Chain Maintenence

keith_d99

Hi all,

Before I go off ordering bits and pieces, just looking for some answers/advice (have read the wiki too)

I do approx 50km per week - commute on mostly dirty narrow country roads.

How often should I lube the chain?
If cleaning the chain necessary - if so how often?
Are chain cleaning machines useful?
Irish weather - Dry/Wet lube?
Finish Line Cross Country Wet Lube - would ye recommend

Thanks in advance!
Keith.

CheGuedara

Hey,

Well, how often to clean, honestly it depends on a lot (how often, on what and in what conditions you ride) but suffice to say when it's dirty, black and feels gritty. In your case that could be maybe once every 1 -3 months I'd guess.

I've used cleaning machines (parktool) but have found MucOff chain cleaner the best thing out there TBH. The routine I use would be clean using that, rinse the chain, dry or allow the chain to dry and relube with either finish line pro road or cross county wet* oils. *is ideal for all but the very worst of Irish conditions.

Just make sure not to overload the chain with fresh lube or it'll be black and full of kack in no time flat, along with the rest of the drivechain.

zzzzzzzz

keith_d99 wrote: »

Hi all,

Before I go off ordering bits and pieces, just looking for some answers/advice (have read the wiki too)

I do approx 50km per week - commute on mostly dirty narrow country roads.

How often should I lube the chain?
If cleaning the chain necessary - if so how often?
Are chain cleaning machines useful?
Irish weather - Dry/Wet lube?
Finish Line Cross Country Wet Lube - would ye recommend

Thanks in advance!
Keith.

How often to lube the chain - I'd clean and and lubricate the chain once a week but I'd probably do 250-300km per week. Not really sure what the consensus is on frequency tbh.

Chain cleaning machines are very useful and should only cost you 10-20 yoyos

If you're only buying one lube, make it wet lube.

Finish line makes good products. Their cross country one with the green top is a great wet lube.

irishmotorist

I wouldn't say you'll need to clean it every week or anything like that. Maybe just take a look every week and you'll see a gradual build up of crap on it and clean it every month or so...depending on the look of it. It will feel better once it's clean and freshly lubricated, so that's a good incentive to do it.

It's probably worth noting that it might need oil after each time you're out in the rain or very wet roads. I find that if the weather is dry, the chain will stay lubed for a while and eventually wear off. In the rain, it gets washed off much quicker.

boniver

As others have said here, the most important thing once you have cleaned the chain is to relube with a good quality bike lubricant. Finishline or White Lightning are both very good. For multi condition use, go for a wet lube like White Lightning Epic and don't use too much of it, just a few drops on the chain and then spin it around. Too much just acts like a magnet for dirt to grinf fown the chain.

Home:Ballyhoura

Hi guys! I got my first chain wear checker/indicator today, the BBB BTL-51 in my lbs for €4.50. Anyway, it seems smaller than it looks on screen but I am not sure if it is 100% correct! Can they lie?

I put it onto the chain on my road bike (2000km) and it shows up at .75% wear, surprising but fair enough. Next up, I checked the fairly new MTB which has only been used 3 or 4 times (around 100km) and it also showed .75% wear! :eek: I keep all my chains spotless, cleaning with the tool after nearly every ride and take it off to do a proper job weekly! I have a loan of a friends track bike at the moment and I checked his out of curiosity, and it didn't fit it (therefore not showing any considerable signs of wear). Maybe singlespeed chains are different sizes are they? I don't know, I didn't think so, just the width isn't it?

Could it be a faulty tool, or just a bad one that lies to me? Is it just me or are the other ones bigger in real life (therefore slightly more accurate) or are they pretty much a standard size? Maybe I'll give this or this a go before replacing the chains. I'd rather risk another €5 than to replace the chains unecessarily early. It says you should consider changing at .75% and definitely immediately at 1%. Should I wait till they show up as 1% and risk wearing out my drivetrain?

