Don't underestimate the impact of a clean chain
andyeb
Posts: 407
Yesterday I had my bike up on the maintenance stand, looking at gear indexing, as it's been a bit off recently.
But when I got up-close-and-personal with the gears and chain, I noticed a surprising amount of road dirt had attached itself to the chain and rear derailleur. So I decided to give everything a good clean with the chain scrubber and re-lube before adjusting.
Not only did I find I didn't need to adjust gear indexing after the clean, but I made the 30 mile trip to work in the same time as normal without expending any extra effort and despite the fact I had a slight headwind (I normally have a 5-10mph tail wind all the way to work). Seems a clean chain makes more difference to required riding effort than I had realised.
Until now I've been cleaning and re-lubing every other week, but will probably make it a weekly thing now. I do up to 180 miles a week.
But when I got up-close-and-personal with the gears and chain, I noticed a surprising amount of road dirt had attached itself to the chain and rear derailleur. So I decided to give everything a good clean with the chain scrubber and re-lube before adjusting.
Not only did I find I didn't need to adjust gear indexing after the clean, but I made the 30 mile trip to work in the same time as normal without expending any extra effort and despite the fact I had a slight headwind (I normally have a 5-10mph tail wind all the way to work). Seems a clean chain makes more difference to required riding effort than I had realised.
Until now I've been cleaning and re-lubing every other week, but will probably make it a weekly thing now. I do up to 180 miles a week.
0
Comments
-
Clean bikes are faster. That's just fact.0
-
Clean bikes are also much more pleasant to work on.
Big H
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.0 -
If you think how many contact points there must be in all the various part of a drivetrain - if they are all clean and well lubed it makes good sense that that must make a big difference to the friction and hence efficiency of the system.0
-
Jesus wept0
-
30 miles eh? Fair old commute!0
-
P_Tucker wrote:Jesus wept
Could the tears be used as lube?0 -
Good timing, the British Cycling member news email this week has an article about how to clean and lube your chain by the mechanic to the GB Cycling team.
http://cmp.dotmailer.co.uk/BM6-T5SM-5QPORU-BB0JU-1/c.aspxSummer - Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 Team
Winter - Trek Madone 3.5 2012 with UDi2 upgrade.
For getting dirty - Moda Canon0 -
Urgh.0
-
i love cleaning the bike on a friday and then hitting the road on a saturday you can tell such a difference, everything works so smoothly.i just wish i could get my head round cleaning after every ride!enigma esprit
cannondale caad8 tiagra 20120 -
Great articleGizmodo wrote:Good timing, the British Cycling member news email this week has an article about how to clean and lube your chain by the mechanic to the GB Cycling team.
http://cmp.dotmailer.co.uk/BM6-T5SM-5QPORU-BB0JU-1/c.aspx
0 -
Gizmodo wrote:Good timing, the British Cycling member news email this week has an article about how to clean and lube your chain by the mechanic to the GB Cycling team.
http://cmp.dotmailer.co.uk/BM6-T5SM-5QPORU-BB0JU-1/c.aspx
Thanks for posting that, nice one.Trek Madone 3.5
Whyte Coniston
1970 Dawes Kingpin0 -
So was J crying then cause he believes you should clean that horrible waxy sh*t of a new chain then?0
