Disappointed with "Clean Ride," am I doing something wrong?
 

EDIT: This isn't your typical lube thread. I'm not going to sit here and ask your favorite lube and why without trying any of them. I went out, used a lube, and was disappointed, now I'm wondering if anyone has had any better experience with it.

I recently went on a very dusty, dry, 30 mile trail. Two days previous, I had applied Clean Ride to my chain. I put it on, wiped it off, then let it sit for a day. Clean ride was the OBVIOUS choice (compared to Epic and Wet) because of the dusty conditions. I've heard tons of praise for the white lightning products in general, so I was hoping for good things. (And I like Epic ride on my road bike.)

I went riding, and 3/4 of the way through the ride the chain starts making noises like it's not lubed. It LOOKS clean, but doesn't SOUND clean and lubed.

The chain was perfectly clean when I had applied the clean ride. I had cleaned it with solvent then simple green multiple times. (Off of the bike.) Does it get better if I continue using the clean ride? If I had used my typical lube the chain would have ended up dirty, but would have sounded lubed the whole time.

PS. Mods, we should have a "lube" forum with all of the posts about it. :lol:

If you left any water in the chain it can cause squeaks when it mixes with the lube. Chains cleaned with water based solvents have to be completely dry inside before lubing.

A half hour in a 250F oven after several hot water rinses after any water-based cleaner is my minimum. You can't blow it out or sun-dry it either. An alcohol rinse will help, some, but you still have to get THAT out of the chain thorooughly.

Sorry to disappoint you; but this will be just another run of the mill lube discussion. Some will chime with wax lubes, cleaning with mineral spirits, etc.
Things that have been repeated/discussed/argued over here over and over.

There's a technical term for that kind of behavior.

You mean the marketing claims might be false!? [/shocked]

There's the problem (most likely).

First of all, I'v never understood why people wash chains in two different, incompatible cleaners. Do you send your clothing to the dry cleaner, then run it through the wash?

Then, as noted, you need to make sure the chain is dry on the inside. Liquids wick onto the chain via capillary action. Lubing a chain that's not dry is about as effective as wiping up a spill with a soggy paper towel (for the same reason). So what happened is your lube sat on the outside, where you wiped most of it off, then wen riding with Simple Green as a lube, until it fially evaporated.

Also, consider that when a water/detergent blend evaporates dry, only the water dries. The detergent and other stuff stays inside the chain, to react with your lube. Don'r beleave me? Next time you wash your underwear, skip the rinse, and take it straight from the wash cycle and hang it on the line to dry.

So the key to washing chains is the same as with your laundry, rinse thoroughly, spin out water (or solvent) and residue between rinses, then dry completely before lubing. For well rinsed waer washed chains (including Simple Green) a few hours in a warm place (your car parked in the sun) or about 10 minutes in an oven at 200 is plenty. Water can also be removed with high percentage alcohol or acetone which will dry by itself, as will mineral spirits.

I used two because the first solvent gets all of the grease off really quickly. Simple green would do it... eventually. Then I use simple green to get all the rest of the crud off of the chain. Solvent also doesn't like my plastic chain cleaner. It eats it. As many solvents do. (Especially the solvent in my parts cleaner. :p )

Thank you for the info. I DID think of this problem as I was lubing the chain, but I figured the lube would push out anything still left in the chain. I was wrong. I'm going to go home and clean the chain again, then dry it in the oven, THEN lube it. We'll see if that works better on my ride on Wednesday.

Between the clean and dry, do a rinse or two in plain water (if using simple green) then go outside and spin it dry (almost) by holding it in the middle and spinning it like a windmill or helicopter (I'm not responsible for the consequences if you do the spin indoors). 10 minutes in a warm oven should dry the water.

If using solvents like mineral spirits, spin and set aside to dry --- do not use heat to dry, it isn't needed, and can be a hazard if done indoors.

lolz..

Quickly cleaned with simple green then rinsed with water till it was clear. Dried it in the oven. Came out jingling (like an actual chain you'd use to tow stuff with). Applied the clean ride as specified by their video, then wiped the crap out of it. We'll see if it works better!

You need to displace the water in your chain?

...sounds like a job for WD40!

I have used white lightning clean ride for years. Lately I have gone to a wet lube on my road bikes, but I still use white lightning on my mountain bikes because of the dusty trails.

