Going deeper: Giving your chain a heavy-duty cleaning

You should give your chain a deeper cleaning at least once a month — more often depending on the conditions you ride in. With a deeper cleaning, you still leave the chain on the bike (see the preceding section) — the difference is, you first use a degreaser to remove any remaining, broken-down lubrica­tion. You also give the chain a more rigorous cleaning by using a brush or a special chain scrubbing tool.

Most bike shops sell a chain cleaning tool (see Figure 10-10) that has a plastic housing that immerses a chain in degreaser while internal brushes scrub the chain links. This tool gives the chain a much deeper cleaning than you can accomplish with a rag or even a handheld brush.

To give your chain a deep cleaning by hand, follow these steps:

1. With a clean rag, grab the chain on the bottom, between the lower derailleur jockey wheel and the bottom of the chainring.

Figure 10-10: A chain cleaning tool takes your cleaning to the next level.

2. Rotate the pedals in reverse to move the chain through the rag.

3. Drench a rag in degreaser, lightly grab the chain with the rag, and rotate the pedals in reverse to apply the degreaser to the chain.

4. Drag the chain along the surface of a toothbrush while you rotate the chain.

Every few revolutions, rinse the brush off with degreaser.

5. With a clean rag, grab the chain on the bottom, between the lower derailleur jockey wheel and the bottom of the chainring. Rotate the pedals in reverse to move the chain through the rag to remove the degreaser.

6. After you’ve wiped down the chain, apply lubrication to the top of the lower rung of the chain, where it exits from the rear derailleur using a spray can or squeeze bottle.

Be sure all the degreaser is removed before applying new lubrication.

7. Rotate the pedals in reverse to move the chain as you lube it, com­pleting ten revolutions of the chain to make sure you haven’t missed any links.

You don’t need to douse the entire chain in lubricant.

8. Wipe off any excess lubrication using a clean rag (refer to Figure 10-9).

If you have a chain cleaning tool, follow these steps:

1. With a clean rag, grab the chain on the bottom, between the lower derailleur jockey wheel and the bottom of the chainring.

2. Rotate the pedals in reverse to move the chain through the rag.

3. Fill the chain cleaning tool with degreaser to the mark.

4. In front of the rear derailleur where the chain exits, enclose the tool around the chain and rotate the pedals in reverse.

5. With a clean rag, grab the chain on the bottom, between the lower derailleur jockey wheel and the bottom of the chainring. Rotate the pedals in reverse to move the chain through the rag to remove the degreaser.

6. Apply lubrication to the top of the lower rung of the chain, where it exits from the rear derailleur using a spray can or squeeze bottle.

Be sure all the degreaser is removed before applying new lubrication.

7. Rotate the pedals in reverse to move the chain as you lube it, com­pleting ten revolutions of the chain to make sure you haven’t missed any links.

You don’t need to douse the entire chain in lubricant.

8. Wipe off any excess lubrication using a clean rag (refer to Figure 10-9).