Tedious bicycle cleaning post

Just when you thought my posts couldn't get any more mundane, here's one all about cleaning my bicycle.

Now I've got a bicycle which is a bit better than I've been used to (although still not up to the standards of many many many bicycles), I thought I may as well try to keep it approaching the category of clean. I've been researching (ie. annoying people by asking them loads of repetitive questions) what is the best/most popular method for keeping one's bicycle(s) clean. In particular, I was interested in how people keep their chains and cassettes clean. I've been okay with the rest up until now.

To cut things down a bit, I've had it recommended to me that I use paraffin to soak my chain in and a fifty-fifty mix of petrol and diesel (along with a paintbrush for application) for cleaning the cassette. As we didn't have any petrol, I took off my chain (after the kind gentleman proprietor of the establishment I bought my bike in told me it had a powerlink type of link) and left it soaking in a little tub of diesel for a couple of hours. I would have left it overnight but I need my bike first thing tomorrow morning and don't fancy getting up any earlier than I have to already.

I also used pure diesel to brush around the cassette and chainwheels and I can see why it's probably better watered down a bit with petrol. The consistency (or viscosity, if you prefer) of the diesel is such that it hangs around after it has done its job a bit more than one may like. Presumably the petrol makes it considerably easier to get rid of at the end. Nonetheless, get rid of it I did (or so I hope) and my bicycle is much cleaner than it was. Oh, just to mention, I was a bit of a tool and didn't take off my rear wheel to brush the cassette. As you would imagine, this led to some diesel/filth mix dripping onto my wheel rim and tyre. I think I've cleaned it up properly. I'll know when I try to use my rear brakes anyway.

Although I've always kept my frame and all the non-moving parts clean on my bicycles, I had only scratched the surface of cleaning the cassette, chainwheels and chain (I had used one of those little chain cleaners on the chain before but it wasn't as good as steeping it). Now I'm enlightened, I hope to keep a clean and healthier selection of bikes.

Funnily enough, having one clean bicycle now makes me want to go and clean the other couple of bikes I own and Kirby Girl's. Let the cleanliness obsession begin...