Ive got 2 questions

doog442
doog442 Posts: 370
edited March 2009 in Commuting chat
1. How often do you pump your tyres up? (for me running on 25mm bontrager hardcases at 120psi..once a week for about 90 mile weekly commute)..normal?

2. How often do you clean your chain?....

ps..anyone use a chain cleaner and do they work?

thats 3 i know :D

Comments

  • linsen
    linsen Posts: 1,959
    1. Before long rides, so not all that often, but I am getting more thorough

    2. I have cleaned my chain twice in 1700 miles. Too much cleaning, I find, exposes too much chain to the elements to get rusty :wink:

    Chain cleaners are okay but just as good is a cloth dipped in degreaser
    Emerging from under a big black cloud. All help welcome
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    Every ride for me, snake bite punctures are annoying and squishy tyres don't roll as fast, I need every rider aid possible.

    As for the chain I've tried wax, oil, Teflon stuff, various chain lubes dry & wet, every dabbled with not cleaning, so far just wiping the chain down after each ride and applying lube sparingly and wiping off as much as possible, seems to be working ATM. I've seen a lot of zero maintenance bike with more rust than metal which seem perfectly okay.

    I guess it depends on your terrain and the weather.
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    1. Check them every week at least. I can usually feel when they are soft but.... Why are you running with 120 PSI on 25mm tyres? Read this http://www.roadbikerider.com/UArant.htm ... 20Pressure and spare your backside!

    2. Depends on if it's been wet or dry. if it's got really wet, it gets re-lubed straight away (after drying the chain with a rag as oil floats on water). If only dry I can go 500km (a week of commuting plus weekend rides).

    2b. Yes, chain cleaners do work, but they don't do your chain much good so don't bother. Degreasers are too harsh and strip all the lube from between the plates and the pins. All you need to do is once a week (when you check your tyre pressures) wipe your chain clean with an old rag. Then drip one drop of lube on every pin, dropping the lube on the inside of the chain i.e. work your way across the top of the section of chain that runs from your bottom of your derailleur to to bottom of your chain ring. Once every pin is lubed, run the cranks backwards a dozen or so times and then leave the lube to penetrate in. After a few hours (or overnight) the solvent in the lube will have evaporated, the lube should have penetrated into the chain and any excess will have dripped off. Wipe the surface of the chain clean and away you go!
    VN BMC Cube SS
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/30000
  • doog442
    doog442 Posts: 370
    thanks ..interesting reading about pressures...i thought i was avoiding pinch flats by keeping them inflated? I also find i roll easier....perhaps its just in the head ??

    The chain issue is one i need resolving..... ive got a short sandy stretch and no matter what i do i cant get the grit out.. should i remove the chain and go for a deep clean ....worried about the crank etc as i can hear the grit..even after cleaning
  • rally200
    rally200 Posts: 646
    1. before every long ride, and every 2-3 days commuting (23mm)

    2 & 3 - +1 on Schweiz's comments - only once bothered to fully degrease a chain and it was stuffed within 1000 miles after that
  • schweiz
    schweiz Posts: 1,644
    doog442 wrote:
    The chain issue is one i need resolving..... ive got a short sandy stretch and no matter what i do i cant get the grit out.. should i remove the chain and go for a deep clean ....worried about the crank etc as i can hear the grit..even after cleaning

    If you need to give your chain a good clean then deep clean it using degreaser but make sure that you re-lube it very well. Probably better to put the chain in a container (jam jar!) and completely cover it in gearbox oil, leaving it in there for a few hours at least. Then let the chain drip dry. You can let it drip back into the container you used for the soaking. If your chain has been thoroughly de-greased and cleaned in the first place, then the oil will be okay to use over again. This way the oil has chance to get deep into the chain. make sure you wipe the surface before you ride though. The oil on the surface of the chain doesn't help with lubrication and just attracts the sand/dirt meaning more cleaning.
    VN BMC Cube SS
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/30000
  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    linsen wrote:
    1. Before long rides, so not all that often, but I am getting more thorough

    2. I have cleaned my chain twice in 1700 miles. Too much cleaning, I find, exposes too much chain to the elements to get rusty :wink:

    Chain cleaners are okay but just as good is a cloth dipped in degreaser
    I don't remember posting this.... I wonder what else I've written whilst I've been asleep?
  • DomPro
    DomPro Posts: 321
    1. Before every ride. I tend to take some pressure out after the ride because I have this strange theory that it puts a unnecessary pressure of the rims. I pump to 110Psi and a bit less for the front.

    2. I wipe the chain after every ride and reapply wax lube, and wipe again. Nothing more, nothing less.
    Shazam !!
  • Rich158
    Rich158 Posts: 2,348
    doog442 wrote:
    The chain issue is one i need resolving..... ive got a short sandy stretch and no matter what i do i cant get the grit out.. should i remove the chain and go for a deep clean ....worried about the crank etc as i can hear the grit..even after cleaning

    I run two chains and change them over on a weekly/fortnightly basis. When I taken a chain off, I give it a thorough degrease and clean in an old tupperware pot, and then leave it to soak in oil untill it's fitted again, when it gets good wipe down. In between if my chain is looking a bit gunky I'l give it a good wipe down and re-oil. If it's wet week then I apply oil after every ride.

    My logic in this is that the primary cause of drivetrain wear is a stretched chain, which then causes undue wear on the cassette (I always change the two together). If I run two chains then theoretically the drivetrain should last twice as long, as each chain is only half as worn as a single one would be :? if that makes sense.

    If you're getting a lot of sand in the drivetrain I'd use a wax oil that dries, unless it's wet, as the sand will mix with the oil to create a very nice grinding paste that destroys your drive train.
    pain is temporary, the glory of beating your mates to the top of the hill lasts forever.....................

    Revised FCN - 2
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    I've never bought the whole "don't deep clean your chain you won't get the lube into the hard to get at bits" advice.

    If the greease never comes out you'll just develop grinding paste in there and increase the wear rate anyway. "facory grease" may be good but it's not eternal now is it?

    I deep clean my chain (sometimes taking it off and soaking it in white spirit, sometimes by scrubbing it with a brush I've cut the bristles down on) probably every 250 miles. If you don't get your chain clean then all your running gear will just get crudded up again.

    Clean you chain, wash it off with water, let it dry or use water displacer (wd40 etc), and lube it up again by applying it to individual joints and not hosing it down. Wipe off excess.

    Chain cleaners do work.
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

    What would Thora Hurd do?
  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    schweiz wrote:
    Yes, chain cleaners do work, but they don't do your chain much good so don't bother. Degreasers are too harsh and strip all the lube from between the plates and the pins. All you need to do is once a week (when you check your tyre pressures) wipe your chain clean with an old rag. Then drip one drop of lube on every pin, dropping the lube on the inside of the chain i.e. work your way across the top of the section of chain that runs from your bottom of your derailleur to to bottom of your chain ring. Once every pin is lubed, run the cranks backwards a dozen or so times and then leave the lube to penetrate in. After a few hours (or overnight) the solvent in the lube will have evaporated, the lube should have penetrated into the chain and any excess will have dripped off. Wipe the surface of the chain clean and away you go!

    +1million.

    Obvio only applies to roadies though.

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