Bike Forums - cleaning The Chain

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I can never get my chains clean & shiny, even if I soak them in mineral spirits. I clean and lube my road bike chain when shifting starts suffering or if it starts squeaking (and once in a while I'll wipe it down with a cloth). My winter bike chain doesn't get cleaned unless it's the end of the season, I have a wet/salty ride, or if I leave it outside - and it starts showing signs of rust.

I "clean" my commuter chain by dragging the chain through a filthy rag, then heavily oiling the chain, then repeating the drag through the rag again. That's as clean and oiled as it's going to get.

For bikes I buy off craigslist to work on...if I tear it completely down to bare frame, I'll fill up a water bottle full of simple green, drop the chain in there, give it a good shake, leave it for a couple days, then give it a scrub with a nylon brush, then another dunk in the simple green to dissolve some of the gunk, then rinse with water, then spritz with wd40. Once that evaporates, it gets a generous oiling, followed by a wipe with the rag. This is only for clearly nasty looking a neglected looking chains though.

I don't clean my chain that often. I usually just put some lube on it when it starts to make some noise.

I'm with [MENTION=158672]FBinNY[/MENTION]. I just use paper towel to wipe the chain after every ride. Then if the chain looks dry, I lube it with air tool oil. If I ride every weekday, then the lube can be as frequent as once per week. That's it. I used to use a park chain cleaning tool. But read here that using solvents might cause more chain wear. Theory is that the solvent can carry more grime into the chain inner surfaces. I don't know if it's true or not. But the wipe routine is easier so that suits my laziness. :)

Given It's Saturday , (outside job) a quick link equipped chain can be removed, soaked in solvent, dried (solvents evaporate,
that's why you do it outside)

and put back on, in an afternoon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by locolobo13 (Post 19454069)

When the chain gets grimy and "gummy". Hose it off with WD40, wipe it off. Chain lube it, wipe the excess off. Maybe 3 times a year.

this :thumb:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ItsJustMe (Post 19452515)

On my route it hardly matters how "long" it is. I have put a brand new chain on, ridden 10 miles to work (at the old place). 4 miles of that is gravel road. If it's raining, I'll park the bike in the stairwell and when I get back on it in the evening, the 10 mile old chain won't bend anymore because it's entirely caked in dried clay.

I got to the point where I just power wash it and daub some lube on it when it's dirty, and put lube on when it starts making noise. I tried keeping it clean and lubed and my payoff for hours of work over the life of the chain was an extra 150 miles (about 2 weeks) life on a $6 chain. I decided diligence is overrated.

The BEST I can do, if I'm super diligent and spend hours cleaning the chain, is about 2000 miles on a chain. If I am lazy, I get 1800 miles.

I've gotten to where I don't bother measuring my chain anymore either. I just run it until it starts to skip - about 8000 miles, and then replace the entire drivetrain. It's actually LESS money than replacing the chain every 2K.

Much common sense here. For cheaper drivetrains, this is the least costly "policy".
Some steel cranksets can even outlive at least one fully stretched chain that has started skipping on the cassette, having all started from new (and after about 10000 kms).

I also prefer cheaper chains/cassettes and less hassle with maintaining them.

BTW, for novices, I explained chain stretch, cleaning and lubing technique with pictures here:
Best bicycle chain lube

And gave an overview of various lube types with their pros and cons, in a (very) long post here:
Bicycle chain lubricants - explained - Cycle Gremlin

I wipe my chains with a very lightly dampened towel (mineral spirits) & add a drop of thick oil to each roller. Chain-L is the best available for this.

I never wash chains & they last a very long time.

The thick oil (Chain-L or something like it (140W gear oil) will not allow grit to enter the chain's moving parts and the re-application keeps the side plates & rollers filled thus excluding grit ingress.

Chain lubrication can be reduced to a simple procedure and sequence:
1) Wipe the outside clean.
2) Apply a drop of thick oil to each roller.
3) Let sit for a time.
4) Rotate the crank a few turns.
5) Wipe everything you can off the outside of the chain.

Joe

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Minton (Post 19484834)

Depends on where you ride. Lots of sand, dust and dirt on (paved) roads I use, so with thicker, especially gear oil, enormous amounts of dirt get stuck on the chain, RD pulleys - everywhere. First on the outside, but they find their way to the inside as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slaninar (Post 19485325)

Which emphasizes that there is no method that suits everyone and every condition, and no method works perfectly for anyone. All of this involves compromise.

Has anyone tried waxing their chain? I think I'm going to give it a whirl. More out of curiosity than anything, rather than OCD.