Chain Insights On a Long Brevet.
 

Hi,

I'd like to consult the veterans of above 600km brevets for any insights re chain.

Anything along the lines of:
Do you use a fresh chain?
Do you carry some oil and brush/other tool to be used after a few hundred km?
What do you have in the support car / Drop bag?
Do you carry a spare chain on the bike, or only in the car, and hope to get by, by removing a couple of links?

I'll be calmer if I'd use a chain scrubber with degreaser and re oil after, say, 600km.

Any other chain related comments will be most welcome.

Thanks, Tal.

You might also try the mechanics forum. I wipe my chain clean with what ever lube is handy every 1000 miles or so whether it needs it or not. If the chain is under a few thousnad miles I would not worry too much unless you have an awful lot of rain and dirt during the event.

I carried a small bottle of lube and a rag in a drop bag on the 400k.
Luckily it was in the right place at the right time. Prior to the last control I rode for an hour and a half in a downpour. It cleared as I rolled in. Ate, wiped down the chain, lubed, and was on my way.

I carried a Crank Bros multi-tool (has a chain tool) a few links, and a quick link. Never needed any of it, in a season of Brevet's and training between them.

New chain at the beginning of the season helped, I'm sure.

For a 600? no. Every 3000 miles or so, maybe. Depends on condition of the chain and upkeep. I try to wipe, clean and lube mine every week or so; regardless of if I'm riding brevets or just commuting.

bottle of chain lube in a ziploc. Check every 100 miles if I've been riding through a lot of rain. My 400K was pretty much 20 hours of rain, and my chain was bone-dry by the end of it. Slept overnight in the brevet start town (which was 80 miles from home) then wiped, cleaned it up, then lubed it before riding to the train station to catch Amtrak home. As for tools -- multi-tool w/ chain breaker, spare links, kevlar emergency spoke, patch kit, two spare tubes and some bungee cords and duct tub.

what is this support car that you speak of? ;) drop bags have sleeping gear (bag and/or mat), 2nd day of clothes, 2nd day of food and/or drink powder, spare batteries for lights, spare cue sheet, and towel. whatever tools I need, I bring on my bike.

spare links or removing broken link.

mmm ... I wouldn't worry about it too much. I mean, yeah, after 600km, a chain gets dirty and it gets less efficient, but it's still doing its job, right? A lot of things about a bike and a rider get suboptimal after 600 km of continuous riding. Brevet riding isn't about maintaining optimum performance, it's about dealing with stress that's outside your comfort zone.

Thanks for all the answers.

On my Brevet 400, the chain kept its qualities, and I'm sure it will hold 600 as well.
I was refering to 1200km, 3 days of (almost) non-stop use.

I guess I'll see how much gear I'll have in my drop bag and decide then.
Right now, I'm leaning towards having a small paint brush, with a small degreaser container.
I'm not sure if I'll carry the oil on my bike, or keep it in the drop bag.

Tal.

I put some lube on during a long brevet only if it has been raining a lot (whatever will stop the squeak). Why would you use a lube that can't last 1200 km in normal conditions?

+1

I use White Lightning. I believe it will hold.
It kept very well on a Brevet 400.
I'm just concerned about The Elements. e.g. rain, dust, sand, etc.

On a 1,200km event, don't you need your gear to handle more than "normal conditions"?

Tal.

I've been running BoShield on my chain for this year's SR series, as well as for BMB. It's lasted fine through all conditions on all lengths of brevets. My Park chainwear tool said that the ~3000 miles on the chain this year during the brevet season had worn it to the minimum replacement level, so I replaced it a few weeks before BMB. Took some chain oil but never used it, despite riding through hours of torrential rain. Nothing else I or others have tried -- White Lightning, Finish Line, or ProLube -- has worked as well as BoShield. Doesn't collect as much dust as FinishLine. Stays on through hard weather better than White Lightning or ProLube. I'm told that Phil's Tenacious Oil is also good, but haven't tried it.

There's a simple solution to your concern. Put whatever lubricant you prefer on your chain, then leave it alone for 1200 km of riding. Even if it takes an extended time to accumulate the miles, you should have a good idea how well your selected lubricant performs.

You can always take along a small bottle of lubricant if you liek to apply mid-ride. I would not bother to clean the chain, just apply more if needed - especially after a rain. You could put a small amount in an eyedrop bottle or similar if you don't want to carry the regular bottle of lubricant.

But like most things, go test this out before your big ride.

That's what I do - I treat this year as a testing bed for most of the components / Tools / Lubes I plan to use in next year's PBP.
However, living in a fairly dry country, I don't have many chances to test my equipment in the rain.
Hours of torrential rain is something we see in the movies.

And in the dry, White Lightning performed good.
I can't get any BoeShield T-9 (is that the exact name?) here, and its unshippable.
I might try White Lightning Epic.

Before another lube war starts, I'll go search the neighbouring Road Bikes forum.

As for carrying - I guess an eye drops bottle, or some such, would be best.

Tal.