So what is everyone using for a chain degreaser?

[aganders3]

TIM DONT USE WD40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats the first rule of thumb in bike maintnence. It wont just wash off like regular degreaser so it will keep the lube out of the links.

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk 2

I think WD40 gets a bad rap in the bike community. It's too thin to use as a regular lubricant, but it can work well for chain cleaning. Just remember to let it evaporate, then wipe/lube/wipe as usual with proper bike lube when you're done. You should be careful with it, though, as the spray can be hard to control and will not be good for your rotors, derailleurs, bearings, etc.

With all that said, I don't use it.

[Tim S]

I agree that it gets a bad rap, it's the same in other communities as well.  I used to use it for cleaning guns too and people always said noooo don't do that, I fired a few hundred rounds every week for almost a year and never had a prob with any of them.

When my chain needs cleaning so do the derailers, I have been hosing them down with WD for years as well and have never had a related problem with them either. 

I hose down the entire drivetrain with it and then take chain lube and just spray it all over the whole drivetrain generously so it's dripping off everywhere.  Some will prob say oh that's bad but those who know me can vouch that my budget diamondback has been through literally thousands and thousands of miles of extreme brutal pounding through mud and rain and snow, and still has the original front derailer on it, original chain, second cassette, second rear derailer (the bearing got loose and it was wobbling all over not a lube or cleaning issue). 

Just to give people who don't know me an idea of the treatment this bike has gotten, I have literally put 9 rear wheels on it and it needs a tenth and I bent the steerer tube on the first fork. 

To this day the bike works as designed with no flaws and perfect drivetrain performance!

[Lamby66]

If I let my chain get really nasty I use a 5 gallon bucket filled half way with "purple power" degreaser and a scrub brush and tooth brush to get the old chain-wax and dirt off. I then blow as much of the degreaser out of the chain with an air compressor. My next step is to use Kerosene (which is much less flammable than some other solvents and still has a slight lubricant property. I go back to the compressor to dry the chain.

I then re-apply Maxima Chain-Wax and wipe down the sides to keep dirt from sticking to the links.

Normally, I can just wipe the chain down with a kerosene soaked rag, then re-apply lube as needed.

[imwjl]

I don't use a degreaser anymore. Since using Rock N Road lube and the chrome plated chains I just clean rub or brush down with its applications and the chain stays fine until it's stretched and time for replacement.