You definitely put more effort into chain maintenance than me. If my drive train gets noisy on tour, I add oil. That might be every other day in rain, might be every other week in dry conditions.

I made the comments below a year ago when this thread started, I quite frankly am unsure if I put any oil on the chain on the bike in the photo since I posted that. I might have put some oil on it in the spring?

over the years of trying all kinds of chain lubes, I've been on the Tri-flow kick for a bunch of years now--I like that its not as gunky as the thicker ones I've used like Phils Tenacious--which stays on great for really rainy weather but tends to gunk up and gather more stuff.
Tri-flow is thicker than some of the super thin ones that you have to put very often and in rain will come off really quickly and you get a noisey rusty chain.

for me the tri-flow is a happy medium that is thin enough to clean off stuff when you apply it to each link, but has reasonable lasting strength in rain.

in other words a happy medium for me of "cleaningness" going on, and ok rain performance.

Im a big rag wiping fan, never take chains off to clean but a big part of this comes from regularly doing the wiping thing (takes just a min or two) and using a lube that is thin enough to clean out particles as it goes on and doesnt leave too much gunk that picks up more particles.

-oh, Doug, another reason I like a thinner lube like tri-flow is that there is less buildup on the pulleys, and when i wipe a chain, I always hold the rag on the pulleys and get stuff off so it doesnt get built up.

*all this goes out the window if you ride day after day in crappy rainy muddy conditions--for that you just gotta lube and wipe a lot and your chain life is always going to suffer in any case from these worst case conditions for drivetrains.

I am sorry but your methods just won't cut it. This is what I do usually weekly while on tour (I would do it daily but weekly is more than sufficient):
The ShelBroCo Bicycle Chain Cleaning System

lube chain when noisy at gas station from not quite empty oil can in trash out by the pumps. wipe with free rag. don't ever, ever measure anything. it just leads to premature purchases. wait until a cog slips. then buy chain and cassette.

on 12,000 mile tour. first and only chain/cassette replacement at 6000 miles.

works for me, different strokes for different folks

from my experience, I've done both way, your way and the change chains out at 1/16th wear.
Yes, you can go a long way on one chain one cassette, but you will be wearing out your chainrings by doing this, and also, by changing chains at 1/16th wear, you will get more life out of a cassette also.

also by letting a chain go a long time, if ever you have a real serious chain problem (unlikely I know, at least in my experience) if you need to put on a new chain, it will probably slip on cogs on the cassette even if the old chain wasnt-this is from direct experience of mine.)

so by leaving a chain on forever you will spend more money in the long run (that said, chain measuring devices in bike stores seem to be made to tell you to change more often than my technique of measuring with a ruler for 1/16th wear over a foot.....but your take on it goes way past that)

i find it very difficult to believe that one can get 10,000 miles from a bike chain. even with your cleaning regimen, stretch alone would render your chain out of whack much sooner than that (from my experience).

Change all your bearings to cartridge bearings. There is no need to repack any cartridge bearing. Assuming that you use a cartridge bearing bottom bracket, when was the last time you repacked it? (Hint: With a very few exceptions, you can't even take a cartridge bearing BB apart.)

My current touring bike has only cartridge bearings in bottom bracket, headset and hubs. I expect all of them to last at least 50,000 miles without any kind of maintenance and then to only need replacement. That may not seem like the most environmentally friendly option since I replacing rather than reusing the bearings but I suspect that 50,000 miles is 50 years in the future if I do a 1000 mile tour every year. Compare that to repacking bearings every year for 50 years at a grease usage of, roughly, 1 oz per repack per bearing.

I'm not sure what you did to have a chain that looked like Doug64's first picture while using White Lightning but I've never experienced that kind of mess with that product. My chains almost always look more like his third picture. These are all pictures of my drivetrain without cleaning.




Even in the depths of winter



A note on the above picture, the black deposits are there because I let someone convince me that leaving the factory lube in place was a good idea. It just collected a lot of dirt and debris and made everything black. Since I've gone to stripping the factory lube from the chain, everything is much, much cleaner as can be seen in the other pictures.

I do find that people over use White Lightning which leads to build up problems. I've been using the stuff for most of 20 year now throughout the country in almost every conceivable condition and never had a problem with it. I have found that it's best to remove the factory grease first...which is the only time my chains get cleaned or, more importantly, need to be cleaned. And then I never have to clean them again. I apply White Lightning after rain but I can usually go around 8 weeks (500 to 800 miles) between applications in dry conditions. That's on a par (or even better) with what many people get using oil lubes. And my chains last just as long as oiled chains...3000 to 5000+ miles...without all the OCD on cleaning them.

