Bicycle Mechanics - Chain grit

How serious is it when you hear that gritty sound when you twist the chain? I thouroughly clean my chain everry hundred miles or so (degreaser in soda bottle method). And I lube the chain very carefully. And yet after one ride, the chain seems to be full of grit.

Right now my chain has about 300 miles on it. I just don't want to wreck my cassette. It's Sram PG-950

do you ride in a lot of sand?
I get a lot more time and distance on a chain before it sounds/feels gritty.

What kind of lube are you using? Dry lubes aren't dirt magnets.

Might be the lube you are using and its wearing off too fast or there is still degreaser present/residue when you lubed. Lowe's sells Dupont Teflon Multi-Use Dry, Wax Lube for about $5.00. Been using that lately and it works really well. Spray it on and let it dry. Leaves a waxy, slipperly coating/film with no flinging. An excellent wet lube is found in the chainsaw section...(any name brand) "bar and chain oil". Can use Mobil 1 synthetic oil or their synthetic gear oil. Lot of old-timers use a brush to apply oil to their chain instead of an oil can or "oil dropper" bottle...seems to leave less mess or dripping to wipe up while evenly coating the chain and rollers.

I actually marinate my chain in prolink. I put the chain in a ziplock bag, squirt in a generouse amount of lube and swish it around.

if you have access, try using compressed air to make sure all the dirt and degreaser is out of your chain , thats what works best for me and i make sure to wipe down the lubed chain real good to make sure im not attracting dirt to stick to it

OK, I cleaned and lubed my chain as I described above. Dropped it in a bottle with degreaser, shook the hell out of it, rinsed it, dried it with a hair dryer (works by heating the metal so that water evaporates quickly).

When I put the chain in a ziplock bag with pro-link in it, the prolink remained clear which means the chain was squeaky clean.

Rode it 25 miles today in mostly wet conditions (coming home from work was very wet). And the chain is now gritty when you twist it.

What I'm saying is this normal?

I actually marinate my chain in prolink. I put the chain in a ziplock bag, squirt in a generouse amount of lube and swish it around.
geez you must be filthy rich.:p

OK, I cleaned and lubed my chain as I described above. Dropped it in a bottle with degreaser, shook the hell out of it, rinsed it, dried it with a hair dryer (works by heating the metal so that water evaporates quickly).

When I put the chain in a ziplock bag with pro-link in it, the prolink remained clear which means the chain was squeaky clean.

Rode it 25 miles today in mostly wet conditions (coming home from work was very wet). And the chain is now gritty when you twist it.

What I'm saying is this normal?
after giving the chain a proper douching try some Maxima chain wax.:beer:
To answer your question, yes it is normal. that is just crap your chain picks up making the noise.

Bottom line: chains wear out no matter what. If you spend time, money, and energy trying to keep it clean, you will be disappointed. Just do a reasonable job and change the chain depending on your particular riding environment.

The best way to keep the chain clean is to never ride the bike. That will keep everything pretty clean and long lasting. So there's got to be a happy medium somewhere.

Umm, your method of lubrication (marinading - I love it :) ) sounds like you might end up with a fair bit of excess lube on the plates etc once you're finished. I ride every day in Scotland, where the weather is often foul, and the local authority seems to have a research budget of €millions to seek out the most corrosive road anti-freeze chemicals known to man... My chains last longest if I apply a little, light-weight lube (I use Finish Line 'Dry' - expensive, but good...) to them, on a regular basis - I 'deep clean' the chain with a chain-bath and citrus solvent every 3 months or so, and get about 1,000 miles from a (SRAM) chain.

As I understand it, lube on the outside of the chain does absolutely no good (except protect from corrosion), it just attracts grit and dust, so be sure to wipe off as much as possible after you've lubed the chain.