Originally Posted by
alcanoe
I too believe bikes get too much junk applied to them. That said, the reason to lubricate chains is to reduce the wear of the internal parts of the chain to reduce the wear rate and hence the elongation rate of the chain so you don't wear out your cassette and rings too often.
Yeah, but the question is, does it actually reduce the wear rate as intended and for drive trains with straight chain lines that experience lower wear (such as singlespeed or internally geared) does it even make sense to try and reduce it?
Moreover, what's with all the pikers billowing about how noisy and rusty their chains get without oil? I've not experienced either phenomenon and what does it have to do with internal wear and elongation?
Truth be told I suspect chains used with derailleurs do need their external parts lubricated due to all the lateral rubbing and flexion and that if it weren't for such external lubrication forcing sand and corrosive everywhere then the internal parts of the chain would be lubricated for life prior to assembly, but I was hoping someone more knowledgeable than myself could give a definitive answer because obviously not everyone shares the same experience.
Originally Posted by
maddmaxx
I suspect that if you do not go to great lengths to get the original factory lube out of the inside of your chain then that is what you are running with for lube. Cleaning off the outside of the chain has little bearing on what is happening internally.
Well IIRC I gave it a few rounds in a bottle shaker of simple green, the best toothbrush scrub I could muster, followed by a few rounds in a bottle shaker of clean water, a few seconds under the faucet, and finally 10 min in the oven to dry it off. I suppose I could have gone to a greater length by disassembling every link, but that would have compromised the integrity of the chain.
Is it safe to say that chain internals come lubricated for life? Mine have a few thousand miles on them since the big clean including almost two winters and although I'd consider it a good trade off if I had to replace them now they're still going strong!