Chain maintenance ranks much lower than laundry...and I hate doing laundry on tour... on my list. As you can read above, it's pretty low on the list at home as well. White Lightning is hated by a lot of cyclists but it really is a clean product. I'd much rather deal with a little bit of wax build up than deal with a black, dirty, oily chain and the constant need to "clean" it.

Basically I followed the directions on the bottle which at that time said something like, apply liberally, let dry overnight, and wipe off.

Yep, that was likely the problem at the time, but it was what the directions on the bottle called for. If I were to give it another chance I'd do more like what I do with Boeshield T9, which is apply liberally, spin the crank for a minute, and wipe off. After the results we had I have not been inclined to try White Lightning again since I have been happy with Boeshield, but I would likely have better results by eliminating the overuse.

I use a bottle of "White Lightning," applied once a week and at the end of each rainy day.

Pretty much every lube spins out excess after riding for a while, so even after wiping right after application, post ride I do a rag 5 sec wipe again. Less buildup on pulleys, cassette, chain ring s.

A lot of excess does nothing but collect dirt.
The cleanest I've used was prolink but it really lacked in wet and overall longevity, but sure kept it all clean .

I have been using wax lubes in the shop to clean things out a bit and then a few drops of good wet lube with plenty of wiping in between.

The ShelBroCo cleaning was a joke. Nobody should ever take apart their entire chain and clean it to that degree nor really could you practically.

Staehpj1 convinced me to stop cleaning my chain, although, laziness convinced me he was right.

A decent chain lube should be able to take some wet weather in stride. If it washed off, you can use some more, or oil scavenged at a gas station. IMO the goal of a bike tour is to enjoy the enjoy the bike tour.

Assign a carefree tour a higher priority than worrying about your drivetrain. Decent lubes will last hundreds (or more) miles , so feel free to ignore your chain a bit. By now you should know the relube frequency for whatever you use, so just stick with that. As for chain stretch, you should be able to get across the country before it begins to be an issue, and if you do nothing at all, you can probably ride back again without problems, though it might cost you the cassette.

For my part, I'll gladly sacrifice some drivetain hardware to enjoy my trip more, but to each his own on that score. Ride NYC to San Diego, buy chain (if you want) and ride back.

Pete and Stuart,

I don't use the White Lightning wax based lube. I use the WL Epic, which is a light oil. That "dirty" picture was 3000 miles of tough riding in very wet and muddy conditions. That picture was taken just a few days before the end of the trip, or it would have been cleaned. I had used all my Epic about a month earlier, and had to go with what I could find, a Shimano product. The person in the bike shop did not speak English, and did not understand that I was asking for "light" or "thin" lube. It was better than nothing.

That just cracked me up! Thanks.

Re enjoying your trip vs worrying about drivetrain and time spent cleaning--when on a trip or not, my rag wipe of chain, pulleys, quick rag floss of the cassette if needed (wheel on bike) and then lube and wipe down again after spinning cranks a bit---really must not take more than 10 mins.
So doing this every x days depending on conditions really isn't a big deal, and anyway, I like the quiet and smoothness of a clean drivetrains, and knowing the parts will last longer is a bonus.
I dunno, I'd equate it to brushing and flossing your teeth, its just part of the routine and certainly not a hardship or takes much time.
Maybe because I'm the house bike mechanic and take care of 5 bikes plus neighbours bikes sometimes, I've got my rag system down pretty fast.

For the once in a while cassette rag floss, after I do a quick smallest cog floss, I put the chain in that small cog and can vertically floss the rest of the cassette in 2 mins maybe. Using a thinner lube helps here as its way easier to floss clean than thicker stuff, and especially if the gunge hasn't been on there forever.

Basically I find more frequent clean and lubing is just faster to do, with bonus of cleaner and well lubed always.

I always have a small bottle of chain lube with me on a trip, keep old ones so I dont have to carry a full one, plus I do the "one drop per link roller" thing so I dont use much.

My last tour I rode 800+ miles on a 200$ craiglist mountain bike. Didn't do any maintenance to the chain, even after riding in the rain for 3 days. Never had any issues.

My current road bike I'll pour some chain lube on a rag and wipe the chain down when I notice it looking black and grimy, then put a few drops of lube on the chain. Scrub the rear derailleur etc. when I notice a black crust forming.

I'm resurrecting this thread--and staying far away from the "Chain lube: Why so passionate" thread, LOL--to ask a couple questions.

