kajero

The ride leader on Saturday morning told me that my bike would work so much more efficiently if I cleaned all the crud, grime and grease off the chain.. I know that, but everytime I try to do something like that, I get grief and criticism from my SO that I just don't want to do it. He says I am I wasting my time because it just gets dirty and grimy all over again. I've given in the past to keep the peace, but I am tried of grease on my legs and sometimes my clothes. And on Saturday when I finally decided to do it anyway, no matter what I did or what I used, it was all wrong. I follow a lot of the instructions and hints I find in these forums. How can so many people in these bike forums be wrong**********? LOL. I've told him a couple times that people who are teaching me all this stuff often have several thousand miles on their bikes and maybe he needs to go give them some instructions. It doesn't work.

I looked in some forums and on line, but I really need to find somewhere where it lists why you need to do all this maintenance and the what happens if you don't do it. (Besides getting covered with dark grease all over my legs when I ride)

BTW . .. he is 80 years old and doesn't ride. I'm around 20 years younger. We've been together for 21 years so neither of us is going anywhere. So I gotta solve this problem.

JohnJ80

My wife has a fool proof way of dealing with this (she's a 7th grade teacher which also comes in handy in these sorts of things). She pretty much tells me that she's going to do it, it's her business, and if I don't like it then I can either (a) do it for her or (b) shut up. She'll repeat that in her teacher voice with a teacher look. I know what that means and it ain't pleasant. That seems to work pretty well. She'll also remind me that when mama ain't happy, nobody's happy.

BTW, your SO is wrong.

You can clean up your chain, lube it and keep it from getting dirty. You only need to lube the rollers in the chain, you don't need to lube the side plates. The side plates get gunked up when extra lube gets on them and collects road dirt. I often take a rag, put a little degreaser on it (chain cleaner) and just run the chain through my rag a couple of spins to get the gunk and junk off. I also do that after I lube the chain, wait an hour or so, and then get the extra lube off.

I'm not sure that will solve the problem of chain tattoos, but it will keep the chain cleaner and it will work better.

J.

John E

Those living in drier climates can get away w/ paraffin-based chain cleaner/lube, such as White Lightning or Race Day. Otherwise, I concur that the only lube which does any good is inside the rollers and between the inner and outer plates, rather than on the outside of the outer plates. A little lube goes a long way.

BluesDawg

Why is your chain getting so grungy? I haven't cleaned a chain in years. Every month or so, I drip ProLink along the inside of the chain as I spin the crank backwards, soaking the rollers pretty good. I let it sit overnight and in the morning I hold the chain inside a rag in the palm of my hand while again spinning the crank backwards to clean off all the excess lube and any dirt and grime it carries with it. Chain stays lubed and clean.

DnvrFox

Hating to do anything dirty or mechanical, I simply whirl the chain backwards, dripping lube on it, then, with a good rag, spin it back again many times with the rag wiped around the chain to clean all the excess lube off.

I have the LBS check the chain periodically for wear and have it replaced.

My time is too valuable to spend doing chain cleaning, and the bike runs fine. I would rather be riding.

prathmann

By all means clean it if you want, but you've already identified the main functional benefit: keeping dirty grease marks off anything touched by the chain.

As long as the chain is kept lubricated any grit is quickly moved away from moving parts to places where it does no further harm (unless touched by your leg or clothing). I have not been able to see any difference in either efficiency or longevity of drivetrain parts between having a well-lubricated clean chain and one that is only kept lubricated but not cleaned.

jim hughes

Besides the obvious aesthetics, there are 2 reasons to keep your drive train reasonably clean.

1) the chain and cogs will last longer
2) the derailleur will shift better

kevin_stevens

To clean the chain:

Spray WD-40 on a rag.

Turn a pedal with the rear wheel off the ground.

Press the rag against the chain as it comes OFF the front chainwheel (cutting your finger off makes the chain messier, not cleaner!).

Throw the dirty rag away.

You can lube the chain with whatever you want, I'm just saying how to clean it in seconds.

