Today I hop on my bike after a class and start to ride and I notice that my drivetrain feels and sounds like it is grinding or like there is sand in the drivetrain. I rode earlier in the day with no problem and rode just before the class for about a half hour and didn't notice anything. I instantly figured it was just grime in the chain (in oregon and it's crappy right now) but pulled over to give it a quick look and make sure I was not missing something terrible. I found a loose chainring bolt and tightened it down I also grabbed some paper towels and gave the chain a quick wipe and hit the chainring and cog as best I could. I hop back on and continue my ride but it is still there. I live in Oregon and ride in rain and deal with road grime all the time but never felt this before. I tend to clean and lube my chain at least every 2 weeks but usually more. So am I missing anything or should I just clean and lube when i get home?

edit: I just remembered it snowed about a week ago and the roads were sanded. I've ridden on them for a week though and it just happened today after being parked during class.

Clean/lube, gauge for smoothness.

Maybe get a new chain, too.

It's just a part of life out here. There's only so much cleaning and lubing you can do. It never fails that it's going to be crappy out the day after you do a good cleaning.

I don't know whether Eugene uses salt, but that's the big killer for chains around here. Everything was good and smooth until the snow (and salt) hit a few weeks back, and now every day things get remotely wet, I have to re-lube or I hear/feel it the very next morning in the drivetrain. In any event, if the weather is consistently crummy, make sure you're running the right lube. Some don't stand up to wet conditions very well, and it may help to switch things up when conditions deteriorate.

If you're riding through winter ****, make sure

a) you're riding a beater
b) accept the fact that you're going to roll through chains like no tomorrow so don't bother with complex cleaning/lubing rituals but still do enough so stuff isn't wearing out every other day.

Guys, I know this is OT and stuff, but Finland is having an unusual warm weather for this time of the year. We should be -20C, instead we barely hit the 0.

A shop showed me a much simpler clean/lube technique then the one I was previously using, so the moment I get dissatisfied with the drivetrain now, I'm gonna be lubing it up. Take a good 5 minutes of my time and it's vastly worth it for those days when it's not completely pouring. Plus I don't want to prematurely wear out nice drivetrain equipment.

can you elaborate on that technique? sounds like something well worth knowing

Yeah i'd like to hear this super secret technique that nobody has ever heard of.

first rule of secret chain maintenance is you don't talk about secret chain maintenance

What's a good lube for wet conditions? When it rains here in NY, all the road dirt sticks to the water and ends up on the drive train. Tri flow seems to compound the prob.

there will be no elaboration on teh secret chain cleaning techniquez.

ok fine.

i call it the 'double wipe'.

this is how my mechanic explained it:

turn pedals and squirt in some tri-flow. get it saturated then wipe. this first squirt gets all the grime loosened up and wiped off.

then repeat this again for the lube.

good to go. gets my **** nice and silent.

I guarantee you this sh*t won't "attract" dirt - stuff just don't stick to it. It isn't really liquid, either.

Lol. Lubing without wiping only serves to wash **** INto the chain.

i clearly said to wipe, and twice.

im in southern oregon
same problem
ive figured out i just have to deal with it for a few weeks after it snows
(im also just too lazy to clean it every day)

i wipe until it's clean.

that's just me, though.

1. Take chain off.
2. Put in pop bottle with paint thinner. Shake for a minute.
3. Wipe chain with rag.
4. Put back on bike.
5. Lube.
6. Wipe again.
7. Ride.

so you somehow are able to whipe the inside of a chain? whiping the outside doesn't do much other than take off excess so dirt doesn't build up

the problem is you get all the grime inside the links, and this rubs against the cog and chainring, this is where you get the grinding, unless you are putting the triflow on in massive amounts at a decent pressure i don't think you are washing any of this away ... you need some kind of wash to do this, for me i use a bio cleaner, whip down, then lube ... seems like cleaner would be better at cleaning than more lube

Well this thread just caused me to clean the chains on both my bikes. First I spayed the chains and cogs with greenstuff degreaser (let it sit). Then wiped with a towel. Repeat. Then sprayed with Bikewash spray until it was dripping out everywhere clean. Wiped again. Then re-oiled with Phil Tenacious oil and wiped my bikes down nicely. Ahhhh.

It's important you make sure the deterging chemicals (degreaser) have been removed, before you re-lube.

If you de-grease with simple green or another degreaser hang up your chain on an unbent coat hanger or something so it doesnt get tangled and then just hose it down so it runs off the bottom. Clean it off as much as possible with a rag and let it hang for a while, then put it back on and grease it. It works for bike chains as well as car parts and many other things. Basically just puts the part/chain in a position that is easy to work with and so the cleaning chemicals dont linger on the part so much.

thats why i spray the ***** out of it with BikeWash. its been a good way to get the grit out.

i like to do the double wipe method, except i add a toothbrush before the chain hits the cog... i like to hope it kinda gets some grime off.

I really like this idea. In fact, going to give it a shot asap.