok, but the spray stuff is really bad for getting into bearings and stripping the oil (which cannot be easily re-greased without removing seals etc.

So for everything other than the chain just use soapy water and regrease after

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Ill be Bearing that in mind next time I use it, arf arf.

Any other cleaning tips worth sharing?

In reply to woolsack:

If they're the same as they offered last time, they're Barbieri cleaners, i.e. a branded product available elsewhere for quite a lot more...

Sadly, since Lidl expunge special offer pages very quickly, I can't check; I think it must have been from last week.

In reply to captain paranoia:

Right first time! I bought one as a spare last night. Crivit Sports packaging but Barbieri moulded on the casing.

In reply to ow arm:

Chain with Fenwick's Foaming Chain Cleaner, and a chain sponge, and cassette with the same stuff and an old toothbrush- works a treat.