Rain and that oily spray of droplets from the chain...
 

As I set out for my commute back home, there had been no rain for hours. But midway through my commute, it started raining hard - if I had known, I'd have put on my rain pants. Anyway, I sure was glad for my full fenders...

When I got back home, I noticed my pants had been sprayed - mostly on the drive side - with droplets of black gunk. I'm guessing the gunk came from the wet chain. Two washes later, my pants (100% nylon) are still stained with black spots. I doubt those stains will ever go away...

So, if full fenders won't protect me from chain spray, will anything? How do you deal with riding in the rain, wear only black pants that won't show the oil stains?

What if I get caught again by rain whlie wearing non-black pants, should I just walk home to avoid ruining yet another pair of pants?

chain guard

Hmm, I've never had any problems with grease actually spraying off my chain. It sounds like you need either a chain guard...

http://letsgorideabike.files.wordpre.../chaincase.jpg



or a full chain case...

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/lasvegas...case-union.jpg

Or change into something else before the ride.

Yeah, nice chain guards. I live in a very hilly city, I need my triple chainrings for commuting. The big, long, steep hill climbs every day would kill my knees on a singlespeed. Believe me, I tried for a few months, and I did hurt my knees. And that was with a 42:20, which was too still too high on the climbs, and way too low for the rest of the trip.

use less oil

Slightly off topic about the pants: This summer I was riding in the rain with rain pants and a new pair of white socks. The rain and oily spray totally stained my socks and likewise can't be washed out. I picked up some cylindrical plastic freezer bags from a local bagel shop (Finagle a Bagel here in Boston) and now wear these over my socks and tucked into the tops of the socks to protect that gap between the pants and the rain overshoes.

Less oil? Well, every time I oil my chain I thoroughly wipe it afterward to get the excess oil out... Apparently it's not enough.

OGK chain guard works on a triple.

Else you can be like me and get a bike with a belt drive. My only maintenance on that is to dry it up after a ride in the rain which in turn cleans it up nicely.

I wonder why cycling tights and pants are black? hmmm

on a side note, if you notice your clothes are stained with grease before you wash them, you really need to get the grease stains on the first wash, or else they will be there for good. Once the pants dry with grease stains, they are set, so wash over and over until they are gone. My recommendation is that if you really like your pants to hand wash them until the stains are gone with dishsoap or simple green, they are both good at cutting through grease.

Also the SKS Chainboard works with a triple, 48tooth max, not so well with bio-pace because of the wider front derailleur cage. It does work well on my wife's bike with round chainrings.

They're 100% nylon, so I assume they're bike pants? If so, how are they ruined? Who cares what bike pants look like? Both pairs of nylon bike pants I own have cog tears and oil/gunk stains on them, and one has the crotch half ripped out. Meh.

You could try a dry lube. I gave up on it myself though.

I bet it isn't chain oil that's spraying on you. It could be that the chain is picking up gunky road water and spraying it on you.

But good for you, riding in the weather. It's worth a few ruined outfits. :thumb:

I've had good results with White Lightening dry lube, although it is overpriced. I use it more in the summer, and switch to a heavier lube in the wet and icy weather.

Try OxyClean. Use the spray bottle directly on the stain, plus the powder added to the detergent. Or just put up wth the scars on your cycling clothing. You should see the extra seams on my PI Zephhyr jacket. Everytime it gets a new gash, I just sew it up. Looks like Frankenstein, but still works fine.

What are you oiling it with? You may have better luck with a dry lube like ProLink or a wax lube like White Lightning. I use Prolink and FinishLine and never have had the problem you describe.

That sounds more like road grit/grime to me. Wait until it gets on your face. Fenders do help but nothing will be 100% if you ride in the rain. Wear black pants.

Just roll your pants up or wear baggy shorts with long black tights.

Or Goop Hand Cleaner, just rub it in to the grease stain. Gets grease out of anything.

I agree; chain guards won't do much about that. FYA, I quoted a prior post in response to a subscriber who started a thread, "I discovered I like riding in the rain"

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=577623

wolfchild, actually... What I'm wearing are knickerbockers (long shorts, below-the-knee) with black tights underneath. And still they got sprayed.

I've been commuting daily for two years rain or shine, from -30C to 30C, in snowstorms and thunderstorms, never skipped a commute because of weather. I once saw my commute time more than doubled due to a major snowstorm... I've toured for thousands of kilometers, sometimes riding in the heavy rain for hours at a time...

I've always used black rain pants when it was wet outside. But yesterday I got caught in the rain halfway through my commute without a chance to prepare. Now I know just how messy that is. Funny I never learned it before now.

Anyway, I guess rain pants are more important than I gave them credit for.

When the road conditions are very nasty especially in winter, I wear goretex gaiters, they really help in keeping my pants clean.

I use the pants-in-the-socks method with great success (triple chain ring with no chain guard).
I oil with something close to car motor oil. I oil liberally and then dry off excessive oil. I have found the bike specific lubrication too thin for my needs, I have to oil much less often with the thicker oil.