Park Chain Cyclone Cleaner

[Mick F]

I repeat myself: no need to get the chain so greasy that you need nuclear weapons to clean it.

Absolutely!
Do it frequently and often.
Do it BEFORE it needs doing.
It's easy if you do it lots.

Picked up degreaser from the screwfix today, says to dilute it 5 capfuls to 5 litres of warm water, Mick F mixed his 50/50??

Yep.
50/50 into an old water bottle ................. not a bicycle water bottle, but a small bottle of water you buy from a shop. Drink the water and keep the bottle so you can refill at home. We had a couple of empty ones - 500ml? - so I used one of them suitably marked!

50/50 of 500ml is 250ml of the degreaser.

Considering that the 50/50 mix in the filled 500ml bottle only went down a bit, at a guess I can get half a dozen Cyclones full from it. Lets call if five?
TBH, I could have kept the stuff in the Cyclone and re-used it, but instead I washed it down the outside drain by the hosepipe tap.

250ml of Screwfix Degreaser will do five chain cleanings = 50ml per chain.

5000ml bottle = 100 chains.
One chain per month = 100 months = over eight years!

Minimum!!!!!!!

[Sweep]

>>Do it BEFORE it needs doing.

You worry me Mick, you really do.

As for your bottle's longevity, am sure you can find other stuff to degrease, BEFORE it needs degreasing, that doesn't even know it needs degreasing, that might just come into contact with some grease ...


all the best and on your bike

[Mick F]

Great!

My point, is that if you wait until something screams at you to clean it, you should have cleaned it before it screamed.

Back in the old days when I cycle commuted, I could get home after a hard day at work after cycling 17miles back and it could have been raining and filthy. Before getting undressed and into the shower, I'd hose off the bike and wash all the grime and muck off it.

After showering and relaxing, I'd go out into the shed and lube the chain and transmission and inspect the whole bike.
At the weekends, I'd remove the chain and give it a good shoogling.
Yes, the chain could have gone for a month between cleans, but by doing it every weekend, it was easy and quick and it never got so bad that it screamed at me.

[Sweep]

Back in the old days when I cycle commuted, I could get home after a hard day at work after cycling 17miles back and it could have been raining and filthy. Before getting undressed and into the shower, I'd hose off the bike and wash all the grime and muck off it.

After showering and relaxing, I'd go out into the shed and lube the chain and transmission and inspect the whole bike.
At the weekends, I'd remove the chain and give it a good shoogling..

Clearly a remarkable chap to be still married (I think).

Am not even going to ask what shoogling is for fear it's an as yet unexposed act that needs yet more serious degreasing post shoogling.

[Mick F]

Yes.
Married this past 46 years come next month.
Lived from 1973 to 1980 and then 1982 to 1985 in Scotland. I rented a house up there 1991-1992 whilst in a job on Clydeside whilst the family were in Cornwall. Been living here in Cornwall since 1985 and probably will never live anywhere else.

Shoogle ........ is a Scottish expression - Glaswegian perhaps.

It means to shake and mix things, usually in a liquid, but could be dry bits and pieces on a plate for instance.
You could even say that you shoogle playing cards like people would shuffle them.

[philvantwo]

A clean bike is a fast bike!

[francovendee]

:lol:
Great!

My point, is that if you wait until something screams at you to clean it, you should have cleaned it before it screamed.

Back in the old days when I cycle commuted, I could get home after a hard day at work after cycling 17miles back and it could have been raining and filthy. Before getting undressed and into the shower, I'd hose off the bike and wash all the grime and muck off it.

After showering and relaxing, I'd go out into the shed and lube the chain and transmission and inspect the whole bike.
At the weekends, I'd remove the chain and give it a good shoogling.
Yes, the chain could have gone for a month between cleans, but by doing it every weekend, it was easy and quick and it never got so bad that it screamed at me.

That's real bike love

[Mick F]

Yes, bike love!

Going back to the Cyclone and the Screwfix stuff ............... After using it the other day, I washed it out in the outside sink with the hosepipe tap ....... as I said.
I let it drain upside down on a cloth on the workshop bench, and I've just gone to it and looked. It's clean and dry ......... but above all, it doesn't smell!

Gunk would leave it smelly but clean, and white spirit would leave it smelly and oily. This Screwfix stuff washes out perfectly and doesn't leave a residual smell. Ok, I can smell something, but it's just the plastic smell of the unit.

[Brucey]

what does it say in the health and safety guff?

cheers

[rfryer]

Causes skin irritation and serious eye damage.

[elPedro666]

Odd, I've never noticed a smell with Gunk but then I've never sniffed a chain either - am I missing out?! [emoji38]

Joking aside I'm pretty thorough with the rinsing so maybe that's why.

Almost related; I have some lovely almond-smelling leather treatment and the look of confused dismay on my friend's face as he leapt back realising I'd managed to trick him into saddle-sniffing still brings a smile to my face [emoji4]

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my CLT-L09 using hovercraft full of eels.

[Mick F]

what does it say in the health and safety guff?

Mine, from a couple of pages back.

IMG_0416.jpg (20.08 KiB) Viewed 613 times

[philvantwo]

Blimey I'll have to be careful! Although I remember doing experiments at school in the science class, hydrochloric acid.....no gloves, no goggles...no nothing!!

[Mick F]

When I was pouring the 5ltr bottle into my small 500ml little bottle ............ no funnel.
I spilt a bit over my fingers.

No issues whatsoever.
It felt a bit soapy, that's all.

[Brucey]

even quite strong caustics can 'feel soapy' on your fingertips; in many cases this is because your skin is dissolving.

cheers