How often do you Clean and lube your Chain?

SwissToni

How often do you Clean and lube your Chain in the Winter?
Do you do it when it looks/feels bad or after a certain amount of Miles/Rides.

dahat

After every spin in winter.

Clean chain always runs better.

secman

dahat wrote: »

After every spin in winter.

Clean chain always runs better.

Begs the question, what is the best way to do this, do you use one of the chain gizmo cleaning yokes ?

Or toothbrush or a proper tool ?
Is this the right sequence ?

1. Muck off or similar
2. Degreaser
3. Dry the chain
4. Relube with dry lube in summer and wet lube in eh winter.

Whatwicklow

Lube plus good wipe every spin
Full degrease ever 4/5/6/7 spins depending on weather

ford2600

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=100165885&postcount=16

now 7500km on chain, just under 0.5% wear so should be good for 10k km.

Just an old rag.

Both KMC and Campagnola specifically instruct not to use a solvent on chain; the Italians say just use a rag

dahat

secman wrote: »

Begs the question, what is the best way to do this, do you use one of the chain gizmo cleaning yokes ?

Or toothbrush or a proper tool ?
Is this the right sequence ?

1. Muck off or similar
2. Degreaser
3. Dry the chain
4. Relube with dry lube in summer and wet lube in eh winter.

I use a Park Chain tool with Shimano Degreaser then wash as per normal with rest of the bike.
Use a little GT85 to remove water then dry off and use Wet/dry lube as per season.

Only cycling a few months so maybe others have better systems but this works for me.

Sarz91

I used to use those chain cleaning tools and found them grand. Chain would still come out dirty and the more I used it the worse the chain cleaner would get. Maybe a bit snobby but I'm looking at picking up one of those ultrasonic jewelry cleaners to do both the chain and cassette. I've heard they're supposed to be the best way of doing it and they aren't excessively expensive. You can find them for about €50.

Wishbone Ash

On road bikes it depends on weather during ride. If it has been wet I'll clean after every ride.

I remove the chain and clean it with diesel. I'm not that fussed about extending it's life for the sake of €20.

(Don't spend much time on the single speed/fixie chain. Wipe with a rag every so often and relube. Remove and clean once a month or so).

07Lapierre

I've a winter bike which is cleaned every week. Chain is decreased and relubed once a week.

The other two are washed, degreased and relubed after each ride

Annie get your Run

Oh crikey, I was just thinking I must look up how often I should 'service' my road bike - have it since July and haven't done anything RE cleaning oiling etc :eek: when I was a kid my dad used to put 3 in one oil on my racer - I take it that's have moved on since then !!

I commute 3 times a week 25 miles return - what should I be doing & how often (sorry, I should have put stupid question alert at the start.. )

tuxy

After every ride I inspect the jockey wheels and clean the whole drive train if I see any grit. So at this time of year after every ride.

Wishbone Ash

Annie get your Run wrote: »

....have it since July and haven't done anything RE cleaning oiling etc.....

:eek::eek::eek:

Does the chain not become noisy as the oil wears off?

I'd notice it after a few rides but then again I use a minimum amount on every 3rd link.

ford2600

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Oh crikey, I was just thinking I must look up how often I should 'service' my road bike - have it since July and haven't done anything RE cleaning oiling etc :eek: when I was a kid my dad used to put 3 in one oil on my racer - I take it that's have moved on since then !!

I commute 3 times a week 25 miles return - what should I be doing & how often (sorry, I should have put stupid question alert at the start.. )

If you have a single speed bike, with an even number on front and rear, there is an economic and faff avoidance benefit, to just leave on factory lube and replace drivetrain at about 3% wear; only lube if you feel like it.

Sheldon has something about it according to my memory.

A front mudguard with a flap will do a lot for drivetrain and shoe life!

Edit: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chain-life.html

crosstownk

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I'm not that fussed about extending it's life for the sake of €20.

With my current chain, I've kind of adopted this approach. So much so that I'm running an experiment of sorts to see how long my current chain will last with minimum maintenance. Since I fitted my current chain I've clocked up almost 3,000km and have cleaned it just once and no lube in between. I won't lube a chain without cleaning as that just results the dirt and fresh lube making a grinding paste. The chain wear tool is showing about 0.5 of wear at the moment and I'll replace it when it goes beyond 0.75 (or if it starts to get skippy).

Previous well looked after chains lasted between 4,500 and 5,500kms.

I'll report back with the distance I get out of the current chain.

tomasrojo

ford2600 wrote: »

A front mudguard with a flap will do a lot for drivetrain and shoe life!

Yes, the difference is really large. Chains last way longer with a mudflap. Longer still with a chain case, though that's really only feasible for hub gear or single-speed.

