New Chain

irishmotorist

I've meant to ask this every time I replace a chain and keep on forgetting. In it's wrapper, the chain is usually a bit sticky feeling. Am I right in assuming that this is a lube that's on it and the chain doesn't need to be lubed in any other way (straight away)?

doozerie

Views on this seem to vary quite a bit. Some people consider it excellent lube, some consider it very poor lube. I fall into the latter camp, the odd time where I've left it on a new chain it seemed to wear out or wash off very quickly. I much prefer to clean it off and start with my preferred lube.

tomasrojo

As doozerie says, some people reckon it's great ...

New chains come pre-lubricated with a grease-type lubricant which has been installed at the factory. This is an excellent lubricant, and has been made to permeate all of the internal interstices in the chain.

This factory lube is superior to any lube that you can apply after the fact.

Some people make the bad mistake of deliberately removing this superior lubricant. Don't do this!

The factory lubricant all by itself is usually good for several hundred miles of service if the bike is not ridden in wet or dusty conditions. It is best not to apply any sort of lube to a new chain until it is clearly needed, because any wet lube you can apply will dilute the factory lube.

http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

... but the bit in bold probably explains why most people in Ireland find that they have to apply their own lubricant not long after installation.

irishmotorist

I didn't put any extra on so I think I'll keep an eye on it and see how it goes. Looks like we're due some rain later in the week, so that might decide it for me anyway.
Thanks.

doozerie

Leaving the chain as is is a reasonably safe bet. At best you get a well lubed chain that requires no attention for a while, at worst you get a sticky chain that needs attention relatively quickly and requires a bit more clean-up than would typically be needed. So as you say, just keep an eye on it and tackle it at the first sign of problems such as poorly shifting gears, squeeks, rust, stiffness, etc.

boege

As a former motorcylist for some 15 years, one of the 'joyful' maintenance tasks was lubing the chain. This involved first cleaning and then dropping it into a pan of very hot grease (on a gas camping stove). At room temperature the grease was solid. It certainly did the job as anything else would wear off in no time.

I suspect new cycle chains are dipped in something similar. As the chain warms up the grease softens aas does its job.