KeS

teachme

This is so wrong... Never use WD-40 on your chain. If you do, your going to get more dirt and grit on your chain and sprokets. Use a chain lube that also degreases as you apply it.

Rimmer

Get some shop paper towels at the auto parts store. They're blue and don't tear up that easy. They work well for me. Wear nitrile gloves if you don't like your hands getting dirty. Spin pedals backwards using the towel to get the black crap off. Also clean the two pulleys on the rear. Locate the master link as the starting and ending point. Then place a drop of lube onto each roller while pedaling backwards. Shift into all gears to spread the lube. Then, pedal backwards to wipe off the excess with a rag.

This is my chain. I took it off, cleaned and lubed it on Monday and put 150mi on it. You don't see any black crud.



This is dirty with black grease. Not mine.

Ridinmurray

Water displacement formula #40, not a lube.

10 Wheels

This ^ ^ ^ ^

jim hughes

Come on guys, WD40 won't do anything bad to a chain. It's not the most effective way to clean it, but it's better than nothing - as long as you apply some real lube after the solvents in the WD40 have evaporated.

jdon

Not entirely true. WD 40 does dry to a sticky film that does collect dust but it is fine to use as a water displacer after wet washing your bike or a rainy ride. This prevents corrosion as the chain dries.

If you want to wipe the chain with WD40 then lube it with a chain lube or oil, that works well and causes no harm.

We are not talking Hope diamonds here, these are 60 dollar chains. I change mine once or twice a year and could use pumice as a lubricant at that rate.

kevin_stevens

Y'know, I quit posting to motorcycle chain lube debates years ago. I guess now I need to stop posting to chain cleaning debates as well.

KeS

ericm979

Wd 40 works fine as a solvent to clean the chain. That will work better on a super grungy chain. Then you lube the chain (and wipe it down again). Once the chain is reasonably clean then you don't need the WD 40 and can just lube with ProLink or whatever and wipe it off. I do that a couple times a week, roughly every hundred miles.

Even a clean chain will deposit gunk around the cogs, chainrings and derailleur jockey wheels. I take my cassette off periodically and clean the gunk off, and wipe off the chainrings and jockey wheels. But I ride a lot.

You don't need to carefully lube each roller, that's way too fiddly. Just use the lube container to gently dribble lube on the chain while turning the cranks backwards. And you don't need to shift to every gear. If you do enough turns of the crank (3-4) then you'll get each link. Takes about two minutes to lube and wipe off. Be careful to not get lube or wd40 on the rim or your brake won't work. I lay the rag that I am going to wipe the chain off with on the wheel so it will catch any drips before they get to the rim.

OP, I'm sorry your husband is being a problem. I suggest you go out to the garage while he's busy with something else and just do it. If that's not possible tell him you're going to do it your way even if he thinks its wrong, so he can just shut up and let you get on with it.

The Park Tool web site has excellent tutorials for just about any sort of bike maintenance. They make good tools too.

jdon

Nah, there are always those that take things just a little too far..

10 Wheels

I used it on a tour where i had to ride everyday.
Washed the chain on the bike 3 times with WD-40, wiped it off, let it dry then added White Lighting lube.

DnvrFox

The real question is whether or not one should wear a helmet while lubing the chain, and do you do the same thing to lube a recumbent chain that one does with a safety bicycle.

zonatandem

Just hand your fuss-budget know-nuthin' honey the bill for a brand-new chain!

xrayzebra 

That pic is hilarious. He's even got pipe cleaners.

JohnJ80

Then there would never be any wear and tear from operating in a gritty environment because, as you claim, chains are basically self cleaning.

We have a lot of sand around here. If I don't clean it off my chain, I can hear it and feel it as I pedal when it gets bad (i.e. chain dirty). If you were right, this would be impossible.

J.

2manybikes

Just do it anyway. It's your bike. The truth is there are a million ways to clean and lube a chain. In most cases it does not make much difference.

2manybikes

You put a safety on your bike before lubing the chain?

DnvrFox

One can never be too careful in these days and times. It's only in recent years that safeties have been recommended.