Húrin

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Hi guys! I got my first chain wear checker/indicator today, the BBB BTL-51 in my lbs for €4.50. Anyway, it seems smaller than it looks on screen but I am not sure if it is 100% correct! Can they lie?

I put it onto the chain on my road bike (2000km) and it shows up at .75% wear, surprising but fair enough. Next up, I checked the fairly new MTB which has only been used 3 or 4 times (around 100km) and it also showed .75% wear! :eek: I keep all my chains spotless, cleaning with the tool after nearly every ride and take it off to do a proper job weekly! I have a loan of a friends track bike at the moment and I checked his out of curiosity, and it didn't fit it (therefore not showing any considerable signs of wear). Maybe singlespeed chains are different sizes are they? I don't know, I didn't think so, just the width isn't it?

Could it be a faulty tool, or just a bad one that lies to me? Is it just me or are the other ones bigger in real life (therefore slightly more accurate) or are they pretty much a standard size? Maybe I'll give this or this a go before replacing the chains. I'd rather risk another €5 than to replace the chains unecessarily early. It says you should consider changing at .75% and definitely immediately at 1%. Should I wait till they show up as 1% and risk wearing out my drivetrain?

Why don't you take your wear measure tool to a bike shop and check it on the chain of a definitely new bike. The tool might be biased by 0.75% and require calibrating (if that's possible).

Home:Ballyhoura

Húrin wrote: »

Why don't you take your wear measure tool to a bike shop and check it on the chain of a definitely new bike. The tool might be biased by 0.75% and require calibrating (if that's possible).

Not a bad idea actually, only I don't think it would be possible to re-calibrate! I'd just return it there and then I order one of the ones online that tell the truth - hopefully! :rolleyes:

Home:Ballyhoura

Actually, I just checked all the other 5 bikes belonging to the family (which get about 1 use every year) and as it should be, no signs of chain wear. I checked an old Raleigh racing bike I'm selling and it has 1% chain wear so I'd say it's telling the truth alright. I have a new chain which I also checked (leftover from my chain bracelet project) and it had no wear.

So, my guess is that you can leave chains until they just about reach 1% wear. Otherwise I would have to be replacing my MTB chain every 100km! :eek: Although saying that, I don't think I will be rushing back to get another Shimano HG73 anytime soon considering it had the same wear after 100km that the SRAM PC971 had after 2000km. And the SRAM is even cheaper (and uses the handy PowerLink)! Do the more expensive chains last longer (that is you get what you pay for), or is it just weight savings (and they all last the same time)? Any recommendations for a good 9 speed chain?

What do you think of me leaving it until 1% wear? Is this a bad idea, or should I replace them immediately? Thanks for your help in advance, anything would be great and I genuinely really appreciate it! Cheers

xz

The powerlink will fit your shimano chain too, I use them on a HG73 chain.
As regards the wear factor, that is surprising news

rottenhat

Just to muddy the waters a bit, even a brand new chain doesn't measure up at 0%. I have the Park tool and the label on it says .25 -.50 is a new chain, and greater than 1.0 should be replaced. I would guess .75 is okay for a while.

irishmotorist

I think I got one of those chain wear checkers recently and I remember it saying on the back about it being different whether you have an alu or a steel sprocket on the back. I'm not sure why that makes a difference - maybe the sprockets just have a different tolerance to a worn chain or something. That might be worth checking though.

Chips Lovell

irishmotorist wrote: »

I think I got one of those chain wear checkers recently and I remember it saying on the back about it being different whether you have an alu or a steel sprocket on the back. I'm not sure why that makes a difference - maybe the sprockets just have a different tolerance to a worn chain or something. That might be worth checking though.

Aluminium sprockets will wear much quick than steel ones. It's a bit of a non issue though becaus the only aluminium sprockets you'll find are on boutique lightweight cassettes.

Home:Ballyhoura

irishmotorist wrote: »

I think I got one of those chain wear checkers recently and I remember it saying on the back about it being different whether you have an alu or a steel sprocket on the back. I'm not sure why that makes a difference - maybe the sprockets just have a different tolerance to a worn chain or something. That might be worth checking though.

