Originally Posted by
cyccommute
This reaction is very rapid...even faster than oxygen and iron...especially when water is present. Put the chain under stress and have thin pieces of steel - like 10 speed chains do...and the iron will crack very quickly. Hate to say this but you are the likely cause of the failure
Although I don't recommend doing this every time you clean a chain, for your kind of winter riding, I'd suggest putting the chain in a water bath to remove the salt, rinse with a water soluble organic solvent...ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, or acetone...then rinse with a nonpolar organic solvent like mineral spirits. You can do this is wide mouth plastic bottles (500 ml Gatorade bottles work great
) so that you don't have to pour out the solvents so often.
I'm liking this chain more and more as I read. It provides you good performance as long as you clean it twice a day (after each 14 mile one way commute)
Or, perhaps the failure is so rapid that we should encourage the OP to bring the supplies with him during his commute so he can give a thorough cleaning at the 7 mile point.
