For those of you that ride in the dirt: how often you you clean and lube your chain?

[SeanScott]

I did that two-toothbrush taped together hack and run the over the chain almost every ride. Then do a sqirt of Rock "N" roll.
I feel that too much lube causes a crazy ammount of build-up on the pulleys.

[FlashUNC]

Only maintenance for a badly skipping chain is a new chain and cassette.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Only maintenance for a badly skipping chain is a new chain and cassette.

Under the circumstances, I wouldn't rule out that his derailleur is just tuned improperly. He has a bunch of different bikes and isn't a crazy high mileage kind of guy.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by prototoast

Under the circumstances, I wouldn't rule out that his derailleur is just tuned improperly. He has a bunch of different bikes and isn't a crazy high mileage kind of guy.

Well, I don’t know about a “bunch.” I have four bikes, (one is a frameset) which, by Paceline standards, makes me a veritable monk. I do a significant amount of climbing, and a lot of it in the dirt. I also tend to shift a lot. It might be the “b screw” which seems to get misaligned a lot. So you could be right.

In the mean time, some valuable input. I’d never considered waxing, but I will definitely look into it.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by John H.

Every ride- I also wax my chain.

This must mean that in addition to lubing, you also wax the chain, correct?

(Last I heard, waxing means that you take the chain off the bike, melt some wax in a pot on the stove and drop the chain into the melted wax. I can't imagine anyone out there willing to do that every ride.)

[benb]

Is the chain actually skipping or just changing gears from misadjustment?

If you changed the cassette out from under a worn chain that’s highly likely to be a problem and it’s time to replace the chain too in all likelihood.

You’re asking on a road centric site where bikes are babied. In all likelihood if you setup well a little dirt is fine and you don’t need to constantly clean it.

If it makes noise and it looks dirty clean it. But you don’t need to go crazy. If you’ve got good lube just reapply and spin the chain and then wipe off the excess and it will take a lot of the dirt off.

Every once in a while you can do a heavy cleaning if you want.

K.I.S.S. It’s not an aircraft. More time cleaning and optimizing the chain never won a race if it meant less riding.

[bigbill]

It's really dusty here, I hose down the bike once a week and most of the stuff comes off the chain at that time.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

When the cassette spacers grind into dust

3/4 real mineral spirits and 1/4 straight 20 Wt Mobil1. Apply when it starts to dry, wipe off before you ride. Gets a little gooey on the pulleys but wipes right off. Gets the chain really clean and I made my concoction back when GWB was still president. Works great and it's really quiet. Totally sold on synthetic oil

I’m intrigued. Are you doing this as a cleaner or lube plus cleaner?


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[MikeD]

I use Smoove, and it works longer on my mountain bike in dusty conditions than any other lube I've used. The chain also stays relatively clean.

[Gummee]

I'm another 'clean it every ride' guy, but all I do is spray the chain off with spray lube, wipe down, ride more

Since I'm typically cleaning it every ride, I don't stress too hard about what I use to spray the chain off. Sometimes it's Triflow, sometimes it's MO94, and sometimes it's Finish Line in the red spray can. I 'found' my can of Morgan Blue 'super extra dry' stuff so that'll probably get used up too

M

[bshell]

Question for the wax folks as I've just started doing this for my road/mtb/CX bikes...

I'm doing them in batches of three and removing them from the wax as it starts to cool and skin over -as per the Silca video. It would definitely be cleaner to remove them while it's hot but they say too much of the wax will run out of the roller/pin area where I need it.

How much 'tidying up' should I do regarding the wax covering the side plates and recesses between links?

1) Install and ride it and let the excess flake off on its own OR

2) Install, scrape/poke/wire brush the excess and then ride?

I'm kinda liking it so far but also trying to minimize time spent in the process while not losing the benefit.

Thanks in advance!

[Dave]

Originally Posted by madsciencenow

I’m intrigued. Are you doing this as a cleaner or lube plus cleaner?


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I tried this many years ago. The lube is usually referred to as home made prolink. I applied the stuff generously, sometimes after every ride, along with a lot of wiping. The idea was to clean and lube at the same time. It works, but it's a dirt magnet.

When I got back into cycling, I read many threads about hot dip waxing and liquid paraffin based home made lubes. I made a number of small trial batches and came up with a paraffin/oil/solvent mix that does not attract dirt (at least on paved roads). My lube consists of 1 part paraffin, with 20-30% gear lube added and 4-6 parts camp stove fuel to dissolve the paraffin. It leaves my drivetrain cleaner than anything else I've used.

I've never tried a totally dry lube. The problem with them is they're mostly solvent and don't fill the spaces around the roller with anything that would keep dirt out. If applied after every ride, they might work OK.

I've read reports on an MTB website that suggest chain life in the hundreds of miles isn't unusual.

[fa63]

Originally Posted by bshell

Question for the wax folks as I've just started doing this for my road/mtb/CX bikes...



I'm doing them in batches of three and removing them from the wax as it starts to cool and skin over -as per the Silca video. It would definitely be cleaner to remove them while it's hot but they say too much of the wax will run out of the roller/pin area where I need it.



How much 'tidying up' should I do regarding the wax covering the side plates and recesses between links?



1) Install and ride it and let the excess flake off on its own OR



2) Install, scrape/poke/wire brush the excess and then ride?



I'm kinda liking it so far but also trying to minimize time spent in the process while not losing the benefit.



Thanks in advance!

I just let the excess flake off.

[mtbmoose]

Plenty of dusty trails here and I ride 3-4 times a week. On my mountain bike, I wipe down the fork stanchions, the rear shock shaft, and use a Park Tool gear brush on the chain, cassette, rear pulleys, and chainring after every ride. Then lube with Squirt. I never let the chain gunk up. Takes me all of 5 minutes to do that routine, but a bike stand really helps. Every couple of months, I might run a folded over pipe cleaner in between each link to get some extra stuff out, but Squirt does a better job than most oils at not collecting dust.

[henrypretz]

I wipe the chain down with a dry cloth, then hit it with a brush after each ride. About every 3-4 rides I'll spray it with Dawn detergent + water from a spray bottle, scrub with a brush and rinse. After it dries I lube it with SCC lube. I really like that stuff.
https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...RoCngEQAvD_BwE