El Duke Degreaser Review : Intro
by Bike Shop Girl
El Duke is a soy based degreaser that has a pleasant smell and easy to handle for the skin.
For the past 5 years I’ve used two different degreasers to clean up my commuter bikes. Oranj Peelz from Pedro’s and diluted Simple Green. As a commuter my bikes get pretty gummed up, frames have the dried up road grime all over them and rims coated so the brakes don’t work very well. The first time I was introduced to a new degreaser, El Duke Degreaser, was on Flickr. El Duke befriended me on Flickr and I continued to follow their Flickr photo stream. When the chance to try out this unique degreaser I jumped to give it a try.
My 15 Minute Trial Run :
(Check out the bottom of this article for photos.)
This past weekend I had 15 minutes to share and my Campagnolo 10 speed drivetrain need some TLC. Pulling the chain off with the handy Wipperman Connex quick link I placed it in an old water bottle, put some El Duke in the bottle and shook. Normally I put a decent amount of Oranj Peelz in the bottle but I didn’t know how much was needed so I started by filling the bottom inch and a half.
Going back to my chain I pulled it out of the bottle, washed it off, and with out scrubbing, wiped down the chain to reinstall.
There was still remnants of dirty grease on the chain and cassette, I know all my mechanic mentors are shaking their head at me but it was what I had time for.
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- Dirty Chain
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- Dirty Chain
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- Dropping Chain in Bottle
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- Tools of the Job
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- Tools of the Job
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- Dirty Cassette
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- Dirty Cassette
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- Dirty Degreaser
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- Cleaning Cassette
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- Chain in the Bottle
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- Looking in the Bottle
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- Cleaner Cassette
Final Thoughts :
Next time I plan on using a plastic sandwich container or something wider and flat for the chain so that I don’t need tons of El Duke to cover the chain and soak. The directions are well wrote but not for someone using their first degreaser. Going forward I’ll document the next testing thoroughly for you all to see.
El Duke elsewhere:
El Duke on Twitter : @ElDukeDegreaser
El Duke has a short review on Eco Velo too.
A plastic gallon milk jug with a top quarter cut away works great for chains.
This review isn’t really doing it for me. You never really get to how well it works, or how well it works as compared to the other two cleaner/degreasers you mention.
Hey Susan,
In the next week you’ll see a full review of how the degreaser works for now it was just an intro to what the prodcut is.
Thanks
Rivendell also swears by El Duke. http://www.rivbike.com/search/run?query=el+duke&commit=Search#product=31-479
Thanks for the review I’ll have to try some out.
Cheers,
Logan.
One low tech degreaser I use is to recyle the first wash from the washing machine. Is is still very sudsy. I would use a paint brush and go thru the bike. It works for bikes that are not too neglected.
For really soiled chains , cassette, I use diesel. I have a jar and I put everything inside and shake it. Don’t throw the diesel. Let the gunk settle for a few days, transfer the clean diesel on the top portion and reuse next time.
Try using a shallow container to degrease the chain and other parts. Usually some agitation is in order to get the grease out of the small spaces in the chain, combined with a soak. The degreaser can also be diluted with water, about 1:1 max.
Here’s another recent review that illustrates well how to use the degreaser on a headset : http://prollyisnotprobably.com/2009/10/review_el_duke_degreaser.php
Thanks for the review!
Nick
El Duke Degreaser
This is so NOT the way to clean a chain!
You need The ShelBroCo Bicycle Chain Cleaning System
Far more effective