Use Carb Cleaner to Clean Bicycle Chain?

[The Critic]

I don't have access to a hose here on-campus, so I bought two cans of carb cleaner to clean my chain.

Has anyone used carb cleaner before to clean their bicycle chain? Would the cleaner be too strong for the chain?

Thanks.

 

[Hermann]

I think it would be fine, if it not a o-ring chain. Ruined a motorcycle o-ring chain once with to harsh of a cleaner. a $100 goof.

 

[Chris142]

I think brackcleaner would be a better choice.

 

[Steve S]

Use WD 40.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Steve S
Use WD 40.

I just did, but it feels like it could be even cleaner. The sticky factory lube is difficult to get off.

 

[ilh]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Use WD 40.

I just did, but it feels like it could be even cleaner. The sticky factory lube is difficult to get off.


yikes, the critic, big mistake...

factory lube is regarded as pretty much the best [censored] you can get. why? because at the factory they have a big heated vat of this [censored] that your chain goes through and then it cools off and gets put in the box. the heat lets it get in all the cracks and crannies but then when its cool, its thick enough to stick.

its too late now though... but yes a carb cleaner would work. its awful on you though. like someone else mentioned, brake cleaner does the job just as good, without the carcinogens.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: ilh
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Use WD 40.

I just did, but it feels like it could be even cleaner. The sticky factory lube is difficult to get off.


yikes, the critic, big mistake...

factory lube is regarded as pretty much the best [censored] you can get. why? because at the factory they have a big heated vat of this [censored] that your chain goes through and then it cools off and gets put in the box. the heat lets it get in all the cracks and crannies but then when its cool, its thick enough to stick.

its too late now though... but yes a carb cleaner would work. its awful on you though. like someone else mentioned, brake cleaner does the job just as good, without the carcinogens.

Yeah, I did read Sheldon Brown's page on that. Unfortunately, my chain doesn't feel terribly smooth compared to the old one, and it is VERY noisy. It seriously sounds like it rattles. I was hoping that cleaning the chain and penetrating it with some dry lube would help.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: ilh
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Use WD 40.

I just did, but it feels like it could be even cleaner. The sticky factory lube is difficult to get off.


yikes, the critic, big mistake...

factory lube is regarded as pretty much the best [censored] you can get. why? because at the factory they have a big heated vat of this [censored] that your chain goes through and then it cools off and gets put in the box. the heat lets it get in all the cracks and crannies but then when its cool, its thick enough to stick.



And as the factory lube gets dirty it becomes lapping compound and slowly grinds the life out of the mating surfaces inside the chain.

 

[moribundman]

What the chain factory (in Shenzen? ;-) ) put on the chain may well merely be a preservative to prevent corrosion before the chain reaches the retailer. I would never ASSume the OEM coating is superior lube. The coating on new chains is at least often something similar to cosmolene (parafin wax and petrolatum?) -- great for protection during storage, but not suitable for lubrication.

 

[moribundman]

/\

What the? "Was the..."

 

[tom slick]

I'd soak it in laquer thinner. you'll get a deeper cleaning because the solvent isn't flashing off the surface.