Cleaning chains with petrol

[usedtobefast]

actually charcoal starter works really well. outside for sure. any petrol based liquid will evaporate quickly. good for you or the environment....
maybe not. but what is when it comes to chains and lube? whales blubber? not if you are a whale. fracking? not so much. french fries...i don't think so. "grease, it's why we love bacon!"

 

[Bustedknuckle]

What do you think about cleaning (NOT lubing) chains using WD-40? I know it's no good as a lube, but does it work as a degreaser, followed by wet lube?

WD-40 is a great solvent, so it works very well.

 

[hiero2]

. . . any petrol based liquid will evaporate quickly. good for you or the environment....
maybe not. . . .

Actually -- not. That's why most of us have such fancy gas pumping nozzles these days - trying to keep the fumes down. But, yeah, if you had to, outside would be better than inside.

Lubes are a different topic, I suppose, but I think enough of my lube technique to share it - simple wax. Americans call it paraffin, or canning wax. I think Brits call it paraffin wax. Another petrochemical product, but one known and in use since Roman times, at least.

Back when I was racing, I was also riding 7-10K miles per year. I had tried a lot of lubricants, and ended up quite satisfied with a silicone lube I found. I had gotten my chain life up to about 2K miles per chain! Then a friend told me he used the wax method, and got 3K plus. I said, "but wax is not a lubricant!" Which is technically correct - but I tried wax, and I've never gone back. Using wax increased my chain life by at least 50%. The only thing I know of that is better would be to use an oil bath - but nobody wants to carry that heavy casing you used to find on bikes that had an oil bath!

I suppose, actually, that there might be superior versions of wax available today, and perhaps superior lubes. Idk - as I don't ride enough any more to justify messing about with it like I did back then.

 

[durianrider]

WORST thing you can do for your chain/bike is use WD40 etc. You just strip off all the healthy fats from your chain.

I get around 15000km from my chain and cassette and ONLY use a rag and elbow grease. I use Pedro's eco lube and its great stuff on my DA/XTR drive trains.

Using solvents is pointless and increases chain wear + you have to deal with it after.