Chain cleaning regimes on a commuter bike…

I commute anything up to 100 miles a week on the Dew, half of it off road, and I’m pretty lazy when it comes to cleaning any of my bikes frankly, but the extra hour in bed (not!) has just seen me give it a thorough going over.

Even I was surpised that the chain could still come up a shiny silver colour, and probably should be like that on a more regular basis, so what do other people do to keep their drivetrains clean and smooth – how much time and effort does it take you?

Edit – singlespeeding it is not an option!

Get a KMC rustbuster chain and use a heavy gear oil (EP90) sparingly over the winter.

I clean my chains with a chainbath and a 50-50% mix of petrol and gear oil, wiping off the surplus after leaving to soak overnight.

Forget dry wax lubes for a winter commuter….you would need to refresh every day to stand a chance of reducing wear from wash-out and salt attack.

PaulD

A suggestion I have heard is to cover in a cheap thin oil overnight and then wipe it all off in the morning, then reapply a bit more, wipe off again. Not a full clean but removes a lot of crap and salt that dissolves into the oil. Only just started doing it myself but seems to work ok.

i look after my commuter first and foremost.

nowt worse than it letting you down at the end of a long day and in the rain !

How ever i recently went hub gear as standard drive trains just got trashed wayyy too quick

Use a scottoiler. It saves so much time (you oil once or twice during a ride while riding) and keeps the chain immaculate. No-brainer.

I thought the official method for commuters was to ignore for three years(other than to douse in oil occasionally),then wheel it into a bike shop and proclaim it’s not working properly 🙂

Mine just gets a dousing in TF2 spray lube to wash out the crap and leave a fresh coat of the lube. It doesn’t leave an oily film so less crap sticks to it.

Also give the mech pivots a shot of this too.

Do this at the end of my 45 mile return on/off road commute (do it once a week).

Give it a thorough clean about once every 3 months.

I regularly clean my bike, every April but it is a single speed.

If you pick your lube then you don’t get the build up. Rock n roll or white lightening.

Do what my brother does- ride it til it’s falling apart, then stick it in the cupboard under the stairs for 3 months, then bring it over to mine and say “It’s not working right, not sure why”, and watch as the old chain has to be cut off with an anglegrinder as it’s corroded into a single lump. Then complain that £30 for a new chain, mech, cable and cassette is a bit expensive.

Oh aye, me. Squirt wax, then sprayed over with ACF50. Squirt isn’t up to it by itself, can be sticky and doesn’t seem to prevent rust at all. ACF50’s a nonsticky corrosion inhibitor I’ve used a lot on the motorbike, and it seems to protect the Squirt and also keep the chain rust free and reasonably grime free. Might be better options but this works well enough that I’ve never bothered.

Scottoiler for me as well, because the work bike gets a hard time over the winter, and trying to do regular conventional maintenance on a chain is too difficult. It keeps the chain much cleaner than ordinary lubes because it doesn’t attract all the road crap.

I oil my commuter about once a year. It’s single speed, which means it’s pretty robust and I put a Nickel plated chain on it, which doesn’t seem to rust at all.

squirt didnt even last a day for me before noisy drive train on my hub gear…..on a brand new degreased chain ….

tried it 3 times in one week before thinking sod this and stuck juicy lube on it …. didnt oil it again for 3 weeks