Chain maintenance advice

JGTR

Ho Ho Ho

After advice about chain maintenance, did what I thought was best and ended up with rusty and stiff chain :x

Gave my chain its first proper clean with one of the plastic cleaning boxes that fits over the chain and some solvent, lunricated it using White Lightning Wet lube, both times I've been out since have hosed bike down as normal, left it dry for a few days and the chain has gone rusty and stuff in places :x

Never had this problem before I cleaned it, just used to leave it and apply a small drop of general purpose lubricant from Decathlon every now and again, what can I do to stop it doing this, have I damaged my chain and is there anything else I should be doing to keep the chain in good condition???

Thanks

Jay

cooldad

I hose the bike after very muddy rides and relube the chain as required.

Never clean my chains specifically, and jut use Squirt, as I may have mentioned before, a million times or so. A bit of surface rust is ok, it just rides off.

Solvents just strip the lube out of the inside of the rollers, where it's needed, and unless you get it back inside properly will rust inside and get stiff.

Chain cleaning machines are pointless, IMHO.

The Rookie

Agree with CD (no, oh my god, that can't happen) if you use squirt you can just use water to clean the chain (I use a wet sponge), let it dry, apply more squirt.

JGTR

Thanks, sounds like I've stripped the lube from inside the chain, what's the best way to sort it out? Just keep
applying lube and it will build back up again, remove chain and soak it in oil???

mattyfez

Well a high quality chain is about £15.. So do the maths on if it's worth the effort.
If it's not skipping I wouldn't worry about it. Surface rust is a fact of life if the chain is damp .

Welsh_Wizard

I use those cleaning machines, wipe the chain of excess with a few turns of he pedal then use Muc-Off lube ( type defendant on weather). Chain looks as good as new.

JGTR

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19767408#p19767408]mattyfez[/url] wrote:

Well a high quality chain is about £15.. So do the maths on if it's worth the effort.
If it's not skipping I wouldn't worry about it. Surface rust is a fact of life if the chain is damp .

Yep fair point, just replace if causes any problems, just annoyed as never really cleaned my chain before and first time I do it b*****s it up :x

Angus Young

cooldad speaks the truth. Use Squirt. Just wash the chain as you wash the rest of the bike, no special attention needed, let it dry and then slap some more on. So much easier than farting around with regular lube and feels nice and creamy when relubed. Wonderful stuff.

cooldad

Wish I'd bought shares in Squirt years ago. I've sold shedloads for them.

rampage7110

Just spray with GT85 after washing.

cooldad

Why?

rampage7110

Drives out moisture and helps prevent corrosion. It's worked for the last 25 years for me.

The Rookie

So you spray a solvent on there that removes lube and replace it with something with no meaningful lubrication quality and that isn't hardier enough to protect against corrosion, no thanks.

JGTR

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19767793#p19767793]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

So you spray a solvent on there that removes lube and replace it with something with no meaningful lubrication quality and that isn't hardier enough to protect against corrosion, no thanks.

To be fair I used to use WD40 and never had any problems with my chain, only started having problems when I used the "proper" stuff :P :x

rampage7110

Your mainly removing dirt with the chain cleaner.
It displaces the water and leaves a thin film. Like I said I've been doing it for 25 years and I spray bare metal in my machine shop with it to help prevent corrosion.

By dripping a lube on your chain every 2-3 links or whatever it is doesn't really protect it enough if you putting the bike away after cleaning.

Chunkers1980

For storage, yes, for actual use, no.

The Rookie

Agreed, works well to protect stuff not doing anything.

The chain on my commuter needs a good wet chain lube or the winter salt water jet wash off the front wheel turns it into an orange chain of shame in no time, even squirt doesn't cut it on the commuter.