DKmac

crosstownk wrote: »

With my current chain, I've kind of adopted this approach. So much so that I'm running an experiment of sorts to see how long my current chain will last with minimum maintenance. Since I fitted my current chain I've clocked up almost 3,000km and have cleaned it just once and no lube in between. I won't lube a chain without cleaning as that just results the dirt and fresh lube making a grinding paste. The chain wear tool is showing about 0.5 of wear at the moment and I'll replace it when it goes beyond 0.75 (or if it starts to get skippy).

Previous well looked after chains lasted between 4,500 and 5,500kms.

I'll report back with the distance I get out of the current chain.

Maybe also report back on how long your cassette and chainrings last with this approach.

Pinch Flat

Commuter bike does around 150km a week, so I'll try to wipe it down and re-lube weekly and maybe every fortnight or so take it off, soak it in white spirit, wipe it down with a cloth and refit and re-lube. Use a Shimano Tiagra 9 speed cassette and a KMC chain - wear gauge shows very litle wear as of last week. approx. 5,500km on that chain.

The "good bike" gets a wipe down after each spin, quick re-lube and I'll probably wash it once a month, depending on wear. Chain is fairly new with no wear.

Seaswimmer

crosstownk wrote: »

With my current chain, I've kind of adopted this approach. So much so that I'm running an experiment of sorts to see how long my current chain will last with minimum maintenance. Since I fitted my current chain I've clocked up almost 3,000km and have cleaned it just once and no lube in between. I won't lube a chain without cleaning as that just results the dirt and fresh lube making a grinding paste. The chain wear tool is showing about 0.5 of wear at the moment and I'll replace it when it goes beyond 0.75 (or if it starts to get skippy).

Previous well looked after chains lasted between 4,500 and 5,500kms.

I'll report back with the distance I get out of the current chain.

Interesting experiment.

I have 12,000kms on current chain, cassette and front chain ring (all Shimano) . Only ever cleaned and lubed with diesel. It is stretched well beyond the limits indicated on the chain wear tool but as long as it keeps shifting easily I don't see the point in changing it as I will need to change all together anyway

crosstownk

DKmac wrote: »

Maybe also report back on how long your cassette and chainrings last with this approach.

The cassette will be getting replaced along with this chain which is why I decided to run my 'experiment' on this particular chain.

triggermortis

I do 120 - 160 Km a week now on my commuter and clean and lube the chain after every 4 days ( my shift pattern). Good bike gets cleaned and lubed after every spin, although I'd rather get a link to remove the chain to do it properly a few times a month

boardbeer

Never, it's a belt.

Wishbone Ash

Seaswimmer wrote: »

... It is stretched well beyond the limits indicated on the chain wear tool but as long as it keeps shifting easily I don't see the point in changing it as I will need to change all together anyway

Would you not be worried about the chain snapping when you're out of the saddle on a steep gradient? Not a pleasant experience!

Seaswimmer

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Would you not be worried about the chain snapping when you're out of the saddle on a steep gradient? Not a pleasant experience!

Possibly now that you mention it.

I wonder how much weaker it gets over time by stretching??

I always changed chains, cassettes and chain rings when shifting got difficult.

I honestly never thought of the strength aspect!!

secman

Seaswimmer wrote: »

Possibly now that you mention it.

I wonder how much weaker it gets over time by stretching??

I always changed chains, cassettes and chain rings when shifting got difficult.

I honestly never thought of the strength aspect!!

I've snapped a chain on a climb ,not nice, managed to stay up, worse part is waiting for the lift

bazermc

I find baby wipes are great for cleaning the chain down after a winter cycle. They have great cleaning power and are not corrosive.

tomasrojo

Yes, I don't have time to do proper cleaning these days, so I end up using a few baby wipes to save time. They do seem to do an adequate, quick job. You can use them to "floss" the rear cassette too, if you've got a lot of dirt in the valleys between the sprockets.

cdaly_

Seaswimmer wrote: »

Possibly now that you mention it.

I wonder how much weaker it gets over time by stretching??

I always changed chains, cassettes and chain rings when shifting got difficult.

I honestly never thought of the strength aspect!!

As I understand it, chains don't 'stretch'. Instead, the rollers wear against the rivets and the 'stretch' is just the increasing distance between faces of adjacent rollers. In that circumstance, I would expect the chain to start skipping before it would snap.

Snapped chains are usually due to plate failure and often seem to be down to manufacturing flaws.

Seaswimmer

cdaly_ wrote: »

As I understand it, chains don't 'stretch'. Instead, the rollers wear against the rivets and the 'stretch' is just the increasing distance between faces of adjacent rollers. In that circumstance, I would expect the chain to start skipping before it would snap.

Snapped chains are usually due to plate failure and often seem to be down to manufacturing flaws.

Well I am running scared now so just ordered cassette, chain and outer ring. I will replace them over Christmas holidays.