Forks and Chain
 

Hey. Since it's spring, and EVERYTHING is soaking, is it fine to get a ton of mud, grass, water (and snow), on my forks?

And since it's so wet, my chain is getting mad at me. Its howling with anger (:lol:)
Can i just use some WD40 on it?

Type of fork?

Spraying wd-40 on a fork will ruin the oil inside.. if it's a suspension fork wipe the stantion tube and dust wipers with a rag then drip some nice chain oil w/ teflon mixed in.. let it soak.. compress and uncompress the forks a bit, wipe the grit off the stantion tubs again then leave it.

btw, don't tear up the local trails... not cool !

No, its just horrible around my neighbor hood. A suspension fork, marzochii. I meant wd40 on the chain.

Ah, yeah.. go nuts with the wd-40 if you want... but take the chain off the bicycle first (there are better ways to clean it btw)

What do you mean it is horrible around your neighbourhood?

Nooooo ! No way ! Never put WD-40 on your chain. This is common knowledge. I shouldn't even have to explain this as everybody knows it, but check out the video for proof:

Why WD-40 is Bad for Your Bike Chain

I agree, you'll need to put a real lube on afterwards... but if you just want to clean it then you can probably get away with wd-40

Mud won't hurt your bike, but do consider what you will do to the trail. If it is too muddy, it is best to stay off. If it has muddy sections, plow through them. Better to clean your bike than widen the trail.

Im not on any trails. Im just riding down the horrible, horrible streets.

Wow. I am picturing scenes from Deadwood. Don't sweat your bike though. Just clean it when conditions dry out.

I've been riding my bike all winter, and today did a teardown to clean all the crap off it, while at the same time replacing old parts. Now the bike is shiny clean in all her little nooks and crannies, and is ready to rock with new parts.

WD-40 is not in my cleaning arsenal.

Mobil 1 0W-20 is a good wet lube, lasts for days. I also have access to a spray cleaner/polish for stainless, that cleans my chain and gears wonderfully, and works for a couple days as a light lube, too.

You don't have to break the bank, but settling for WD-40... you might as well ride a Wal-Mart bike.

Oh for pity's sake. If you listen to everyone here, WD-40 will make your chain blow up. Bull*****.

Just don't use it as lube. WD is low-viscosity with a healthy dose of volatile solvents to let it 'carry' and penetrate deaply, then evaporate. So it's great to displace water and muck that gets deep inside chains and other stuff. The trick is to NOT think that the oils left are any more than very light and insufficient mineral oil. Spray the crap out of it to clean it; but then blow all the WD-40 reside out with your air compressor - - THEN lube the chain with a good bicycle roller chain lube.

People make things so much more complicated and voodoo than they need to, These are bicycles . . . with roller chains (and comparatively low-grade ones at that). They're not 32-valve F1 cars, for pity's sake.

Thank you D...for crap sake...thank you.



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