loimpact

After every few hundred miles (2 or 3 months for me, depending) chain gets a wipe-down. Then a dripping lube pass w/ wally world bar & chain oil. I'll tell you in a few years if it was good/bad or indifferent to doing nothing at all. (What I did w/ previous bikes ever since the time I was 5 years old)

peetjojo

Hi all! I'm pretty new to road cycling and I've read around on the issue of degreasing. I'm getting about a 50/50 on degreasing or not degreasing your chains (apparently it removes the factory lube?). So question is, should I or should I not degrease my chains?

I've cleaned the chains with a rag minimally sprayed with Finish Line Citrus degreaser and lubed it after. My chains are still making a little bit of noise but shifts a little better than before I cleaned and lubed it, though I feel that it could have been cleaned more thoroughly preferably by degreasing. I'm not sure if I'm doing this right so appreciate any feedback, thanks!

chisle

If a person proceeds to lubricate his or her chain only upon hearing it make "noise", they have waited too long before lubricating the chain. At the point when a chain is making noise a lot of wear is already happening. It is best not to wait this long. Just adapt a more frequent /regular interval for lubrication, and if your chain sees any water during this interval you have also reached the end of the lubrication cycle.

If I waited to hear a "noise" before lubrication, It would possibly mean the end of a chain at every point my chain started squeaking. At 250 pounds, being 20 miles away from home, with a chain squeak setting in, and with non stop hills to grind up before I reached my lube would spell the end of that chain.

pedromj

Factory lube is way better than anything you may use mainly because it is added *during* the construction of the chain, so it is placed exactly where it should be and it is the exact type for the task. However, with time, some dirt will find its way to the inside (specially with water).

It is not clear how to diagnose this and know exactly when this has happened but, if that has happened, it is the moment to fully degrease and lube the chain. Use enough lube to get a thin film in all planes and rollers (out and in sides). After letting the lube penetrate (depending on the type, it may require minutes or hours), you should wipe out any excess to prevent dirt to be stuck to the exterior of the chain.

Keep in mind that the objective of cleaning a chain is to remove most particles that may grind the chain and accelerate its wear. When just wiping out the exterior of your chain, do not use any solvent (e.g. degreaser) that may solve and facilitate dirt to reach the interior.

In summary, the answer to your question is: NO, you should not use degrease to wipe out your chain and YES, you should use degreaser to fully clean your chain once dirt has entered to the inside.

Dave Cutter

Apparently... besides your obvious hearing impairment... you don't like reading much ether. Maybe you should skim over posts 12 and 14. I REALLY don't know of anyone who has actually ridden a bicycle with a squeaky chain. Nor... did I refer to doing that.

I am truly sorry if you have a hearing problem. My family seems to carry a hearing defect that affects many of us. I am well aware of various hearing problems both genetic.... and those caused by loud noises (like war). If you've actually allowed a chain to past though a very long and noisy period until it actually began to squeak... you have a couple problems. One of course is a lack of proper bicycle maintenance knowledge.... and the other is a hearing problem.

Drew Eckhardt 

1. Never degrease the chain.

2. Wipe off the dirt and add lubricant when it ceases to be silent (as in a noticeable whirring, not something as severe as a squeak). That could be 800 miles on a new chain in clean conditions, 400 miles on a used one road riding in a dry climate, or just a day or two in the rainy season.

davidad

Chain care, wear and skipping by Jobst Brandt

raqball

I ride about 200 miles a week and I use a dry lube..

I wipe the chain down and lube every 2-3 days (= about every 80-120 miles) and I degrease about every 2 weeks (= about every 400 miles)

SquidPuppet

Reason?

Drew Eckhardt 

You remove the tenacious factory lubrication from deep within the chain, and if you use a water based degreaser you open the door to rust on the bearing surfaces unless you take heroic measures like baking your chain in an oven to evaporate the water.

pedromj

When you notice the noise of the chain, the factory lube is already off and it is better to remove every *grinding* particle from the chain (outside and inside) before applying lube, hence the need to degrease it.

If you have any better way of removing particles from the inside apart from submerging the chain in degreaser or other solvent, please let us know.