aka Tom Reingold
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,503
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7348 Post(s)
Could you post pictures? A certain amount of dirt collection is normal, and I'd like to see if yours is normal or excessive.
What kind of lubricant are you using? I recently discovered automatic transmission fluid (ATF) from the auto parts store. It works well because it's designed to hold particles in suspension. So when you oil it excessively and then wipe off the excess, you get to wipe off almost all the dirt. It's been working very well for me. I just repeat the process until the wipe comes almost clean on the rag. If the chain isn't seriously gunky, I can get the chain quite clean this way, without solvents or removing the chain.