Chain cleaning. Its a pain but essential. To be honest we don’t just clean a chain we clean the whole transmission. Chain, cassette, chainrings, derailleurs and jockey wheels.
Morgan Blue is my brand of choice. I stumbled upon it when I had my shop and then started to sell it. At the time I was selling Muc-Off and Weldtite cleaning products. They went. A fair number of Pro Team mechanics use their products which is a great endorsement in its own right. Its the best stuff I’ve ever used.
For some, chain cleaning takes so long they either leave it and let it rust or wear prematurely or set aside half a day for a full bike clean. Me. I’m a hardened commuter now so keeping my transmission tip top is essential so once a week I spend 10 mins on a deep clean, longer if I clean the rest of the bike.
To get a good, quick clean, the correct tools are essential.
My transmission cleaning kit consists of the following
- Chain bath
- Paint brush
- Morgan Blue Chain Cleaner
- Sponge
- Soapy water
- Watering can
- Dry cloth
- PTFE spray (WD-40 or GT85)
- Morgan Blue Race Oil
Chain bath. The most essential piece of bike cleaning kit you can own. I have a BBB chain bath which I’ve had for years despite the handle breaking on me. Passing the chain through one of these with a dose of Morgan Blue Chain Cleaner will clean any chain in 30secs no matter how bad it is. More about why in a bit.
Paint brush. I use this to soak up the residue left in the bath and I brush this on the chainrings, the derailleurs and jockey wheels
Sponges. I don’t buy sponges. I use recycled scourers that have outlived their use in a washing up bowl.
Soapy water. To wash the transmission.
Watering can. To rinse the transmission
Dry cloth. To dry the transmission
Morgan Blue Race Oil. To lube the chain
So here is what I do. Start the clock!
- Chain bath on. Clipped in place. Fill to the level with Morgan Blue Chain Cleaner. You need very little. Run the pedals backwards quite fast so the chain gets agitated and a good clean with the cleaner.Tip: Run the chain through it dry before you start. I you don’t and it snags a load of fresh cleaner will pour out.
Morgan Blue is THE greatest chain cleaner I have ever used. Others really have never come close to the speed at which it can clean the caked on grime some chains have. 30 secs is enough, a bit longer for a deep clean. Thats all you need. Its that good
Look at all those pro team labels on the logo! - Remove the bath, dip paint brush in residue and ‘paint’ the rings, cassette, mechs and jockey wheels. Watch that shit just run off!
- Dip your sponge in your warm soapy water (nothing fancy just half a bucket of hot water and washing up liquid) and run the chain through it and wash the mechs, rings, cassette and jockey wheels
- Rinse the whole transmission with your watering can
- Dry everything off with your rag
- Spray the mech pivot points with your PTFE spray to displace any water. I currently use WD-40.
- Lube the chain with Morgan Blue Race Oil. Best oil I’ve used, you only need to lightly lube half the chain. Thats enough. The whole clean takes less than 10 mins
True story. I was introduced to Morgan Blue Race Oil with a demo in my cycle shop. The rep GUARANTEED me it would quieten down a SRAM transmission I had in the bike stand at the time. That was a bold statement! He gave me a sample. Advised me to lube about 10cm of the chain only. To my amazement the transmission went silent. No Bullshit. Silent.
So there it is. Some insight into the greatest chain cleaning fluid and chain lube on the planet and how to it helps me deep clean and lube a chain in 10 minutes.
You can do it if you Morgan Blue it!
Thanks for reading