# What do you use to clean and lube your bike?



## Andrius.B (20 Jul 2012)

Usually I just use water and sometimes car soap, and any type of oil I can find laying around for lubrication of the chain and pivots.
What do you use for cleaning and lubrication? (especially the chain)


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## MissTillyFlop (20 Jul 2012)

Depends, sometimes that Fairy extra strength stuff, sometimes (if I'm feeling flush), I use this:






And then this to lube:





I did try this for a time, but I found it quite disappointing for the price:


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## mickle (20 Jul 2012)

Car shampoo and any decent bicycle chain lube in a bottle.


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## Sandra6 (20 Jul 2012)

I use muc off cleaner and wet lube.


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## Andrius.B (20 Jul 2012)

is there much difference between chain lubes? Do road/mtb bikes use different ones? Which is better, dry or wet?


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## MissTillyFlop (20 Jul 2012)

Andrius.B said:


> is there much difference between chain lubes? Do road/mtb bikes use different ones? Which is better, dry or wet?


 
I find wet lasts a lot longer but you have to clean your chain more often


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## Andrius.B (20 Jul 2012)

which one would you recommend for commuting?


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## helston90 (20 Jul 2012)

If it helps you decide Muc-off are giving away free samples at the moment (another one jumping on the Tour de France bandwagon- not that I'm complaining!) http://muc-off.com/en/sample


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## slowmotion (20 Jul 2012)

Jizer degreaser
Finish Line wet lube (green bottle)
LMX grease 
baby wipes
car shampoo


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## GrumpyGregry (20 Jul 2012)

Road bikes? Baby wipes, WD40 as a solvent to clean cassette and other uber greasy bits like jockey wheels, and lube is Green Oil

MTB? jet wash, washing up liquid then as above.


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## 2wd (20 Jul 2012)

To clean and protect the frame I use car wash,baby wipes,GT85

For the chain I've just started using Muc-off C3 Ceramic wet lube and its superb


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## Cubist (20 Jul 2012)

Car shampoo and a sponge/brush. Chains are Mickled then Finish Line Dry Ceramic Wax, all surfaces wiped over with a rag and GT85 except brake rotors.


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## subaqua (20 Jul 2012)

GT85 or WD40 on a rag for the greasy bits .tesco baby wipes for other bits. chainsaw chain oil for the chain and othr moving bits in an old btwin derailleur oil bottle for easy aplication.


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## GetAGrip (20 Jul 2012)

Car shampoo - thanks Cubist for that tip.
Baby wipes - thanks......almost everyone on here.
Mr Sheen - Thanks fossyant
The chain is mickled with dry lube - thanks mickle (a lot of the streets bikes are now mickled regularly)


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## Peteaud (20 Jul 2012)

helston90 said:


> If it helps you decide Muc-off are giving away free samples at the moment (another one jumping on the Tour de France bandwagon- not that I'm complaining!) http://muc-off.com/en/sample


 
thanks


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## Pedal pusher (21 Jul 2012)

Peteaud said:


> thanks


Thanks for that hopefully my sample is in the post


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## Melonfish (21 Jul 2012)

gt85 on rag for the greasy stuff, muc off for the bike as a whole and mickle method for the chain using finish line wet.
seems to work really well overall


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## Cubist (22 Jul 2012)

Pedal pusher said:


> Thanks for that hopefully my sample is in the post


Don't hold your breath, I ordered a free sample over three weeks ago and it still isnt here.


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## RhythMick (22 Jul 2012)

I bought 5L of ViroSol from the web for about £15 delivered. It's a citrus degreaser and seems to both bike friendly and environmentally neutral.

Yesterday I did 30 miles of muddy transpennine trail and the bike was caked. Hosed the kak off, ViroSol on a cloth to reach the awkward spots. Finally ViroSol (neat) in the Park Chain Cleaner and it all looks spanking new.

Then lubed with Finish Line Wet.


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## jackthelad (22 Jul 2012)

totally love finishline dry lube,really keeps the chain clean,but after using it have went back to finishline wet lube cross country,the weather in this country does not make it cost effective to use a dry lube.

PIck up a bag of recycle cloths for about a tenner janitorial supplies,mickle the chain
get an old piece of carpet or car mat ,turn the bike upside down take of rear wheel and run a cloth thru the cassette
very rarely degrease as I do this method everytime I take the bike out,only takes mins
.If the bike frame is carry very little dirt I wipe it down with baby wipes,if a lot of road dirt then I use a garden pump sprayer with hot water,takes most of the dirt off,then just a light wipe with soft cloth,finish off with some mister sheen ,all done in a relaxing 30 mins


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## lejogger (23 Jul 2012)

The single biggest revolution for my bike cleaning regime has been the switch to baby wipes. In superdrug they were buy one get two free the other week. Absolutely brilliant for cleaning everything, the grime just comes off so easily.

