Simple Green

Winter riding often means wet, gritty roads that can wreak havoc on your drive chain. It is important to give your bike a good rinse after each ride and to more thoroughly clean it at least once a week. Back in the day, we actually used to use diesel to cut through grease and clean the drive chain, but this is bad for the environment (lets drip petrochemicals everywhere!), questionable for your own health and that of the bike components, and creates disposal issues.  Simple Green has a fabulous line of products that are non-toxic (MSDS sheets are provided for all of them!), biodegradable and work incredibly well. They have a “precision equipment degreaser” but their concentrated all-purpose cleanser also works really well for degreasing. We just spray this on the chain, spokes etc. spend some time with an old toothbrush and when you rinse, everything is shiny and new. If you really want to give your bike the royal treatment before a big race, find a shop with a solvent tank and have the mechanic give all the drive train components a soak.