Chain Questions
 

Hi Guys,

I have had my bike now for close to 3 weeks and have been out on it 6 or 7 times. I have some questions about chains that I hope you guys might be able to help with

1) I have noticed one of the links has a roller that doesn't seem to move to easy, is there something I can spray to loosen it up a bit? It doesn't cause any issues and the chain moves fine so I don't know if that's something I can just forget about about, or maybe I needs a degreaser spray on it to loosen it up? I don't know that's why I thought Id ask

2) Is using a degreaser bad for the chain, I have seen a lot of people say that you dont want to soak the chain down with a degreaser because that removes the factory applied grease?

I have just cleaned the chain by running it through a dry rag to remove all the black crud I can and ran pipe cleaners in between the links to get out any crud stuck in them. I then applying some chain lube and follow that up by running the chain again through a rag to remove and excess lube.

Is this enough to keep a chain in good condition? Like I said Id like to get that roller on the one link freely rolling again but if its no biggie I will just leave it

If I do need to use a degreaser what would be the best to use? the finish line stuff is expensive so I don't know if there is a more economical option?

Again thanks for all the help guys, Im starting to gain more knowledge as I go along

Jeremy

You can degrease a chain as long as you apply lube after it dries. Personally, I never clean my chains - I just lube them every 2 or 3 rides. I use Finish Line dry lube because it doesn't pick up much grit. Some people go to extremes in cleaning chains, but doing it my way has never been a problem for me and my chains last a long time. If you have a link that is binding, you can usually free it up by twisting the chain in opposing directions with your hands on either side of the problem link.

I take my chain off a few times a year and shake and soak it in an old glass peanut butter jar (vitally important) with some Simple Green. Then after drying completely I use Dumonde Tech. I have used Finish Line and Pro Gold and White Lightening. They are all good lubes.

The Dumonde Tech that I just started using actually states to do what Thor29 suggested. I used their Citrus based cleaner and now just lube a couple times a month. It is supposed to build up in the friction areas and create a wax like surface to fight dust penetration.

I like chain cleaning because it causes me to stop and look the bike over in detail. Its a good time to check connections, cables and adjust the suspension if needed.