I just read an article regarding chain maintenance and at the point where it talks about drying the chain after cleaning it, it only mentions ways of evaporating or blowing the water off using compressed air. I’m a little confused by the absence of the seemingly most obvious way of drying it—wiping it off with a rag. The article doesn’t say anything good or bad about doing this, but since it’s not mentioned, I have to ask: Is it harmful to the chain to do this? Does it somehow force moisture into the inner workings of the chain?

I’ve always dried my chain after cleaning by wrapping a rag or paper towel around it and drawing the chain through. It dries it fast and scrubs off crud that was still there at the same time. But now I’m wondering if this is a good way of doing it. I always thought letting it air dry introduces rust.

Is this the 7 year old chain that has stretched 1/4"? Give it a one-way dip in the garbage can and buy a new one already.

Hey, I have 2 other bikes. Plus, it's a legitimate question.

The air drying is to get the moisture out of the inside. Wiping off the outside is fine, but the outside will dry faster than the inside anyway.

It is. The problem with just wiping the outside of the chain is that it doesn't dry out the inside fast enough. Water can hang out in the recesses of a chain for a long time, and while it's there, it will prevent oil from wicking in.

I see. I was just under the impression that wiping it with a cloth or something strips away internal grease or something like that. Here's the portion of the article I was referring to:

"Removing solvent from the chain after rinsing is important. Compressed air is not readily available in the household nor is a centrifuge. Manually slinging the chain around outdoors works best if the chain is a closed loop but without pressing the pin completely in. The other way is to evaporate it. Accelerated drying methods by heating should be avoided because they can be explosive."

That article refers to using petroleum-derived solvents like mineral spirits or kerosene. The good news with those is that a little leftover solvent will mix with the chain lube, rather than preventing it from getting in.

If you're using water-based solvents/degreasers, any remaining water must be dried out of it, and the oven is safe for that.

If you use the Shelroco method, drying each link is simplified.

https://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

One way to drive out some of the solvent (and some of the grime that is dissolved) is to whack the chain against a cardboard box (like a bike box) With the chain looped double give it a swing so it hits the box side pretty flat. You'll be surprised how dirty the resulting solvent mark is on the box side. Andy.

If you use any water near your chain for cleaning or rinsing, the oven is the easiest way for driving H2O moisture out of the inside. (10min at 250f is enought to evaporate any moisture)

If you use a solvent like mineral spirits or paint thinner, getting it all out isn't as big of a deal. It will evaporate harmlessly.

But if you use water, the water will stay in there longer and will be worse if you put lube on top of water (oil and water don't mix, but oil and solvent do.) If you use water the chain should be completely dried before applying chain lube.

Water in and on the chain before lubricating it is completely harmless.

This is because the "wicking power" of all oils, and even of mineral spirits, is way stronger than that of water.
The oil, or oil/solvent mix, will penetrate the deepest spaces in and around the rollers/bushings, the pins/bushings and the inner/outer side plates.

The usual post-lube wipe-down will force any excess of lube out of the chain, but the water will be the first to go, if any even remains after being displaced by lubing. This takes longer with thicker lubes, of course.

I don't know where the theory of lube being stripped semi-permantly off of the wear surfaces came from, but adding even the weakest of lubes will do far more in terms of lubrication than any micro-film of the old stuff will.

The only noteworthy precaution I employ (aside from respecting the health and fire hazards of solvents) is to allow solvents (whether part of the lube, or residual from a cleaning process) to dry several hours before riding, after the chain has been lubed and thoroughly wiped down. This helps keep lube from flying off the chain and/or creeping out from the innards where it might then attract dirt.

I don't clean chains beyond simply wiping them down thoroughly after lubing, and mine last a long, long time.
If the chain looks oily, that's too much lube. It needs to be wiped down until all external oilyness is gone.

Solvent-blended lubes are good in terms of leaving less lube behind that might need to be wiped off again and again.
These lubes also make it more practical to lube the moving chain with a continuous stream, which makes for a sub-20-second application.
I spend a lot longer than that wiping the chain down afterwards using a terry shop rag, but it then requires no more wiping off after the first ride or two, and looks and stays clean thereafter.

I immediately lube the chain on any wet bike before parking it, which displaces all water. If it's late and time is short, I can finish a more complete wipe-down the next day before riding. Again, the solvent-diluted lubes allow the lube to be applied in under a half a minute.

I find that the dispenser of lube is an important factor in terms of how convenient the process is. I put the oil-based lube in the squeeze bottle with dispenser tube after diluting with ~50% mineral spirits. The original bottle tip delivers far too fat of a stream, so way too high flow for this job.

My process is to give the chain a good scrub to get as much crud off the outside as I can, then soak it in whatever solvent I'm using to clear out the inside, then scrub it again but looking to get the bristles of the brush inside the links as best as possible, then rinse it thoroughly with tap water, then wipe the water off the chain, then leave it over a radiator to dry out. Then put it back on the bike and lubricate it.

How about Boeshield T9? It is a water displacing agent and will snake its way between metal and water. And it is a good wax type lube, quite dry.