At the risk of being unscientific and overly simplistic... if the chain is making noise, put more on the chain. Also, don't wipe the chain afterwards. I have found that white lightning requires more applications as it doesn't last as long as wet lubes, but as the label says, it is clean... except for that wax buildup.

John

I thought the instructions said to put it on, let it sit, and THEN wipe it off. Did I remember that right? If so, try it in that order. Let it wick into the chain before you wipe it off, otherwise nothing gets inside the chain.

Don't put a chain in the oven with mineral spirits on it!!!

Poon

I disagree, I just cleaned my chain with a citrus-based cleaner and after wiping off the excess, applied dry-style teflon lube to the links. I let the lube "setup" and then spun the chain to thoroughly flush the chain. Any residual solvent was displaced by the lube and was clearly visible as evaporating droplets.

Lol. New chain cleaning procedure:

- Ride bike through car wash to get most of the dirt off.
- Run chain through chain cleaner with Simple Green.
- Remove chain and rinse with water in your kitchen sink.
- Displace water with WD40.
- Remove WD40 with mineral spirits.
- Let chain dry for a week in your bedroom window.
- Re-install chain on bike.
- Lube with a cocktail of every chain lube on the market to make sure you're covered.
- Wipe dry.
- Find a new place to live after your significant other kicks you out for messing up the entire house and covering it with chemicals.

I know that's tongue-in cheek but it makes SO much sense -- especially for a $10 consumable part. In fact, the cheaper the chain the more often it should be cleaned.

And it was clearly visible that no residue remained inside the rollers, etc., no doubt.

Visibility is unnecessary because there's no place for any moisture to go. The oil isn't going to "yield" to the something with lower surface tension.

Molten Speed Wax has a simple, 14 step process to clean you chain. :rolleyes:

Any process that uses solvent to remove dirt and previous lubricant will act as a displacer. Water has a high heat of vaporization, and hence dries slower than naptha. I personally have had good luck with just naptha (min spirits). If I used aqueous cleaners, I would not use WD-40 to get rid of water: it will, if not removed, gum up the works and it's a terrible lubricant. If you insist upon using water to clean your chain, I'd use isopropanol to dilute/displace the water. A good quick soak with agitation, flexing the chain links, then spin dry (outside, away from your house's siding - it will be slinging some residual grunge out.) I'd also rinse in IPA again, and sling the stuff again. I would think doing this and letting the chain dry in the sun would get most of what you want out of the chain.

I've trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my chain. I just got the bike a month ago. I put some triflow on it, and wiped it clean. I'll do this again today. But I'm going to replace the crank arms with 175mm 52/36 (from 172.5 53/39) and this might as well be an opportunity that I'll take to remove the chain, clean it, and then relube. I think I'm going to use paraffin mixed with a moly disulfide, or will just buy molten speed wax (to avoid figuring out how to ensure good mixing of the MbS2 with the wax). A sacrificial tray from walmart will hold the stuff, and I'll heat it over a small pot of simmering water. Clean chain in. Soak and agitate with disposable chopsticks for a bit. Remove, redip, flex, etc. Then a quick wipe and hang to cool. Then I'll relube periodically with Finish Line.

By the way, has anyone any experience with DuPont Chainsaver with Teflon(R)? I may try that as my periodic "after wax" treatment.

Some do. But not the white lightning products. They say on their website, "continue spinning the pedals backward for a moment to let the lube sink in, then wipe clean." If you don't believe me, watch for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/v/KfbFtgVrZ9...0%26autoplay=1

Use a sacrificial pot (not a tray...I had an old large tin coffee can that is perfect for the job.) Make the swisher tool (bent up coat hanger) as described on Molten's site so the chain doesn't get tangled. It takes quite a while to get the wax up to 195 degrees (even above direct flame on a gas stove :twitchy:.) Don't wipe it when you pull it out (wax will drip off like water), just hang it and let it cool. Once cool, break all the links. When installing the chain, the missing link can be difficult...heat it with a hot air gun until the wax melts then it should easily clip in.

Thanks, vze23c3q.

We mainly use Clean Ride in the shop and it is pretty much all I use on my bikes in the spring through fall and I don't have these problems. Then again I don't really clean my chains often except during the winter and wiping it down before and after lubing. I really should use the parts washer more but it is always such a hassle.

In the winter I use a wetter lube or a mix of the two which probably negates some of the wax lube but seems to do alright for me.
@vze23c3q: Don't actually break all the links buying that many pins is expensive ; )