Cleaning my bike chain with the Muc-off X-1 chain cleaner

I have used several types of chain cleaners and most of them broke easily, weren’t easy to use and/or weren’t really doing a good job cleaning the chain properly.

One of the many types of chain cleaner I’ve used

When I was ordering some Skins on the Chainreaction website I came across the Muc-off X-1 chain cleaner, which got a few good reviews. I checked it out on the Muc-off website and it looked quite sturdy to me, so I decided to give it a try and ordered it. A few weeks ago I used the X-1 for the first time and I was so impressed I thought it would be nice to share my experience with you guys.

This chain needs to be cleaned…

Ready to clean my Ridley Helium SL and chain

The Muc-off X-1 bike cleaner

The X-1 is wider than the other types I’ve used before, because it has several lateral cogs that drive both a cog with brush that’s mounted on the lid of the cleaner and one cog with brush on the bottom. The plastic is also much thicker than that of the other cleaners and it has a nifty handle. It’s very easy to work with. Step 1: Push the chain into the pink scraper

The dirty chain in the X-1 chain cleaner

Step 2: Slide the lid onto the base

Slide the lid on the cleaner

Step 3: Attach the X-1 handle

The X-1 handle

Step 4: Fill the X-1 with cleaning fluid though the top inlet (obviously Muc-Off Chain Cleaner fluid is highly recommended by Muc-off) until the indicated level is reached.

Muc-off drivetrain cleaner

The X-1 filled with drivetrain cleaner

Step 5: Holding the handle in your left hand, rotate the cranks backwards with your right hand on the pedal for 30 revolutions ensuring you keep the device inline with the chain. Remove the X-1, empty the contents and rinse with water. Repeat steps 1-5.

I was already very impressed after cleaning the chain once, but here’s the result after cleaning the chain as indicated by Muc-off:

The end result: a clean chain

I had also sprayed some cleaning fluid on the cassette and this is the result after repeating the mentioned 5 steps:

The end result: a clean Dura-Ace cassette

I never got such a good result in such a short amount of time, so I’m very happy with the X-1. However, I found it hard to fill the X-1 with the cleaning fluid without spilling some liquid, so it would be nice if Muc-off could add some kind of funnel to make it easier filling it without wasting cleaning fluid.

Note to Muc-off: feel free to send me a new and improved X-1 2.0 with nifty funnel…

Okay, back to watching the tour!