Elementary question #1: lubing after rain ride
08-23-14, 03:49 PM
#1
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Elementary question #1: lubing after rain ride
You're back from your ride. You clean (perhaps with some soapy water then rinse). The chain needs some lube. Do you wait until the chain is dry or do you just lube then?
08-23-14, 10:35 PM
#3
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Yes, you need to wait for the chain to dry or use a solvent to remove the water. Acetone or denatured alcohol work quite well. If you add the oil to a wet chain, the oil will float on water...think salad dressing. That will trap the water at the point where the water will do the most damage. When you churn the mixture by pedaling, you make an emulsion which is still bad.
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08-23-14, 11:43 PM
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Yes, you need to wait for the chain to dry or use a solvent to remove the water. Acetone or denatured alcohol work quite well. If you add the oil to a wet chain, the oil will float on water...think salad dressing. That will trap the water at the point where the water will do the most damage. When you churn the mixture by pedaling, you make an emulsion which is still bad.
Also, wiping the outside dry isn't going to do you any good. It isn't the surface water that's the issue, but the water that has wicked into the chain. The only ways to get water out of a chain are alcohol or acetone (good soaking needed, not just a wipe) so that's cumbersome or heat and time.
The real solution is to in the form of prevention rather than cure. Use a lubricant that has staying power when wet, and can keep water out in the first place, or adequately coat the metal that it won't make a difference. Then wait for the chain to dry before relubing.
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08-24-14, 07:16 PM
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Thanks for the advice, and I ask for clarification. If I use lube for wet weather (Rock n Roll extreme lube) and I ride when it's rainy, I come home and towel off my chain and let it dry overnight. Then I put on some more lube? I would really prefer not to take off my chain, and if I have to, I probably won't ride in the rain. But I don't want to mess things up.
08-24-14, 07:47 PM
#6
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Aside from just acetone or alcohol, what about WD-40?
08-24-14, 08:00 PM
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Also, wiping the outside dry isn't going to do you any good. It isn't the surface water that's the issue, but the water that has wicked into the chain. The only ways to get water out of a chain are alcohol or acetone (good soaking needed, not just a wipe) so that's cumbersome or heat and time.
08-24-14, 08:22 PM
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Yes, WD-40 will displace the water and prevent rust, but then you have to displace the WD-40 before applying the lube of your choice. Plus the WD-40 will not actually remove the water, and if you ride on the combination you'll create the the emulsion Cycommute warned about.
Short answer, your newly applied lube will not wick into a chain whose spaces are already filled with something else. Think -- "no room at the inn". So the basic rule is to first remove what you don't want before adding what you do.
Short answer, your newly applied lube will not wick into a chain whose spaces are already filled with something else. Think -- "no room at the inn". So the basic rule is to first remove what you don't want before adding what you do.
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08-24-14, 08:52 PM
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Thanks for the advice, and I ask for clarification. If I use lube for wet weather (Rock n Roll extreme lube) and I ride when it's rainy, I come home and towel off my chain and let it dry overnight. Then I put on some more lube? I would really prefer not to take off my chain, and if I have to, I probably won't ride in the rain. But I don't want to mess things up.
IMO: don't lube too often. Wipe the chain off after every rainy ride, but leave it at that. Once it starts to squeak or shifting performance suffers (YMMV), remove the chain, clean it with solvent, dry, then apply clean lube.
When I was commuting here in the Pacific Northwet, I found that my chain required this treatment every month or two.
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08-25-14, 12:58 AM
#10
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Yes, WD-40 will displace the water and prevent rust, but then you have to displace the WD-40 before applying the lube of your choice. Plus the WD-40 will not actually remove the water, and if you ride on the combination you'll create the the emulsion Cycommute warned about.
Short answer, your newly applied lube will not wick into a chain whose spaces are already filled with something else. Think -- "no room at the inn". So the basic rule is to first remove what you don't want before adding what you do.
Short answer, your newly applied lube will not wick into a chain whose spaces are already filled with something else. Think -- "no room at the inn". So the basic rule is to first remove what you don't want before adding what you do.
Furthermore, I'd argue that while the alcohol (I won't speak to acetone) and water are soluble together, the water molecules must still evaporate and will not simply be "gone" because they're introduced to alcohol any more or less than they would the evaporative solvents in WD-40, no???
Even further still.......WD-40 does still leave a lubrication (albeit short lived) behind that is perfectly suitable for chains, no? (btw, 50/50 water & alcohol make a great window cleaner.....WD-40 not so much)
08-25-14, 07:57 AM
#12
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Not that that isn't the best approach, but with all this talk of a water/oil emulsion.........Isn't that theoretically already well under way with the aforementioned ride in the rain??
What does waiting really do except allow the emulsion to sit in the chain itself??
I promise, I'm not trying to sound contradictory for contradiction's sake, I'm just being devil's advocate to uncover every possibility.
If I haven't totem-poled it enough, I've been on a 2 month regimen with WD-40 ONLY before most rides. (Maybe every-other ride) and I have never had a cleaner chain/chainrings/cassette than before this. I believe the high frequency of me using WD-40 is accomplishing an equally lubricated setup (mind you, the Ultegra 6800 chain I have is PTFE plated/coated too so I'm not too worried about the chain regardless) and the cleanliness provided by the solvents shot via propellant "into" the chain (I lube at/against the cassette) I feel are doing a better job than my throwing simple green (water-based, duh?) and then dripping messy oils onto a chain also.
Mind you, I trust the folks removing their chains & doing the full soak/shake/etc are probably doing the best job, I'm just looking to simplify the process & I think WD-40 does that.
What does waiting really do except allow the emulsion to sit in the chain itself??
I promise, I'm not trying to sound contradictory for contradiction's sake, I'm just being devil's advocate to uncover every possibility.
If I haven't totem-poled it enough, I've been on a 2 month regimen with WD-40 ONLY before most rides. (Maybe every-other ride) and I have never had a cleaner chain/chainrings/cassette than before this. I believe the high frequency of me using WD-40 is accomplishing an equally lubricated setup (mind you, the Ultegra 6800 chain I have is PTFE plated/coated too so I'm not too worried about the chain regardless) and the cleanliness provided by the solvents shot via propellant "into" the chain (I lube at/against the cassette) I feel are doing a better job than my throwing simple green (water-based, duh?) and then dripping messy oils onto a chain also.
Mind you, I trust the folks removing their chains & doing the full soak/shake/etc are probably doing the best job, I'm just looking to simplify the process & I think WD-40 does that.
08-25-14, 08:09 AM
#13
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Let me rephrase myself. I don't wait until the next ride. When I get home I simply put the bike away. I don't put a reminder on my calendar. The next time I need to the ride the bike, I see that the chain is dry and I lube it.
I'm not sure about the significance of the "emulsion". I've never thought of it that way before. I measure my chain with a ruler once in a while and change it when it reaches 12 3/64" over twelve links.
I'm not sure about the significance of the "emulsion". I've never thought of it that way before. I measure my chain with a ruler once in a while and change it when it reaches 12 3/64" over twelve links.
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