Originally Posted by
gauvins
next question is whether one can use kerosene that has been used to clean a chain as camp stove fuel
and MSR international stove burns kerosene
No, because the dirt from the chain clogs the stove. Is the MSR allowed on the plane?
What you need is a chain checker.
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...1&category=218
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...p?category=218
I replace my chain at .5, some people wait until .7, The 6,000 km people need a new cassette. As the chain stretches, it makes the valleys in the cassette wider. If you change your chain early, the cassette lasts longer, a lot longer. If you let your chain, or chains, stretch you need a new cassette, and new chain rings.
On tour, I clean the chain each morning with a tooth brush and rag, then add Tri flow. I do not carry a spare chain or bottle of fluid to soak the chain in. Well maybe if the chain is at .3 and I expect to change it in a couple of hundred miles.
At home, I soak the chain in biodiesel, for an hour or so, then clean it throughly with various brushes. Biodiesel leaves no film when it evaporites, does kerosean leave a film? Things that leave a film are out, as the oil does not stick to the film the way it does to metal. Brake cleaning fluid cleans chains quite well, (overkill).
Chains are consumable. Use it until it reaches .5 or .7 and than put it in the trash. Maybe sadlesores will pipe in and say what type of chains and cassettes are available all over China.
Does soaking a chain for a week cause corrosion, or fatigue the thin meatal of the chain, or damage the nickle plateing?
Simple answer:
wipe it clean once a day, add oil, use chain checker, and replace when needed.
Originally Posted by
twodownzero
Wipe chain, lube, and wipe chain again. No need for solvents or anything of that sort on the road.
Clean with rag and tooth brush, oil, wipe oil off the out side of the chain with rag, ride all day.
less is more;
with less stuff, you enjoy the tour more.
2 chains is if you are riding around a place where they do not sell bicycle parts.
Are there any places like that anymore? I read posts by 90 year olds on crazyguy about 2 chains and letting them each wear a little at a time. Get with the times man. Less weight = more fun.