Preamble: I cleaned my bike for the first time Sunday. It was above 50 F with a bit of off-and-on drizzle. On Saturday I had my longest ride yet, 34 miles during a 50F + sunny day, which brought me to about 325 miles since I got my bike one month ago. It seemed like I had dried road salt under my fenders, so I hosed everything off, then used Simple Green Bike Cleaner & Degreaser and a toothbrush on the chain and cogs, wiped with paper towels, sprayed again, wiped dry with more paper towels, used my wife's hair dryer on cool, applied one drop of Finish Line wet lube to each chain link, and finally wiped down any excess. BTW, I bought wet lube, and the only brand I saw at the store, because of riding almost every day on wet and snow covered roads (before the recent warm spell).

I hope you're still with me, dear reader. LOL

First set of questions: In May, I will be biking the Katy Trail with a supported group from Chicagoland. I've never rode on crushed limestone, and I wonder how much of a mess it will be to clean off the bicycle components. Will they need daily cleaning? Or maybe just at the end of the trail? (At least three of us will continue on to Colorado by way of the TransAmerica Route.) Assuming that we don't have torrential rain, would I be better off switching to a dry lube? (Yeah, I know here be dragons!) I really don't want to mess with removing the chain, if I don't have to! Should I switch lube again after the Katy Trail? I plan on trying White Lightening dry lube once I get to Colorado, anyway.

Second set of questions: I carry Dr Bronner Magic Soap while camping. Other than imparting a nice peppermint smell to my chain, would this be safe to use instead of Simple Green? I really prefer carrying multi-use items. Also, is it safe to just use/reuse a shop rag, instead of going through a bunch of paper napkins/towels? Of course, napkins are pretty easy to get from fast food joints.

Old t shirts, thin towels, whatever, always work a huge amount better for wiping down a chain, especially with gritty stuff on it from trail riding. Using a rag, wiping with a good grip gets way more gunge off, and won't rip like paper towels.
Regular wiping off chain and flossing of cassette with rag keeps e excess down, so less dirt sticks to it.
Takes a minute tops to wipe chain at end of day, saves time. Use paper napkins for light wipes, keeps the rag cleaner longer.

So no matter the lube, take an old shirt along and it will be fine. I wouldn't take soap and ask that, but that's up to you.

Whether or not your bike...or, more specifically, your chain...needs daily cleaning on the Katy depends on the chain lube. If you use an oil based lubricant, I'd say you'll need cleaning much more frequently than with a wax based lubricant. Your tires will throw up dirt no matter what you use but your chain doesn't have to catch it.

I've ridden the Katy twice and I've ridden many other crushed limestone as well as less desirable surfaces all over the US. On my most recent tour, I rode 50 miles on the Delaware Canal tow path and my legs looked like this



I didn't clean my bike after that day nor any other day on my tour. Of the 1500 miles of that tour, I did about 1/3 to 1/2 on dirt roads or tow paths and never cleaned the chain the entire ride. There simply was no need. I also only lubricated my chain after rain storms and was able to go for at least 700 miles without applying lubricant.


Again, choose a lubricant that doesn't require you to clean. That way you don't have to spend time or effort on that particular ritual.

I rode the Katy trail last October, and am still cleaning the limestone grit out of various parts. I replaced the chain within 1000 miles of completing that ride, more quickly than I would have normally expected (but there were other variables). Latest casualty was the saddle clamp on the seat post--the saddle developed an annoying squeak so I took it apart to clean it and guess what I found. A few weeks ago I had to remove and service the jockey wheels on the rear derailleur.

Day to day on the trail, I wiped down the chain and lube it if it got wet that day, no different than any other ride. There's never a problem finding a suitable rag roadside especially in areas of recreational boating. Nice towels often get left on boats, apparently.

I should also add that fenders and a front fender with a lower flap will keep a big amount of stuff off your chain, the rear fender does a great job of keeping stuff off your front derailleur also.

Cycco's numbers of how many kilometres without having to touch the chain are far more than my experience, but I use triflow, and wipes here and there to remove excess and gunk generally work well. All this depends on how much rain there is, fenders or no, and specific dirt.

Lubes that are more dry rather than sticky are always going to be an advantage in dirt conditions, no doubt about it.

Fenders and shoe rain booties would be up on my list for those conditions.

Perhaps I should have mentioned that I added Planet Bike fenders, with mud flaps, for commuting this winter, and I plan on leaving them on for touring.

Look for a hunk of cloth on the side of the road, just make sure its not a diaper, or underwear, or...well you know. I always find something if I'm looking, use it to wipe the chain down good and reapply the chain lube of your choice, I use Pedros, then dispose of properly. You help clean up litter and you got your chain maintenance chore done, +2 Karma points for you. I try and do this every other day , at minimum.