Hot take: soaking a chain in WD-40 before degreasing is a waste of time

I used to do that whole soak thing for 20 minutes before hitting it with degreaser. Last week I just sprayed degreaser straight on a grimy chain from a customer's bike and scrubbed with a brush. Came out just as clean. Anyone else skip the soak step or am I missing something?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakota_miller9311d agoMost Upvoted

Hold on, you scrubbed a customer's grimy chain and just called it good? I'd be showing that to them first to make sure the grit didn't get pushed deep into the rollers. A quick degreaser spray and brush works fine for light dirt, but a heavy grime buildup needs a proper soak to break down the packed-on grease and old lube.

cora8139d agoTop Commenter

Is it really that deep though?

the_olivia9d ago

You know, @cora813, I actually ran into this same thing last week with a customer's old 10-speed that was caked in this sticky black gunk. I just hit it with a good soak in a degreaser (the kind you let sit for like 15 minutes) and then used a stiff brush to get into the rollers, which worked way better than just spraying and wiping. Then I gave it a quick rinse with water, dried it off with a rag, and relubed right after before showing the customer the before-and-after difference.