chain cleaning

I bought this and after the cleaner ran out use a 50/50 mix of Simple Green.

WD40 is a solvent and light lubricant, and certainly can be used to clean a chain.  Regardless- cleaning a chain is a bit of a pain.  Sure, it's probably best to remove the chain and bathe it in a solvent, and then relubricate her.  I figure if it's easy to do, I'll do it it more often.  I got the Park chain cleaner originally, until I dropped it and it broke.  So, I tried this company's, which is easily just as good if not better than the Park.

http://www.amazon.com/Filzer-CC-2-Chain-Cleaner/dp/B004G7FLFC/

Does a nice job.  I've used Simple Green, but I like the dedicated chain cleaners better.  I got a big bottle of the Spin Doctor stuff from Performance Bike, and mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with water in the gadget.  Does a really nice job.  Wipe it down, apply your favorite lubricant and you're good to go.  I'm not claiming that these chain cleaners are the 'best' way to do the job, but they're certainly an EASY way to do it.

I've personally found that if you use a wet lube, it will quickly attract dust and dirt and after a couple of rides you'll need to clean it again.  If you use a dry lube it won't last as long and you'll have to re-apply.  For me it is easier to simply re-apply a dry lube instead of cleaning and applying more wet lube.  My favorite lube is Rock "N" Roll lube.  I use the Extreme version on all my bikes (Mountain, Road, BMX) but Velo news ran a test a while back and they found Rock "N" Roll Gold to be the best performing commercial lube (pure paraffin wax actually was the best).  The nice thing about the Rock "N" Roll lubes is they clean and lube at the same time.  You squirt a good stream on your chain pedal a little then wipe it all off until no more gunk comes off.  I recommend getting one of their bigger refil style bottles for the best bang for your buck since you will use more than a traditional lube because of the cleaning process.

All of these chain cleaning kits are a waste of time and money when a rag and you're favorite cleaner will do just fine.

I use simple green and a brush I got from target for $2.  Looks like a big tooth brush, but I think it's meant to clean the grout in your shower.  Dip the brush in simple green and scrub the top and bottom side of the chain as you slowly turn the cranks backwards.  Then do each side of the chain, easiest if you do it while the chain is on the big chain ring and again...slowly turn the cranks backwards so you get all the chain.  Then hold the brush against each of the pulley sprockets and pedal backwards.  Shoot the everything down with water...total...less than 5 minutes and it gets my chain far cleaner than I got it while soaking it in degreaser.  I can dry the chain with an old white towel and it the chain gets so clean the towel barely gets dirty.