GT85 is also a godsend for the awkward stuff like an initial spray on the cassette with a good scrub with a toothbrush, but a baby wipe to finish off as well.

Like anything though the key is to keep on top of it and not let the grime build up. I was in that unfortunate position yesterday and it took me a good few hours to strip everything down and get it back to shiny silver instead of black.

Try to be sparing with your lubrication of the chain. I'm sure it's already been mentioned, but the mickle method is the way forward.


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## Andrius.B (23 Jul 2012)

I just bought some degreaser and dry lube. Never used dry lube before, but thought of just giving it a try.


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## Fnaar (23 Jul 2012)

Mrs F and I always use a wet lube. Mind you, my pump and her stays often end up covered in gloop. 

-----------------------------------
Sent mobile phone stylee


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## MattHB (23 Jul 2012)

baby wipes for everything, with the help of some muc-off for the undersides that catch the crud. WD40 as a solvent for cassettes. Mickle method for chain with baby wipes and wet lube (any light oil).

Finish off with Mr.Sheen on just about everything


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## Pedal pusher (23 Jul 2012)

Cubist said:


> Don't hold your breath, I ordered a free sample over three weeks ago and it still isnt here.


:-( u made my day .........not


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## AlisterJ (24 Jul 2012)

bit of a silly question here....I get the cleaning of the frame and forks(iused car shampoo and a cloth!) but how and how often do you have to clean or oil the chain.


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## MattHB (24 Jul 2012)

AlisterJ said:


> bit of a silly question here....I get the cleaning of the frame and forks(iused car shampoo and a cloth!) but how and how often do you have to clean or oil the chain.



Every 30 miles or so, so about 3 times a week  more in the winter, probably after every ride.


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## AlisterJ (24 Jul 2012)

MattHB said:


> Every 30 miles or so, so about 3 times a week  more in the winter, probably after every ride.


Thats put paid to my 31 mile route then !!


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## Andrius.B (24 Jul 2012)

MattHB said:


> Every 30 miles or so....



Are you serious?
What kind of roads are you riding?


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## MattHB (25 Jul 2012)

Andrius.B said:


> Are you serious?
> What kind of roads are you riding?



There's a back road near me that normally ends up at the start of my routes that's just full of dust and well... Poo. I'm an obsessive chain cleaner


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## Sekretsource (3 Aug 2012)

Has anyone tried diesel, I have used the same 1 litre for the past year. After cleaning I let the muck settle for a day in a bottle then pass liquid through a cigarette filter plugged at the bottom of a sweetcorn can. Cannot stand to use water . My chains have latest more than 8000 miles . I prefer to use sram pc951 or X9 chains, cleaned every 50 miles and lubed with wet lube .Checked once a week with park tool chain stretch indicator.
I do not use the brush type rotating chain cleaner as it does nothing on the inside of the chain. I use an old battery driill with an old deraileur cog stuck in the jaws. I have it on the table , set to low and slowly circling the chain in a bottle of diesel on the floor.


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## slowmotion (3 Aug 2012)

Sekretsource said:


> Has anyone tried diesel, I have used the same 1 litre for the past year. After cleaning I let the muck settle for a day in a bottle then pass liquid through a cigarette filter plugged at the bottom of a sweetcorn can. Cannot stand to use water . My chains have latest more than 8000 miles . I prefer to use sram pc951 or X9 chains, cleaned every 50 miles and lubed with wet lube .Checked once a week with park tool chain stretch indicator.
> I do not use the brush type rotating chain cleaner as it does nothing on the inside of the chain. I use an old battery driill with an old deraileur cog stuck in the jaws. I have it on the table , set to low and slowly circling the chain in a bottle of diesel on the floor.


That is simply awesome! Maximum respect!


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## mickle (3 Aug 2012)

Sekretsource said:


> Has anyone tried diesel, I have used the same 1 litre for the past year. After cleaning I let the muck settle for a day in a bottle then pass liquid through a cigarette filter plugged at the bottom of a sweetcorn can. Cannot stand to use water . My chains have latest more than 8000 miles . I prefer to use sram pc951 or X9 chains, cleaned every 50 miles and lubed with wet lube .Checked once a week with park tool chain stretch indicator.
> I do not use the brush type rotating chain cleaner as it does nothing on the inside of the chain. I use an old battery driill with an old deraileur cog stuck in the jaws. I have it on the table , set to low and slowly circling the chain in a bottle of diesel on the floor.


Can you tell us how much time this takes (expressed as a percentage of your waking hours)??

I suspect that my remaining life is not long enough for such shenanegans.


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## Sekretsource (3 Aug 2012)

mickle said:


> Can you tell us how much time this takes (expressed as a percentage of your waking hours)??
> 
> I suspect that my remaining life is not long enough for such shenanegans.


