Originally Posted by
Witterings
...much excess water...
There's your problem.
Originally Posted by
Witterings
actually I use water to wash the degreaser off ... maybe I shouldn't be doing this **********?
In a word, no. More words below.
Originally Posted by
Witterings
Must admit I've steered clear of WD40 as I've seen some saying it shouldn't be used, I've seen others say after a wash use WD 40 to repel any water and then lube, maybe I'll get into this and have also just bought an air compressor so will dry off the chain after a wash in future with that.
WD40 gets a bad rap for various reasons. It's not that great a chain lubricant...in my opinion not many oil based lubes are...but it also oversprays a lot. The solvent in the WD40 is actually a very good solvent. You need a whole lot less of it to clean a chain and you don't have to do elaborate rituals to clean it off once you use it.
Put the chain in about a cup of mineral spirits (the solvent in WD40 but without the oil). I use a wide mouth 500 ml Gatorade bottle. Shake it for about 30 seconds and fish it out. You can let it dry or you can put it right on the bike and relube. Chain lubes usually have a carrier solvent which evaporates anyway so the excess won't hurt.
That's it. You are done. No rinses, no drying the water out of the chain, no ultrasonic baths and, most importantly, no chicken sacrificed in the elaborate rituals people perform to clean a chain. And, on the plus side, you can reuse the mineral spirits for about a dozen chains.
The "green" degreasers that people have been convinced to use require a lot more volume and generate a lot more waste. They aren't really all that "green".
Originally Posted by
Witterings
Is it normal that wet lube's really stringy?? I was wondering if maybe I#d done the job correctly but the oil wasn't staying on there so as soon I go out in teh wet I#m cyclig with a chain that has no protection.
It sounds like you are using a thick oil. That's actually good if you ride in the wet since the oil has a higher viscosity which means it stays on the chain better and doesn't mix as easily with water. On the downside, it's very, very, very messy.
Originally Posted by
practical
If you want to remove rust, you will need a solvent like WD40. After applying the solvent, clean well. Then lube. I know that some people NEVER use WD40 and I would agree that you should not use it as a lubricant; but you need it as a rust remover. If the chain is badly rusted, replace it.
A quibble. WD40 doesn't remove rust. You need much harsher chemicals to do that. It just lubricates the rust/metal interface so that when the chain moves, the rust can spall off.