Just brought a new sacs chain after losing mine halfway down the black at cwmcarn yesterday. Walked all the way back to the top but couldn't find it!

Anyway, it's got this really sticky coating on it, which gives the impression that it's going to attach all the dust and crap straight away. Should I get this off with degreaser or something, then apply my regular spray lube, or is this some uber lube I should leave on there?

Cheers, R

It's grease to stop it rusting. Everything within a 200yd radius will stick to it. Clean and lube for you I'm afraid

Wipe it over with solvent – then lube 🙂

You will however hear many different opinions on this matter 🙂

The lube that comes with the chain is generally very high quality so best not to fully degrease it as you are losing some of the benefit of your shiny new chain by doing this.

Give the chain a wipe with a GT85 soaked rag to get the excess lube off the outside of the chain.

….However I forgot to say if you are using dry lube like squirt wax then you have to degrease it 🙂

Depends on the chain. Some high e d chains come pre lubes where the lube gets right into the rollers. In this situation, clean the outer surface of the chain. Lesser chains come with a rust inhibiting wax just to stop them looking manky by the time it gets to you. Best to clean this all off and use the lube of your choice. As mentioned above, some lubes, like squirt, have specific instructions.

IIRC Sheldon says "LEAVE IT!"

It really doesn't matter