Having a clean bike chain is not just about making your bike look good. Knowing how to clean your bike chain will help your bike perform better while extending the life of your chain and transmission parts. Therefore, it is very important to clean the bicycle regularly, which can save you an unnecessary expense. Clean your transmission parts at least once after every long ride.

Clean Your Bike transmission parts in 7 Steps
1.Clean flywheel.
Shift the freewheel to the largest chainring, drop all the freewheel gears, pour degreaser or soapy water over the freewheel, and start using a brush (an old toothbrush will work too) to clean all the freewheels you can. Then move the chain to the other end of the freewheel and clean the other freewheel. If one time doesn’t work well, try washing it several times until it’s clean.

2.Clean the Chainring.
Now do the same for the chainring, just clean it with a brush. The chain on the chainring can be easily removed for easier cleaning.

3.Clean the guide wheel
Cleaning the transmission parts, the pulley is an easy-to-forget part, it’s the small cogs on the rear derailleur that can get dirty, especially if you’re a trail MTB rider. The brushes can be cleaned, but sometimes you may need to use a small screwdriver or blade to gently scrape the dirt off the pulleys.

4.Cleaning the bike chain
If you have multiple chainrings, move the chain to the largest chainring. Use a brush to clean the chain, remembering to wash both sides of the chain as well. If you are using a special chain washer, it will be much simpler. A special chain washer can wrap the chain in the middle, and then drip soapy water or degreaser into the interior of the chain washer. Try not to spray the degreaser directly on the chain. On the one hand, the degreaser is wasted, and on the other hand, the brake disc will be polluted.

5.Rinse with water
Flushing is simple and important, and you want to avoid using a high-pressure water jet as much as possible, because the high-pressure water jet may get into the bearing area of the bike, and it will also wash away important grease from your bike bearings.

6.Keep dry
Wipe everything down with an absorbent cloth, then place it in the sun for a few minutes. Some people use a blow dryer to remove excess water more quickly.

7.Lubricate the chain
After every cleaning, remember to lubricate the chain and turn the chain. Put a drop of lube on each link of the chain, then keep turning the chain to get the lube inside each link. At the same time, lubricating oil can also be dripped into the bearing part of the guide wheel to achieve the effect of lubrication.

The cleaning interval of the chain should be determined according to the actual riding environment and cleaning at least once a month is essential. It would be much easier to clean your bike if you had a simple bike stand.