El Duke Degreaser

A year and a half ago we bought eight degreasers and tested them on a new Shimano chain to see if they could remove the Special Factory Lubricant. It is good lubricant, there's no compelling reason to remove it, but the fact that it foiled eight famous degreasers just made us want even more to find a degreaser that could slay the stuff.

The one non-compelling reason to remove it is to prepare the chain for a less goopy lubricant, like frinstance T-9, or ProLink. Any lubricant tells you to start with a clean chain, and they're meaning as close to bare metal as you can get.

The guy who makes this emailed me and wanted me to try it and wanted to send me a bottle. I politely told him if it won't strip Shimano's Special Factory Lubricant, don't bother sending. A week later it came in the mail, and I immediately put four ounces of the lube into a water bottle, added the Shimano chain, shook for a minute, then let it sit.

After 18 hours I took it out and dried it off, and the Special Factory Grease was 95 percent gone. Given its soy base and environmental friendliness, I'd have bet $10,000 against it. The inventor is a food scientist. He knows about grease and how to break it down. What else can food scientists do?