 .....................................................................................................................................
I knew my comment would cause a few eyebrows to be raised or eyes to be rolled up.

First of all I only use chains with quick links. I remove chain , coil up - place in old ice cream tub, pour in a BIT of diesel , scrub with old toothbrush . drain liquid into another glass bottle., repeat x 2........maybe 2 mins.
Then I join the ends , mount on drill with battery and leave it to circulate for 10 minutes into another bottle with diesel.... this will now leach the crap from the pins and inside the rollers.
Leave to dry for a while .
Lube chain on one side only on the plate overlap while laying flat on surface using eye drop bottle....this guarantees lube to penetrate TO WHERE IT'S NEEDED MOST, into the pins and out the other side.

Before I get slated for time wasting I will now attempt to make a little video, place on youtube and attach link here.​


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## Ticktockmy (3 Aug 2012)

Ok, I give in, I am guilty of being a lazy bugger, the bike gets washed about once a year, cannot see the point of washing of one load of crap, only to replace it a day or two latter.
Chain get lubed each day before riding, use a homemade mix of white spirit, cooking oil and telfon grease, stirred not shaken till it a nice gloopy liquid, once lubed the cranked are turned for a few turns to get the lube into the rollers, then wiped off with a cloth.


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## fossyant (3 Aug 2012)

Can't go far wrong with an oily cloth, quick wipe of dirt off chain, then re-lube with Finish Line Ceramic Wax (Dry) in the clear and Gold labled bottle. Works very well in the wet.

The cheaper Finish Line Dry Teflon (black bottle red lable) isn't quite as good.


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## helston90 (3 Aug 2012)

Going back a few posts- has anyone here received their free sample of Muc-off?
I've not received my sample or any e-mail from them and starting to feel like I may have been tricked!


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## MissTillyFlop (3 Aug 2012)

Wet


Andrius.B said:


> which one would you recommend for commuting?


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## fossyant (3 Aug 2012)

MissTillyFlop said:


> Wet


 
Dry !


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## mickle (3 Aug 2012)

Dry.


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## GrasB (3 Aug 2012)

Dry lube for most things.



MissTillyFlop said:


> I find wet lasts a lot longer but you have to clean your chain more often


Cleaning the chain well also mean re-lubing the chain  so how can wet last longer if you're cleaning the chain more often?


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## MissTillyFlop (3 Aug 2012)

GrasB said:


> Dry lube for most things.
> 
> 
> Cleaning the chain well also mean re-lubing the chain  so how can wet last longer if you're cleaning the chain more often?


 Because I found that I was having to reapply the dry stuff more or less every time I went out.


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## GrasB (3 Aug 2012)

Why did you think you needed to re-lube the chain? Dry lube tends to leave the chain nosier than wet lube but the noise is different. With wet lube I need to clean the chain every (other) day depending how wet the weather is. With dry lube I usually can leave it 3 days (150 miles) before re-lubing the chain.


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## Dave 123 (3 Aug 2012)

I use my little Filipino butler called Godfrey. It's very un PC, but he does a lovely job, and he doesn't charge too much!


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## tincaman (3 Aug 2012)

I use Chain-L, currently on 300 dry miles on the weekend bike since the last lube, just Mickled after each ride with baby wipes. Talking of which I find the Lidl ones best if you like them very moist, Asda if you want dryish.


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## Andrius.B (4 Aug 2012)

Just got some dry teflon lube. I love it.


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## Pedal pusher (5 Aug 2012)

helston90 said:


> Going back a few posts- has anyone here received their free sample of Muc-off?
> I've not received my sample or any e-mail from them and starting to feel like I may have been tricked!


No to both I'm with you but they now have our email address to sell on


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## Andrius.B (5 Aug 2012)

Didn't hear from the muc-off guys too.


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## Nigel-YZ1 (5 Aug 2012)

Wash with Muc-Off.
Clean the chain with light oil and an old rag.
Lube up chain n stuff with Finish Line dry lube.


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## FatherCrowe (5 Aug 2012)

Dave 123 said:


> I use my little Filipino butler called Godfrey. It's very un PC, but he does a lovely job, and he doesn't charge too much!



Lol


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## Cubist (5 Aug 2012)

MissTillyFlop said:


> Wet





fossyant said:


> Dry !





mickle said:


> Dry.


 
moist please......


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## jim55 (5 Aug 2012)

Pedal pusher said:


> No to both I'm with you but they now have our email address to sell on


another one ,i even liked it on facebook


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## wisdom (5 Aug 2012)

I allways use the mickle method for the chain but for the frame i apply silicone spray to a cloth and wipe the frame etc(not rims or brakes).Makes frame cleaning easy for the next time and provides a protective coating.I have never used degreaser yet.


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