There are two types of chain clean. The cosmetic one which removes the dark gunk rubbish from the outside and makes chain & sprockets look clean. Bike Juice is good at that and mechanics in bike shops love how efficient it is. And then there is a deep clean where need a solvent to penetrate into the link and start moving built up grime open things up. Bike Mix is formulated in a solvent in an attempt to combine both clean-lube. It does work but it is an expensive way to clean. If you have an old Bike Mix bottle (or similar) then you could clean it out and store Shellite or unleaded petrol in it. Use this hydrocarbon solvent same way you apply the Bike Mix – just stream it on while you rotate chain. When chain is still wet with solvent and the gunk is moving around wipe it down with rag. This will take FOREVER to get spotless. Remember you don’t need to make it spotless. An amount of the dark “gunk” material is not a disaster for performance. You just need to open up the lube pathways into the chain. Once you have had enough applying the solvent and wiping leave the chain to dry out. Then go back apply a good dose of Bike Mix as usual. Leave dry for an hour. Then reapply it leave for an hour. Before you ride wipe the outside down.
Looking for the most suitable chain lube/cleaner for my road bike. I do an average of 100-150 km per week on sealed roads.
