Newbie questions - chain lube and tire pressure

notnot

Two silly questions, if it's OK:
- I had a new chain put on my road bike around a month ago and the grease seems to be sticking surprisingly well. With my mountainbike, I'd have looked to grease the chain by now. While there's grease on the road bike chain, though - at least, you get wet grease on your hands when you touch the chain - is it OK to just ride with that? I've been away for a fortnight, so the bike has been lightly used.
- There seem to be lots of tables online giving suggested tire pressures. I've been riding on around 105PSI - as that's what the bike came with - but can anyone suggest one to find the 'right' tire pressure? I'm around 72kg.

rc856

Do a wee search for dry or wet lube. Depends on the weather you'll be riding in.
I've been happy with
http://www.whitelightningco.com/products/epic.htm

As for tyre pressures, I go with my weight so run mine about 95-100 PSI and it's all good

notnot

Thanks I've got some lube for when the chain does need lubing - but trying to work out when I do need to apply the lube (as opposed to riding with the grease that the chain came with)...

Paul E

If it's dirty I clean the chain, I usually do it once a or maybe twice a week, a wipe down to get the worst off the chain and then keep going at it with cleaner till running it through some paper towel or such like and it leaves almost no black stuff, then relube when you have the chain dry, just apply it to the rollers in the middle of the chain, it doesn't need a load on the side plates.

Leave over night and then run it through a clean bit of towel esp the side plates to remove any excess as that will only attract dirt.

fast as fupp

i cant recommend a 'right' pressure as there are so many variables- weight, road surfaces, wet or dry etc.

but i can recommend that you spell 'tire' T-Y-R-E.

thats TYRE

yours a (british) pedant

simon_masterson

Your chain shouldn't be swimming in oil. It will only pick up dirt; it's the surfaces that you can't see that need to be lubricated. If you're really serious about chain performance, you do it like the late, great Sheldon Brown did it, and disassemble the chain entirely; cleaning and then lubricating the different parts with different lubricants, before reassambling.

For most mere mortals, it is sufficient to use a basic wet lubricant (I use Green Oil products all round) and wipe off the excess (though 'dry' wax-based lubricants also work very well apparently). If you go for a long ride in torrential rain and your bike comes back covered in muck, it's a good idea to degrease the chain and scrub it (and the rest of the transmission) with a stiff brush before relubricating.

But many beginner road cyclists seem to labour under the illusion that they need to be oiling their chains constantly as a matter of course. You don't. Some people reapply very infrequently, even when commuting in November. I don't particularly condone this practice, but if you were to ride your bike daily in all weathers without lubricating the chain, you would know when it actually needs to be oiled!

rolf_f

Simon Masterson wrote:

If you're really serious about chain performance, you do it like the late, great Sheldon Brown did it, and disassemble the chain entirely; cleaning and then lubricating the different parts with different lubricants, before reassambling.

This you mean? http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

I hope you weren't taking him too literally there......

notnot

Simon Masterson wrote:

But many beginner road cyclists seem to labour under the illusion that they need to be oiling their chains constantly as a matter of course. You don't. Some people reapply very infrequently, even when commuting in November. I don't particularly condone this practice, but if you were to ride your bike daily in all weathers without lubricating the chain, you would know when it actually needs to be oiled!

Fair enough. *Something* was creaking a bit when I rode hard - by my standards - yesterday, but suspect it's the saddle bag (or me ). The chain still seems to be turning smoothly enough at home and there's still grease on it - so shouldn't do damage by riding it like this?

notnot

fast as fupp wrote:

i cant recommend a 'right' pressure as there are so many variables- weight, road surfaces, wet or dry etc.

but i can recommend that you spell 'tire' T-Y-R-E.

thats TYRE

yours a (british) pedant

Fair point. Oddly, I fairly regularly correct US spellings in part of my job; never had anything to read about tires/tyres, though

Pross

The grease that comes on a new chain is probably better than anything you will put on yourself so I would avoid removing it and applying your own lubricant until it has worn off.

CiB

Pross wrote:

The grease that comes on a new chain is probably better than anything you will put on yourself so I would avoid removing it and applying your own lubricant until it has worn off.

Worn off where though? The outside plates, or the inner workings of the rollers where you can't see anyway?

If I were you I'd give it a good clean and then use some lube, either that Teflon stuff n green aerosol cans, or good old simple Cycle Oil, £1.50 a tin from good h/w shops. Then do that whenever it looks dry round the rollers.

notnot

That may be why this topic generates so much debate - how to know whether grease has worn off where you can't see it