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The ShelBroCo Bicycle Chain Cleaning System
Original article: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html on sheldonbrown.com
- Reproduced with the permission of John Allen and Harriet Fell — all rights reserved. The version on sheldonbrown.com is authoritative.
- Mirrored: 2026-10-06 · Last update of the original: see original
It is well-known that proper chain cleaning is the most vital and important aspect of cycling. There are zillions of doo-dads and gimmicks out there intended to make this task easier for spoiled, lazy cyclists. Unfortunately, there's no "free lunch" in bicycle maintenance, and all of these existing systems are fundamentally mono-buttocked kluges.
The only proper way to clean a bicycle chain is to disassemble it, otherwise there is no way to be sure you've thoroughly cleaned and properly lubricated the critical internal parts where chain wear occurs.
Similarly, there's no way to apply correct lubrication to an assembled chain, since the rollers have different lubrication needs than the link articulation pins do!
Disassembly
Use your chain tool to drive each chain pin halfway out. It only has to go far enough to clear one of the outer plates. If you will be using replacement pins or Powerlinks to reassemble the chain, drive the pins all the way through and discard them.
Cleaning
Ready to go! Tom is all set, properly protected, with a supply of:
Pipe cleaners, paper towels, cotton swabs, Deakinol Rinsing Solvent, Shelbrothane Cleaning Solvent, Shelbroconol Pre-soak, Phil Wood green grease and Deakins White RollerGrease
Lubrication
Lazy, careless cyclists lubricate their chains with various sorts of oils or other liquid lubricants, including "dry" lubricants that are delivered by a liquid medium. Serious cyclists, who value performance and are willing to take the time to do a job correctly use grease, but, of course, disassembly is required to access the surfaces that need to be greased.
If you're a cheapskate, you can use the same grease for both the pins and the rollers, but if you want to do it right, you will use:
- Deakins White RollerGrease for the rollers, so they can roll freely.
- Phil Wood green grease for the pins, which are the parts that usually wear first.
| 6. Lubricate each roller using Deakins White RollerGrease 
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7. Lubricate each inner plate hole using Phil Wood green grease 
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This is the step that makes your chain better than new! When chains come from the factory, they're lubricated by dipping, so that the same lubricant is used on all parts of the chain. This is a cost-cutting move on the part of the manufacturers, who choose a lubricant that is a compromise between an optimal roller lube and an optimal pin lube. Real Cyclists, however, eschew such penny-pinching compromises, and use the correct lubricant for each application, even if it is a bit more trouble.
Re-assembly
Re-assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
The ShelBroCo Chain Cleaning Kit:
Basic Kit $69.95
Basic Kit Includes:
- Park CT-3 Professional Chain Tool
- Phil Wood green grease
- Cotton Swabs
- Pipe Cleaners
Shimano Deluxe Kit $199.95
Basic Kit Includes:
- Park CT-3 Professional Chain Tool
- Phil Wood green grease
- Cotton Swabs
- Pipe Cleaners
- 114 Shimano Replacement Pins (cost $71.82)
SRAM Deluxe Kit $249.95
Basic Kit Includes:
- Park CT-3 Professional Chain Tool
- Phil Wood green grease
- Cotton Swabs
- Pipe Cleaners
- 57 SRAM Power Links Note, if you use this option, you don't need to clean the outer links or chain pins, because these are replaced by the Power Links (cost $102.60).
| The co-inventor of the ShelBroCo Bicycle Chain Cleaning System, and inventor of Nanodrive, Product W, Carrababy, Tork-Grip Universal Torque Wrench, Real MAN Saddles, Symmetrispokes, the Geomagnetic Booster, and POWerwheels, Sheldon "Genius, But Modest" Brown |
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| George Brown photo |
| Check Out All These Fine ShelBroCo Products: |
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*Warning! Shelbroconol Pre-soak ®
Shelbroconol Pre-soak ® is the ideal pre-soak for chain cleaning, especially when used in conjunction with Shelbrothane Cleaning Solvent ®, but it is extremely carcinogenic. Do not breathe vapors from Shelbroconol Pre-soak ®, or you will almost certainly develop lung cancer within two weeks!
*Warning!Shelbrothane Cleaning Solvent ®
Shelbrothane Cleaning Solvent ® is the finest chain cleaner ever developed, especially when used correctly in conjunction with Shelbroconol Pre-soak ® and Deakinol Rinsing Solvent ®. However it is EXTREMELY toxic! In case of skin contact, immediate amputation is indicated.
If swallowed, do not bother to induce vomiting, it won't do any good, you're a goner!
*Warning! Deakinol Rinsing Solvent ®
Deakinol Rinsing solvent is the ideal solvent for chains, and is perfectly compatible with all chain lubricants, road dirt and rust, but it is highly volatile and explosive. Deakinol Rinsing Solvent must NEVER be allowed to come into contact with Shelbroconol Pre-soak, as this combination is highly explosive, and will detonate without warning!
*Warning! Deakins White RollerGrease ®
Deakins White RollerGrease is the ideal lubricant for chain rollers, but it is important to keep it away from skin contact, as it will cause intense, unbearable itching!
