Tired of the black sticky/clicky mess that my drivechain was, decided to give it good clean last night.

Everything off, cranks, pedals, cassette, chainring, mech etc.

Fully degreased and cleaned, back on the bike.

Including swapping a tyre (that was an absolute ****ard to get off), probably took me 3 hours.

How often do you give your bike(s) this level of detail and how long does it take you?

If you clean the chain regularly you will hardly ever need to remove the cranks to clean the drive train.

I wipe and re lube the chain every ride (unless a very short dry ride). 10 mins

Chain off and clean maybe 4 times a year.

Once a fortnight tops. I’d guess it takes me ITRO 20 mins, simply because i clean my bike reasonably well after every single ride, be it muddy or dry and dusty, it gets a decent clean.

Far too often and far too long.

I don’t do anything beyond remove the back wheel when cleaning.

I never do it – mud does a great job of cleaning the drivetrain!

Very very very rarely.

Don’t think I ever have with a mountainbike, commuter had the cranks off the other week but only so I could fit a new BB, it had done 8500 miles by that point.

I do have a chain scrubber that I use every few weeks, but I’m using GT85 as lube at the moment and it seems less gummy, so I won’t bother as often. Works well too.

About 10mins. Neat washing-up liquid on a stiff brush (old washing up brush works fine), scrub scrub scrub. Hose off to rinse. Repeat until everything is shiny. Leave to dry in a warm/dry place, reapply lube.

I don’t do that stuff, really don’t see any point- taking stuff apart for no reason causes problems. But I do deep clean and lube the chain fairly frequently which helps keep everything else in good shape- doesn’t take long. (*) And I’ll clean off built up muck as and when, only takes a sec and is pretty satisfying. (scraping mudgrease off a jockey wheel with a screwdriver, mmmmmmmmmm)

(* well it depends how you look at it- it takes a decent amount of elapsed time, it’s just that I’m only actually doing anything for a few minutes, teh rest is soaking, drying, etc)

daniel_owen_uk – Member 
Tired of the black sticky/clicky mess that my drivechain was

Stop using oil on the chain, especially wet lube if you do.

Degrease. Use Squirt. End of problem.

I generally give it a clean after every ride (at the very least the moving parts get cleaned up and lubed). My wife is always more amazed at how long my ‘pre-ride’ routine takes, but that includes packing my bag too. Yesterday’s was even longer as my old bike is now her new one (so I can still use it in the winter 😉 ). For yesterday’s family ride I had to clean mine, the daughter’s and my old one plus move the child seat and a few other fixings over from her old one too. Took me about 2 hours!!
I like to fettle though. I’ve just spent an hour removing the stickers off the wheels, they were too lary for my liking, now the whole bike looks darker and more to my taste (plus I saved 12g, lol).

Never oil my chain, so it never gets messy. Just wash the dirt / dust / mud off the bike and give the chain a quick WD40 squirt.

So a wash is about 5 mins perhaps – done almost every ride. Recently its been so dry I just dusted the bike 🙂

Both bikes look like new even though they are 1 or 2 years old.

I’ve used a light lube for ages now and just keep on top of cleaning and lubing chain every ride. Wet lube is horrible. Cassette and chainring (1x) gets wiped clean when mucky. Cranks only come off when BB needs swapping. Not sure i see the point in taking the pedals off 🙂 Doing a full clean up and BB swap might take 30mins if i’m taking my time. Only use degreaser when it’s really messy. Never really tech the rear mech off, and don’t spray it with anything, just wipe it clean mostly.

If you clean the chain regularly you will hardly ever need to remove the cranks to clean the drive train.

This is what I found… I run it through the chain scrubber with some muck-off and this slops the rest of the drivetrain which I give a quick brush with an old toothbrush (chain-ring and rear mech pulley wheels) … wash off and re-lube…

I suspect the Finish Line wet lube is at fault for the dirty sticky mess. It’s been very sparingly applied this time.

Gonna have to invest in a better lube, LBS are suprisingly short on alternatives though.

Would people recommend Squirt or Rock’n’Roll Extreme?

(Clicky drivetrain, suspected pedal threads)

I like a light one with teflon, like weldtite TF2 dry lube stuff, and recently been using decathlon teflon lube which is £2.99 and seems to be made by weldtite!

EDIT – i used to use finish line wet lube, too sticky and horrible no matter how little you put on, and it’s just as bad when it’s dusty as when muddy.

Never.
Quick brush off if dusty, or a quick rinse if wet/muddy. If at a claggy venue, then mobi to rinse off after ride.

Squirt lube year round.

I’m using Muc Off wet lube. It’ll easily last a couple of wet days riding (say 16 hours) and leaves no mess. I’ll re-apply before I go out again but the whole cleaning thing gets done no more than once every 2/3 weeks (maybe 10 rides?)

I suspect most folk are just applying far too much lube.

