Chain Lube

I went out on the bike this afternoon, in all the mud and puddles. I'd last
cleaned and lubed the chain (with Finishline waxy stuff) a while ago - done
a 10 mile ride since, in not horribly grotty conditions, and then cleverly
left the bike out in the rain last night for a couple of hours. Anyway,
after a good hour's riding in *lots* of mud, I'd got crud on top of my crud
catchers (work that out), a frame pretty much encrusted in black mud, and
gears that weren't *that* keen on shifting.

Is mud and water always going to cock the chain up, or should I be
degreasing and relubing after every ride? I don't much care about chain /
component longevity, more about shifting.

On my old bike I ruined the cassette and chainrings by not looking after the
chain.
The chain is the main destructive part, make sure it is free moving and
lubed. Wipe off excess lube after lubing as the excess only sucks in grit
and causes wear. Regularly check the chain for stretch, this was my down
fall. The chain is the weak link - as such if it is used after stretching
too much then it will cause rapid wear on the cassette and chainwheels
causing high costs compared to the cost of a new chain. Take it down to the
LBS and have it checked on a gauge every 6 months. The chainrings and
cassette should 'hopefully' last 3 chains.
The gear cables are also an essential part of smooth shifting, lube if
possible and replace inners regularly and outers every couple of inners.
The above seems to give me nice shifting and with the high cost of chainsets
maintenance of components is worthwhile and gives yourself pride in a tidy
operating bike.

Kent

"Doki" wrote in message
...
I went out on the bike this afternoon, in all the mud and puddles. I'd
last
cleaned and lubed the chain (with Finishline waxy stuff) a while ago -
done
a 10 mile ride since, in not horribly grotty conditions, and then cleverly
left the bike out in the rain last night for a couple of hours. Anyway,
after a good hour's riding in *lots* of mud, I'd got crud on top of my
crud
catchers (work that out), a frame pretty much encrusted in black mud, and
gears that weren't *that* keen on shifting.

Is mud and water always going to cock the chain up, or should I be
degreasing and relubing after every ride? I don't much care about chain /
component longevity, more about shifting.

Doki wrote:
I went out on the bike this afternoon, in all the mud and puddles.
I'd last cleaned and lubed the chain (with Finishline waxy stuff) a
while ago - done a 10 mile ride since, in not horribly grotty
conditions, and then cleverly left the bike out in the rain last
night for a couple of hours. Anyway, after a good hour's riding in
*lots* of mud, I'd got crud on top of my crud catchers (work that
out), a frame pretty much encrusted in black mud, and gears that
weren't *that* keen on shifting.

Is mud and water always going to cock the chain up, or should I be
degreasing and relubing after every ride? I don't much care about
chain / component longevity, more about shifting.

I'd clean and re-lube after a ride like that if I were you!

--
- Zilla
Cary, NC
(Remove XSPAM)

Zilla wrote:
Doki wrote:
I went out on the bike this afternoon, in all the mud and puddles.
I'd last cleaned and lubed the chain (with Finishline waxy stuff) a
while ago - done a 10 mile ride since, in not horribly grotty
conditions, and then cleverly left the bike out in the rain last
night for a couple of hours. Anyway, after a good hour's riding in
*lots* of mud, I'd got crud on top of my crud catchers (work that
out), a frame pretty much encrusted in black mud, and gears that
weren't *that* keen on shifting.

Is mud and water always going to cock the chain up, or should I be
degreasing and relubing after every ride? I don't much care about
chain / component longevity, more about shifting.

I'd clean and re-lube after a ride like that if I were you!

I will be, just wondering if cleaning and lubing *before* the ride would
have been any use.

On 2004-10-18, Doki penned:


Zilla wrote:
Doki wrote:
I went out on the bike this afternoon, in all the mud and puddles. I'd
last cleaned and lubed the chain (with Finishline waxy stuff) a while ago
- done a 10 mile ride since, in not horribly grotty conditions, and then
cleverly left the bike out in the rain last night for a couple of hours.
Anyway, after a good hour's riding in *lots* of mud, I'd got crud on top
of my crud catchers (work that out), a frame pretty much encrusted in
black mud, and gears that weren't *that* keen on shifting.

Is mud and water always going to cock the chain up, or should I be
degreasing and relubing after every ride? I don't much care about chain /
component longevity, more about shifting.

I'd clean and re-lube after a ride like that if I were you!

I will be, just wondering if cleaning and lubing *before* the ride would
have been any use.

I'd be more worried about leaving the bike out in the rain than I would be
about the ride just before. Depending on how hard it was raining, it could
have rinsed all the lube off your chain ...

Every time I've ridden in mud, the shifting has gotten finicky by the end of
the ride. So I'd say that cleaning and lubing before the ride probably won't
eliminate such issues, but lubing after the rain would at least make sure that
you started out in good condition.

But I'm a newbie so if I'm completely wrong, someone will be along soon to
correct me.

