First clean of my bike, now panicked!

kryptonick

So I cleaned my bike for the first time today, its all shiney again it's lovely.

I did notice that my chain seems to have rusted already, it's seems to be turning orange! Is this normal or should this be adressed? I've only been around trail centres and a single visit to a forrest, though the forrest did feature crossing through a shallow stream a few times.

I'm hoping its nothing, but would appreciate a more experienced head to let me know what needs doing.

Thanks,

Daz555

Probably went a bit rusty if you did not lube it right after cleaning or a wet ride. It can start to go brown incredibly quickly. It is nothing to worry about but you should try and lube your chain after each ride and/or cleaning.

llamafarmer

It's just a thin layer of surface rust, which is normal if you leave it wet even for just a few hours. Give it a clean, wipe the worst of the water off with a rag and then give it a good spray down with some GT85 to get rid of the water. Then once it's all shiny and clean and dry you can re-lube it with some chain lube ready to ride.

.blitz

Avoid the panic by not cleaning your bike. Just make sure the drivetrain is spangly clean www.in2dust.co.uk and wipe the fork sliders/rear shock.

damo2576

Do stainless chains exist?

craker

stainless steel's not a very good engineering material - I'm struggling to think of anywhere it's used non-cosmetically.

Chains tend to wear out rather than corrode, so maybe finding a harder material would improve chain life... at the expense of cassette and chainring wear.

Just oil it regularly and expect to change it often, easy-peasy.

canada16

That lube looks great, might give it a try.