Everyone, at some point in their lives, has had the thought, “Well, why didn’t they just do it this way? It would have been so much better!” Then, sometime later, we see that idea has been taken, as if by magic, and put into production. When we received Pedro’s Chain Pig, we saw our own thought made real in exactly this fashion, and we can’t thank them enough for it.

Pedro’s has been making tools to keep your bike running, and looking, showroom new since 1989, starting with “Syn Lube,” which was so good for mountain and cyclocross it’s still made today. Eventually, Pedro’s grew to something with a cult following; their business expanded to a full set of washes and lubes and cleaning products, and expanded again to include tools. The 11th annual Pedro’s Mountain Bike Festival was held in August of this year. In all, Pedro’s is a bike company that has a history of being committed to the community not just through their products.

Products, by the way, which speak for themselves in terms of quality. Pedro’s Chain Pig is a chain cleaner done right. The pour spout for degreaser is oversized and funneled to help stop spillage. The brushes can be ordered from Pedro’s when they wear out. The top and bottom halves of the Chain Pig are clamshelled together via a hinge rather than just a slip join, making it significantly easier to put together on the bike than other chain cleaners. At the back of the Pig is a little tail that hooks onto the derailleur cage in order to keep it where it should be when running the chain through it – the very feature we have been asking for for years. Finally, cleaning your chain is a one-handed operation that doesn’t end with more degreaser on the floor than soaking in the chain! For anyone who has tried to hold their chain cleaner steady while running the chain backwards, this should come as a welcome change.

Using the Chain Pig is almost too simple. Open the Pig via pressing down on its eyes and slide the top half off of the bottom. Connect the two halves together around the chain and slide the hook over the last derailleur pulley in the cage. Pour degreaser, we used Pedro’s Pig Juice, into the spout, and turn the crank backwards for your preferred number of rotations, Pedro’s recommends 25. No more fighting to keep the cleaner centered on the chain to prevent it binding, or level to keep the degreaser from spilling everywhere, or your attention wavering for a second and having the cleaner catch the teeth on the crank. Just attach the hook and rotate your crank backwards, then dump out the dirty degreaser, done and done. And of course the best part is that you can use that free hand to scroll through new AG reviews on your phone while you clean.

We’ve long said that sometimes the simplest things give us the most joy. Pedro’s Chain Pig is a truly simple item, but it is such a joy to use that it goes beyond such a staid description. This is how a chain cleaner should be; a gold standard to compare others against. If you’re tired of cleaning up the mess being left below your work stand, or just don’t want to wrestle with keeping your handled cleaner perfectly in line, then don’t worry. Pedro’s has you covered.