A Dirty Chain Comes Clean

Bike chains get filthy - there's no way around it. Mine, however, has gone way beyond filthy into something I can't describe. So, with a little more of that tax refund money, I decided a chain bath would be a sound investment and, man, I couldn't have been more right. I picked up a Park Tool "Chain Gang" cleaning system this afternoon, and went to work on my chain sometime later. Again, lacking a maintenance stand (why haven't I bought one of those yet?) this job was kind of a pain. Trying to keep the bike from falling over, turning the cranks, and holding the chain bath in place all at once requires more hands than I have, but I got it done... eventually. The Park Tool Chain Gang did a heck of a job - that citrus cleaner isn't playing around - it made my chain sparkly clean. It also made a huge mess of everything other than my chain. Seriously - if you use one of these, follow the directions and lay down some newspaper or cardboard, because it's going to get ugly. The derailleurs, cranks, chain-rings, frame and (worst of all) my hands, were an absolute mess - but it got the job done. One filthy rag and ten minutes later, the bike was clean again. Anyway, long story short, the Chain Gang is a small investment that I think will pay dividends later in terms of lengthened component life. And in case you're wondering, no - I didn't get it on sale, and yes, that is a hard pill to swallow. I'll post some before and after photos below - hopefully they'll be large enough for you to see the significant difference between a dirty chain and a clean chain.

Dirty

and Clean