Rode home in the rain on Monday and left the bike in the shed until Wednesday when I saw the chain had started to rust. It got me thinking, is there any type of chain which doesn't rust?

I know oil isn't meant to allow rust, but I've been caught out in the past putting too much oil on the chain and grinding it to pieces.

Does anyone know of anything like this?

Cheers

No...

there is a stainless steel chain from kmc and wipperman

Gates makes a belt-drive system: https://www.carbondrivesystems.com/
Never tried or even seen it, but it is provocative...

A buddy tried the Wippermann stainless, and it soon developed cracked sideplates, so he went back to normal steel chains.

There is titanium: https://www.satincesena.net/?p=39
But I suspect it would wear as fast as Ti cogs.

Besides stainless, KMC also makes a "rust-buster" chain. It's a flat gray color, I imagine it's coated with something. I've never used one, but the idea is interesting. Here's what they have to say about it, which I take with a grain of salt:

I always have one beater that takes the wrath of winter, full of junky old components. I probably sacrifice one (used) chain every year.

Wippermann and some other (SRAM?) make nickel plated chains which are more rust resistant than plain steel but, even stainless steel chains will rust if exposed to enough water long enough.

I didn't realize that Ti chains were still around. They would indeed be rustproof but the last time I saw them advertised the price was $400. And, yes, that's $400 EACH.

Best low cost rust preventative? A dry rag.

a cheapo chain scrubber will work wonders at cleaning and lubing the chain.
Just lube the chain and run it through the scrubber two to three times, then wipe down the chain with a dry rag.
It'll be clean of rust and dirt after that. How long it lasts will be up the oil thickness vs. conditions it is used in.

I have one like that on my beater, and it has survived two snowy winters without any problems so far. Which makes for a nice change.

The weirdest thing about this chain is not even its dull colour, but its coating. Because that coating is a bit sticky; which seems to be about the most stupid thing to have.

??? That's a new one on me. How does too much oil grind a chain to pieces?

Probably meaning too much oil attracts dirt/sand/etc which then grind the chain. Of course the oil by itself doesn't cause harm.

True... but now we're going to deteriorate into a chain maintenance thread. You know how those go...

Nooooo!!! Is it possible to salvage this thread or did I already kill it?

This sounds like galvanized nails, for exterior carpentry, to keep from rusting.

The last KMC chain I bought looked to be galvanized, which works as a sacrificial anode. to keep the rust off of the steel chain. The galvanizing (zinc) corrodes first and once it is all used up, the steel will begin to rust.

Stainless is just that stain less, not stain (rust) free.\\

Tom

If there is an enclosing chainguard, oiling it, in there, gets ignored..

Yes and there are dozens of grades of "stainless" steel. The 300-series are extremely corrosion resistant but not very strong or hard as they can't be heat treated. The 400-series are much stronger and can be heat treated to increase their strength and hardness but aren't as corrosion resistant.

No. It means he lubes a dirty chain on the bike, and washes the crudon the outside to the inside making grinding compound.

The 330 grades will work harden and crack and gaul when rubbed together.

Which is why they aren't used for chains. The only 300-series ss used for bikes I'm aware of is 304 used for spokes.

+1 for the belt drive. You could try mountain bike chain oil for more protection. I leave my bike in the rain as we have open air bike parking in my school. No problems with the chain at all, only got nuts and bolts and the cheap @ss rear sprocket rusting.

After riding home in the rain on Monday you should have wiped down the chain with a dry rag, applied the lube of choice (sparingly), and wiped the chain down to remove any residual oil.

This only takes a few minutes.

The KMC Rustbuster chain does last a very long time and would be good for applications or users that might neglect this little bit of maintainence.

I like the sound of that - but it strikes me that rubber would stretch and become less flexible rather fast... And mean I'd have to change all the gears and stuff :/

That sounds like what I need - I'll have to look into that

That's what I use - works brilliantly and took most of the rust off this time, but nonetheless, the idea of my chain slowly turning into orange powder is less than ideal.

Aha - GCSE Chemistry! Galvanising does sound like the solution...

I will have to start doing this until I can look into the KMC some more.

Thanks for the info guys XD

the belt drive is not too different from those used in cars. They don't stretch like tires, because they have a fabric belt that's injected with rubber.

The only problem with belt drive is the lack of length adjustability, which makes it a hassle to get the right gear combination. With chains, you can just cut them to whatever length is required.

If you have an air compressor, it works great to pop your bike up on a stand after a wet ride and give the rear cassette a good blast of air while turning the crank to dry the cassette and chain before giving it a bit of oil. I've had one person tell me he'd worry about the air blast driving moisture into places it shouldn't be, but I've never found this to be the case.