Need some chain maintenance tips!
 

I went out for a ride on a MUP with lots of leaves on the ground and I've got tiny bits of leaves stuck everywhere on my chain and gunk on my FD. What's a good way to clean off the chain, and what chain lube do you guys use for dry conditions?

I use a lube that also has a solvent in it (many lubes these days do that). Lay a rag on the rear wheel so you don't get lube on the rim, as that will cause your brake to not work. Turn the crank backwards and dribble some lube on the chain until you have done the whole chain. Then hold the crank and scrub the bottom run of the chain back and forth a few times until it's clean. Turn the cranks to get the next section of chain and do it again. Repeat until done. Takes less than a minute. I do it every 100 miles or so. More often when riding in rain.

If your chain still has the sticky grease that comes on most chains it'll pick up a lot of gunk. It may take a couple times of cleaning as described above to get the sticky stuff off. When you install a new chain its better to remove the sticky stuff from the outside of the chain before you put it on. It's a good lube so you don't want to clean it off the inside of the chain, just the outside. Wipe it off with paper towels with a little wd-40 or some other solvent on them.

I use a home brew of 50% synthetic two-stroke oil and 50% mineral spirit, because I have a lot of old two-stroke oil from my road racing days. But any good quality oil would work. Or you can buy boeshield or chain-l or any other wet lube. I've tried "dry" lubes and they don't lubricate very well.

Every so often I remove the cassette and clean it (wd-40 and paper towels). When I remove the chain for maintenance I'll clean off the chainrings.

I use a different method that probably ends with the same results as ericm979. I start with a rag damp with mineral spirits and run the chain through it until clean. Then I use chain lube straight but sparingly to re-lube the links. It's quick enough and my chain life is every bit as good as when I used to remove the chain and swish in solvent and then dry and re-lube.

I removed the chain, soaked and scrubbed it in a container of mineral spirits, cleaned the sprockets with brake cleaner sprayed on a rag, and then reinstalled and lubed it with some goop the LBS recommended.

Rock and Roll Gold rules!!!
SF

I use a chain scrubber tool with simple green, chain on bike for clean. Rinse with water bottle. let dry and oil.

I use the Park Tools chain cleaner. Blow out excess fluid with an air hose, drizzle Pro Link Gold on each link, run through all the gears to get it on the sprockets, blow out excess lube, then wipe whole bike down. It is always clean and ready to go.

+1 for the Park Tools chain cleaner. I use the Park Citrus Chain brite to clean, then let the chain dry on the bike overnight.

In the morning I use Purple Extreme lube. It's pretty popular at my lbs in AZ where it's very dry.

I ride 7000+ miles per year and the Purple Extreme doesn't leave a lot of gunky residue on the cassette either.

Chains normally last me 3500-4500 miles (Dura-Ace or Ultegra depending on which road bike).