[Closed] Chains?

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.

Says Sheldon: http://sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

Buy a good quality chain and leave the factory lube on there, it's dipped at the factory so is better covered than you could do yourself.

See, I'd agree but I've been using that Squirt lube where you're meant to degrease and clean the chain first - new lube I think but I hate the transmission looking filthy - maybe a dry lube.

I leave it on but dirt sticks like glue to it, only ever wipe the outer plates off while its 'new'.

But if you have a new chain then you wont have to worry about lubing it for a good while, if you are using dry lube then you should definitely clean the chain up so its clean and dry before you apply.

What groupset are you running?

XTR chainset and XO rear mech, PC991 block

I'm thinking 2 PC991 on a 100mile a time rotation

ok, so you should get a decent chain but you know that.
Is it worth the 100 mile interval?
i normally just try and get 2 chains to one cassette.

Sheldon Brown says not to remove it, but he is a roadie. IMO you should remove the grease [u]off the outside[/u] with a lighter oiled rag, so dirt doesn't stick as much.

I tried using two chains, but kept forgetting to change them over. 😳

Sheldon Brown says not to remove it, but he is [s]a roadie[/s] dead

He didn't remove the factory grease and looked what happened to him!

Long live his memory.

Found the factory lube doesn't last too long on a mountain bike.

I degrease, rinse and dry (on a radiator) then add two applications of Squirt. Brush when dry and rinse / wipe when wet and reapply every couple of rides depending on conditions.

jwmlee - thats what I'd normally do - think I'll carry on but on a 2 chain rotation - need to break the habit of running a chain till its dead and then replacing the block as well