--
monique

"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live."
-- Mark Twain

Is mud and water always going to cock the chain up, or should I be
degreasing and relubing after every ride? I don't much care about chain /
component longevity, more about shifting.

I'd rather ride than screw with the chain...but it's got to be lubed. If
you've already started riding and the chain starts squeaking, add water. A
watered chain goes at least 30 minutes without squeaking. I keep 2
cut-to-length, new, sram pc59...$14 chains in reserve. I measure the bike
chain every hundred miles or so and replace if needed. I never clean the
chains...except when I ride through a creek or get caught in a storm. I'm
proud to wear a chain out...that means I'm getting lots of riding time.
After the chain dries I oil each link with a drop of chain saw oil...or
motor oil. If I'm going to ride right away, I'll wipe it a little...If not,
I won't wipe it. Chains last a long time using this method...probably
several months or several hundred miles whichever comes first. I only get
my hands dirty when I change chains.

Tommy Taylor wrote:

Is mud and water always going to cock the chain up, or should I be
degreasing and relubing after every ride? I don't much care about chain /
component longevity, more about shifting.



I'd rather ride than screw with the chain...but it's got to be lubed. If
you've already started riding and the chain starts squeaking, add water.

I heard "screw" "cock" and "lubed". I really wanted to read this post
and see what else it had to offer to the discussion but hell I'm
done...some days you just can't recover from a coincidence like that.
maybe it's just a case of the Mondays, but my head's gone to pot (not
literally).

1 hour 4 minutes left.....must.....maintain....focus. or illusion thereof.

bri





--

* enjoying the karma *
remove LKJSDFJSD from address to email

Doki wrote:
I went out on the bike this afternoon, in all the mud and puddles. I'd last
cleaned and lubed the chain (with Finishline waxy stuff) a while ago - done
a 10 mile ride since, in not horribly grotty conditions, and then cleverly
left the bike out in the rain last night for a couple of hours. Anyway,
after a good hour's riding in *lots* of mud, I'd got crud on top of my crud
catchers (work that out), a frame pretty much encrusted in black mud, and
gears that weren't *that* keen on shifting.

Is mud and water always going to cock the chain up, or should I be
degreasing and relubing after every ride? I don't much care about chain /
component longevity, more about shifting.



I trash a chain every 3 months, despite the fact that I clean/lube it
after every ride. It used to be a lot worse before I figured out how to
minimize wear.
T-9 lube is the best, albeit a bit costly, but it doesn't gunk up your
drive train like others do.
Do a wipe clean every ride, then every week or so, use a chain scrubber
type cleaner.
Gotta keep your cables clean too. I replace the last loop of housing
down by the cassette 3 times before I chuck the cable and redo all the
housing. That's the bit that get's gummed up 1st.
Also in water/mud, keep your cables well glopped in lube. Helps keep
water & grit out. Slick honey is nice and thick for that application.
Get a park tool chain stretch indicator too, replace at .75 of stretch,
not 1.00 as they say. At 1.00 you've already toasted your cassette and
chaninrings.

-Bruce

Bruce Edge wrote in
:

Doki wrote:
I went out on the bike this afternoon, in all the mud and puddles.
I'd last cleaned and lubed the chain (with Finishline waxy stuff) a
while ago - done a 10 mile ride since, in not horribly grotty
conditions, and then cleverly left the bike out in the rain last
night for a couple of hours. Anyway, after a good hour's riding in
*lots* of mud, I'd got crud on top of my crud catchers (work that
out), a frame pretty much encrusted in black mud, and gears that
weren't *that* keen on shifting.

Is mud and water always going to cock the chain up, or should I be
degreasing and relubing after every ride? I don't much care about
chain / component longevity, more about shifting.



I trash a chain every 3 months, despite the fact that I clean/lube it
after every ride. It used to be a lot worse before I figured out how
to minimize wear.
T-9 lube is the best, albeit a bit costly, but it doesn't gunk up your
drive train like others do.
Do a wipe clean every ride, then every week or so, use a chain
scrubber type cleaner.
Gotta keep your cables clean too. I replace the last loop of housing
down by the cassette 3 times before I chuck the cable and redo all the
housing. That's the bit that get's gummed up 1st.
Also in water/mud, keep your cables well glopped in lube. Helps keep
water & grit out. Slick honey is nice and thick for that application.
Get a park tool chain stretch indicator too, replace at .75 of
stretch, not 1.00 as they say. At 1.00 you've already toasted your
cassette and chaninrings.

-Bruce



I don't think that the dry lubes are much good at all in wet condtions.
In my experience, they seem to dissolve and vanish if the chain gets wet,
so I end up with a rusted chain. I love dry lubes in dry and dusty
conditions.

I prefer to use a heavier synthetic wet lube and I either clean and
relube (if really grubby) or (preferably) relube and wipe away excess /
dirt at the same time.

Neil