In the spirit of cleaning the road bike Shimano 10 speed chain, I soaked the chain in Simple green degreaser (the concentrate without diluting it) for 15 min and washed it off with brush. Not being satisfied with the results, I then soaked chain again in Simple green concentrate for another 24 hrs. I took it out and cleaned it and now rust is showing up. Is it safe to use the chain again? How can I clean this off. It’s a chain with ~3700 miles on a Tiagra group set.
by kocharking
6 Comments
You don’t want to soak a chain in simple green, it will cause it to become brittle. I don’t know if you’re at that point but if you want to soak in the future use mineral spirits.
Removing all the grease is good but you need to thoroughly wax or oil the chain after you do so. Otherwise you’ll get a bunch of surface rust.
>I soaked the chain in Simple green degreaser
Not good. That can destroy your chain but hey…
Did you measure the chain for wear? a 10 speed tiagra chain probably doesn’t even warrant a de-grease at 3700 miles as it’s probably worn out anyway.
Don’t soak chains in degreaser for long periods, especially simple green. I would get a new one personally
Simple green probably isn’t going to hurt your steel chain directly, but it could accelerate corrosion if not completely rinsed off the chain. To prevent this, thoroughly rinse with water, dry the chain with a towel, then spray with a lightweight water displacing lubricant (if on the bike shield your brake rotors). Wipe with a dry towel and apply your preferred chain lubricant. You shouldn’t have any more corrosion problems, but the other comments are spot on about the mileage. I’ve never had a chain last that long.
Also… I know a lot of people complaining that shimano chains rust quickly unless properly dried then greased, regardless the degreasing process.