cleaning a chain

[Gish]

got a nice old izumi chain and its just full of gunk and shite, whats the best way to clean it 

[Gish]

anyone 

[bof]

Wd 40 and a tooth brush.  Small wire brush if its not painted

[That Swan Guy]

Similarly, soak in petrol then a scrub

[M5AT]

I soaked a manky one in neat fairy liquid, then poured boiling water over it & scrubbed it with a toothbrush.

most of the fooking paint came off!

[Rodgy1970]

Wash and dry out a 2L milk jug, add 300-500ml of diesel (red is cheap), insert chain shake like fook (chuck a few old bearings in), cut the top off to get it out, may need to give it a scrub with tootbrush and repeat.

Soak overnight in engine oil, hang up and the excess will run off.

[Munnyella]

Dishwasher, hot program, then retire to the shed when the wife sees!

MM

[stidds]

Isopropyl alchohol will clean it up absolutely lovely.

[CD17]

White spirit 

[GaryN]

I've got a chain soaking in Jizer in a plastic container with a lid on it in the garage, every time I go in there I give it a shake.

Hopefully with a bit of work with a tooth or small scrubbing brush over the weekend and a wash down with boiling water and the job should be jobbed.

The amount of cr@p that has come out of it so far is astounding, but by the same token it is the largest bike chain I have ever seen (Sachs 415).

[dan-dare]

White spirit 

Correct....

[kev-s]

this is what i do with my £50 road bike chain once a month to clean out all the road grime and muck etc... so should be ok to do to a izumi chain

get a jug and drop your chain in it then pour in enough petrol to cover the chain (pertol per litre is cheaper than any bike specific chain cleaner)

leave overnight to really loosen all the grit and grime right within all of the links, pour away the petrol, take the chain out of the jug and wash all the grit and grime out of the jug

now pop the chain back in and add some more petrol and give it a good swirl around the chain to remove the last bits of grit and grime

now remove the chain and hang it up for a few hours to allow the petrol to evaporate

refit the chain to your bike and apply some dry lube to each link (finish line dry lube £2 for 4oz bottle)

the dry lube goes on wet and dries within minutes

the chain will run nice and smooth and wont get oil on you

been doing this for years and costs around £6 every 6 months