Best household degreasers according to redditors

I transitioned into working on my bikes almost entirely by myself (Wheel building/suspension service/bearings excluded) and this is the exact path I went down as well. Here is everything I bought from Amazon:

The same $50 tool kit

Torque wrench

Cable/housing/wire cutter

Chain/quick link pliers


Wet/Dry Chain lubes

Park Tool grease

Degreaser

Blue Loctite

Carbon grip paste

And some additional small things like cables, cable end caps, ferrules, zip ties, etc. A set of needle nose pliers can be handy to help push/pull stubborn cables/housings as well.

Also, to make working on the bike 10x easier, I recommend getting a stand. I use this one because I am space constrained and it folds up nice and small, but there are probably better ones out there.

It seems like a lot of $$ to lay out at first, but it pays for itself pretty quickly compared to taking the bike to a shop every time you need to do something to it. Basically everything you need to do can be found on YouTube as well.

This is a tough bike. I have one that's about forty years old. It doesn't take much care.

Besides tires and tubes, you also need new brake pads. Cheap but very important.

In order of increasing cost/benefit:

Clean the drive train (all the gears and the chain) with rags and a degreaser. Old toothbrushes and dish brushes can help with this. You want to remove all the black, caked grease and clean the components to the bare metal. Once they are clean, let them dry and lubricate them.

Have a LBS replace the brake and shifter cables and housings. You probably have the original ones. Replacing these greatly reduces the risk of snapping a cable or two on the road, something that can render the bike unrideable. It will also make shifting and braking much smoother.

If your LBS tells you your chain is worn out, they are probably right. This is also a cheap fix. It will make shifting smoother and protect your drive train from excessive wear. It also lowers the risk of a broken chain on the road, which again makes the bike unrideable.

Enjoy!

My mom swears by Stanley Home Products degreaser. I think it’s on amazon. I’ll add an edit with a link if I find it.

Edit: it’s available on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PNEVK6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This has the right chemicals RatVision was referring to.

I got two them for $6.50 on Amazon not too long ago.

Is this he right stuff? Purple Power 4319PS Industrial Strength Cleaner and Degreaser - 40 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002HU0R4K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_sJrQDbC2ZJG9X

Schaeffer Manufacturing 266 Citrol Cleaner and Industrial Degreaser https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008I6T7S4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_D5eEDb0WD5JTB

This? Schaeffer Manufacturing 266 Citrol Cleaner and Industrial Degreaser https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008I6T7S4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_IsfwCb3EQMBTF

Within your price bracket, I'd probably go with this laptop and then use the remaining money to get some Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut to repaste the CPU, and get some Fujipoly thermal pads on everything else.

Laptop: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-i7577-7425BLK-PUS-Inspiron-Display-Gaming/dp/B0764HW116/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=laptopunderbudget-20&linkId=23dbc02451b37425c9e9f20d4ee90f08&th=1&psc=1

Thermal paste: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B01EO2V332/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522528833&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=thermal+grizzly+conductonaut&dpPl=1&dpID=31%2ByxJo3LfL&ref=plSrch

Thermal pads: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ZSJQDYA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522562446&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=fujipoly+xr-m&dpPl=1&dpID=316q%2BqH5aJL&ref=plSrch