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.
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.