As you pedal, your bike’s chain should remain almost silent. Squeaks and chirps are the sound of grit slowly destroying your chain and gears. Lubing the chain will help, but first you need to remove that grit.
Fill a little squeeze bottle with degreaser, and as you’re slowly spinning the pedals backward, dribble degreaser over the chain. Ideally, you should do this in a spot where you have access to a hose and a drain, like a garage or backyard.
Soak a clean rag with degreaser, and while you’re loosely holding the chain with the rag, continue to spin the pedals.
When your chain is truly filthy, grab Pedro’s Chain Pig II, fill its reservoir with degreaser, clamp the plastic body around the chain, and crank the links through the “pig’s” brushes and sponges a few times.
Unlike other chain cleaners we’ve tried, the Chain Pig’s brushes don’t shed their bristles (finding bits of plastic stuck in our chain’s links is a real dealbreaker).