The only time my cranks come off is when the BB needs changed. Cassette will be if I’m changing it or changing wheels over.

GT-85 🙂

I suspect the Finish Line wet lube is at fault for the dirty sticky mess. It’s been very sparingly applied this time.

Gonna have to invest in a better lube, LBS are suprisingly short on alternatives though.

I just use 3 in 1 unless its proper wet…. apply liberally … work in then wipeoff excess with a paper towel….

It wipes off really easy compared to any wet-lube I tried…
If it’s really sloshing down I’ll use wet lube….

I suspect the Finish Line wet lube is at fault for the dirty sticky mess.

yep, it’s tenacious stuff but it soon gets fuzzed/gunked up with crap then it’s an absolute bugger to get clean. Been using squirt (summer) and progold (rest of year) last couple of years they seem ok, run fairly clean but do get the occasional ride where the chain is suddenly dry and noisy – can be summer dusty rides, I guess dust just absorbs all the lube or something – so keep a teeny bottle of squirt in my ‘bak.

Rock n roll blue all year round, no shitty mess, and doesn’t get washed off in the Ayrshire monsoons.

The lube that Squirt wants to be when it grows up.

(scraping mudgrease off a jockey wheel with a screwdriver thumbnail, mmmmmmmmmm)

😳

I suspect the Finish Line wet lube is at fault for the dirty sticky mess. It’s been very sparingly applied this time.

I’m using finish line wet at the moment. Wipe a drop across each link joint and roller, sounds fiddly but only take a minute longer than spooging it on a moving chain at the jockey wheels. Give the chain a good few whirls round and wipe off any excess with a rag or paper towel.

Lube’s on the inside, not attracting more gunk and more grinding paste.

Lube’s on the inside

Another issue. I’ve seen how many folk apply chain lube and it’s usually in the wrong place.

Very sparingly apply lube to inside of chain wiping off excess, Finish Line stuff still looks black after a few rides.

Ordered some rock’n’roll.

How often do you give your bike(s) this level of detail

erm never

If its’s wet/muddy dry it off in front of a radiator then brush the dirt off. Dry lube leaves no residue simply re-apply. Spray something on suspension.

10 mins?

I use the rock’n’roll extreme – seems to work well.

I have never taken “everything” off to clean the bike.

How often do you give your bike(s) this level of detail and how long does it take you?

I never let my own get that dirty, generally hot soapy water gets it clean.
At work I deal with really filthy drivetrains regularly. 15 mins in the parts washer usually sorts it. 😉

rock’n’roll blue most of the time, Squirt for 3 or 4 dryer months. ProGold Prolink/Extreme on gravel bike. They are all pretty clean and never require chain/cassette removal. I do run them through a Park chain cleaner every few rides, and brush some degreaser on the rings and cassette at same time, before giving it all a thorough rinse and dry.

Squirt lube all the time. Hose worst of mud off. Dry with airline 🙂 Relube. Or for the 10 rides a year it’s dusty, throw in shed, open beer.

squirt convert.

wash bike with hose and muc off (dont touch the green bike stuff!)

dry chain by running it through a cloth. lather in squirt. give pedals a spin and store away.

Winter road bike gets the chain-off treatment about once a month (250-300 miles) i’ll clean the rest of the drive train before the chain comes off and remove the back wheel to do the cassette.
I usually run the chain through a rag and re-lube after every other ride.

I don’t like wet lube, currently using TF2 Wax which is great, and makes the driveline almost silent.

never ever do any maintenance to my bikes.

Everyone I know do loads and are always spending time/money

single speed/rigid helps a lot though

Don’t touch mine. Not just the drivetrain, the whole bike. I live in a flat so it’s too much of a hassle.

Chain gets lubed and wiped down afterwards every so often.

And you know what? The lack of maintenance hasn’t affected it in the slightest. Mountain bike is on the same chain, chainrings and cassette that I got it with 3 years ago. Chain never skips and doesn’t need checked according to the chain checker. All 10 speed Deore stuff. Even still on original cables.

CX/commuter has a 6800 hydraulic Ultegra drivetrain. Has done about 3500 miles and 2 winters and still works like it was new.

Use dry lube. Wipe off chain & relive after most rides. Chain stays pretty clean & lasts just as long as when I used to go through the whole wet lube, degrease, gt85, relube faff.

After using Prolink Progold Extreme for about 3 years on various bikes, about ten minutes a year.

A few seconds to lube it reasonably often, and when it looks dirty I pedal the chain through a rag with some degreaser on it and re lube.

Changed the chain on the roadbike after 3000+ miles recently, still ran fine and looked good but didn’t want to risk chainring wear.

I’ve seen how many folk apply chain lube and it’s usually in the wrong place.

Random guess but is it the anus ?

Use putoline chainwax and never have any issues with gunked up drivetrain or wearing out chains.