Thanks for that! I just looked at the back of the packaging and it said:

For aluminum sprockets: Use the side marked with 0.75% wear.
For steel sprockets: Use the side marked with 1.00% wear.

Hook the ChainChecker onto ypur chain. If the ChainChecker sinks into and lies flat on the chain you have to replace your chain.

So, according to this, I should be replacing my chains now! I just presume that a Shimano HG50 and a SRAM PG950 are both aluminium sprockets!

Chips Lovell

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

I just presume that a Shimano HG50 and a SRAM PG950 are both aluminium sprockets!

they're steel.

Home:Ballyhoura

Your right! I just read it here and here so I can leave it till 1% then. Thank god for that! Cheers

blorg

Jobst Brandt and Sheldon reckon replace well before 1%. In fact they suggest 0.5% you should really be looking at replacement. You could try measuring with a ruler, as you certainly shouldn't have to replace after a couple of hundred km.

Jobst Brandt:

A new half inch pitch chain will have a pin at exactly every half inch. As the pins and sleeves wear, this spacing increases, concentrating more load on the last tooth of engagement as the chain rolls off the sprocket, thus changing the tooth profile. When chain pitch grows over one half percent, it is time for a new chain. At one percent, sprocket wear progresses rapidly because this length change occurs only between pin and sleeve so that it is concentrated on every second pitch; the pitch of the inner link containing the rollers remaining constant. By holding a ruler along the chain on the bicycle, align an inch mark with a pin and see how far off the mark the pin is at twelve inches. An eighth of an inch (0.125) is one percent, twice the sixteenth limit that is a prudent time for a new chain.

Sheldon:

Measuring Chain Wear
The standard way to measure chain wear is with a ruler or steel tape measure. This can be done without removing the chain from the bicycle. The normal technique is to measure a one-foot length, placing an inch mark of the ruler exactly in the middle of one rivet, then looking at the corresponding rivet 12 complete links away. On a new, unworn chain, this rivet will also line up exactly with an inch mark. With a worn chain, the rivet will be past the inch mark.

This gives a direct measurement of the wear to the chain, and an indirect measurement of the wear to the sprockets:

If the rivet is less than 1/16" past the mark, all is well.

If the rivet is 1/16" past the mark, you should replace the chain, but the sprockets are probably undamaged.

If the rivet is 1/8" past the mark, you have left it too long, and the sprockets (at least the favorite ones) will be too badly worn. If you replace a chain at the 1/8" point, without replacing the sprockets, it may run OK and not skip, but the worn sprockets will cause the new chain to wear much faster than it should, until it catches up with the wear state of the sprockets.

If the rivet is past the 1/8" mark, a new chain will almost certainly skip on the worn sprockets, especially the smaller ones.

keith_d99

Thanks for all the tips all - going to go with the Finish Line Cross Country Wet lube and the Muc-Off chain cleaner Doc - going to pop down to Halfords - hoping that their prices are close to their online sterling prices.

On a related issue - one of my gears seems to be slipping a little (3/4th gear) - all others are fine - you can hear some rub prior to slipping. When I put the chain in reverse it slips also. It's a new Trek 4300 - about 4 weeks old (wbout 300km done) - going to clean and lube the chain later - but do the gears need adjusting?

blorg

keith_d99 wrote: »

It's a new Trek 4300 - about 4 weeks old (wbout 300km done) - going to clean and lube the chain later - but do the gears need adjusting?

Probably, yes, cables can stretch a bit on a new bike. Most bike shops do a free first service where they will look over the entire thing but if you want to do it yourself it is an easy job (and a good one to know.)

Details here - note in your case you should ONLY have to twiddle with the barrel adjuster, you should not need to go near any of the screws (you only need these for initial setup/changing something, unless it was set up wrong to start with.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkzvfCaIbyQ