Just splashed out about £100 on a new drivetrain and after one muddy session yesterday it’s already sounding like a grinding mess. I’ve given the chain a once over with white lightning and cleaned off the cassette as well as I can but it still sounds/feels awful. So what should I be doing to ensure it doesnt prematurely wear by having a load of grit and stuff stuck in it?

One of those Park Tool (or cheaper alternative) chain-gang chain cleaning tools maybe?

The only certain way of protecting it from wearing out is not to use it!

yes, the chain cleaner tool things really make a difference as does making sure the rollers on the rear mech and the cassette are clear of any grit when you’ve cleaned the bike.

Then dry the chain with a cloth and apply a load of lube, store lubed up and wipe off the excess before your next ride.

You shoudl start the next ride with what looks like a new drivetrain, basically.

I got bored doing this and have switched to SS for the duration 🙁

ride a singlespeed 😉

ha, I’ve just come back to gears from SS as I didn’t like how limiting it feels off-road. Hub gears would be ideal, but so expensive 🙁

Scottoiler.
http://www.scottoiler.com/uk/products/scottoiler-bicycle-oiler-active-fluid-system.html

Clean it. Doesn’t take 5 minutes- if you’ve got time to ride it, you’ve got time to clean it.

Chain cleaning devices are great, I make do with the occasional jet-wash.

I’d love to see a study on what really causes chain wear – i.e. is cleaning actually important, rust, lube etc.

Putoline chain wax for me. Takes a while to be stripped from the chain. lubes well, runs sweet and not gritty / graunchy

Oh, and the squirty aerosol Finishline chain lubes, particularly the wet lube at this time of year. They’re a sort of expanding foam that forces crap out of your chain where you can’t clean it. They’re very good.

Sounds a faff takes a minute.
Get a brush and an engineers pick. Clean up and remove the debris, don’t forget the jockeys.
Run the lubed brush inbetween the cassette, over the jockeys, the entire chain and on the chainring teeth.
Run lube inside the chain not outside/on top.
I tend to just lube it enough for the ride. Excess seems to either fly off or collect dirt.

– if you’ve got a fixed amount of time, only use some of that to ride it and then you’ve got time to clean it

there you go, spokes

Fit a Scottoiler.

They look fugly but work.

There could be a fair few 8 speed Alfines appearing on the classifieds or e-bay once the 11 speed versions become a more readily avaliable. I run a hub gear commuting all year round off road and never do more than give the chain an occasional wipe over and reapply some nice and cheap GT85.

If you’ve got time to clean it you’ve got time to ride it for longer. 🙂

I used to clean my chains rigorously and I’m sure they wore out faster then than they do now when I don’t clean them at all. Definitely as fast. I adhere to the theory that the mulch forms a kind of “biofilling” which protects the chain from wear more than if it’s completely clean and lubed. I think getting rid of all the mulch can exacerbate wear that’s already in place. The benefit of cleaning a chain is that you get crisper shifts, not that the chain lasts longer. This is just my theory.

EDIT: I still lube the hell out of it.

Summer wax lube (muc off stuff) and lots of it. When i get back i thoroughly clean the bike and drive train, then dry off. I apply the wax lube and leave over night. The next day i apply a second good coating. The wax lube sticks well enough during muddy rides (although i do take a bottle out with me on longer rides) and cleans really well.

(i am a bit of a bike clean freak mind :lol:)

I tend to split the chain once every couple of months and stick it in a tub of degreaser, then get a brush to the chain ring and rear sprocket (yes singlespeed) and its job done. take the chain out of the tub the next day, jet it down let it dry then lube it up. As shiny and clean as a new penny. I personally never got the chainset anywhere near as clean using the chain cleaning kits and tonnes of the spray stuff.

I spray the chain and mech with a very weak fairy liquid solution from a 5L garden sprayer, then apply GT40, wipe and apply 3in1 oil, then wipe again. This is my cleaning regimen on a SS and a geared bike. I also run an Alfine for commuting, and think this is a much better option to be honest.

I remeove mine after every ride and clean it – only takes a few mins and my chains seems to last ages.

Clean it.

Take off chain, put into white spirits, give it a shoogy wipe off excess, refit, lube of choice.

Exactly what I do nickc.

MuckOff
Brush
Chain cleaner
Rinse
Dry (with a disposable nappy)
GT85
Dry (with a disposable nappy)
Lube

After every ride. Takes a couple of minutes. Chains run well and seem to last.

My routine that works a treat – I used to do it wrong and killed drivetrains constantly.

Do NOT apply WD40/GT85. It attracts too much dirt and “grinding paste.”

After each ride – simply wipe the chain thoroughly and apply NO oil.
Once a month (ish) – clean with a chain cleaning device and grease removing agent then apply a suitable chain oil (I use Green Oil – it’s brilliant) to every single link (takes a while). Leave to soak in for a few minutes then wipe off the excess.
Once every few months – take the chain off and soak in petrol overnight for a mega degrease
Once a year – Yet to have a chain last that long as I do about 2500 miles annually.

A chain can almost run with no oil so use it very sparingly – too much oil (or anything like WD40) will attract too much dirt which will then grind the chain to little bits.

I stop every 3 miles and soak & clean the chain in a Safety-Kleen tank I tow behind me.

Do NOT apply WD40/GT85.

That’s me told. I’ll go home and bin it.

to every single link

Agreed, you put a tiny drop on every pivot – one of the few bits of bike cleaning I’m really OCD about

Chain off after every winter ride, into a tub of white spirit, clean, lube and refit, power links make it really easy.

That’s me told. I’ll go home and bin it

It’s good for other bits, just not the chain. I speak from experience of using it after every ride and wondering why my drive trains were lasting almost no time at all.

Or as I do. Buy a tine of putoline – £18 a kilo. Its a messy faff but the lube lasts far longer than any other lube I have seen, it does not attack dirt, your drivetrain remains sweet as a nut.

Even in winter its only needing to be redone after hundred miles or more.

Its so much cheaper and better than any other lube.

Don’t think GT85/WD40 causes wear, it just isn’t a very good lube, and if you lube before it it dry it will still degrease the lube you are adding?

The GT85/WD40 doesn’t cause wear but the stuff that sticks to it does.

TandemJeremy – Member
Or as I do. Buy a tine of putoline – £18 a kilo. Its a messy faff but the lube lasts far longer than any other lube I have seen, it does not attack dirt, your drivetrain remains sweet as a nut.

Even in winter its only needing to be redone after hundred miles or more.

Its so much cheaper and better than any other lube.

So that’ll be every week or two according to your own average milage figures!!!!!!!

The GT85/WD40 doesn’t cause wear but the stuff that sticks to it does.

That’s why I dry it off. I use it to displace any moisture.

Goes to fish GT85 out of the bin.

You don’t need to displace moisture on a chain – just wipe it off.

GT85 good for jockey wheels, cables and a few other bits though. I use it a lot for other stuff too – boat trailer, stops the garage door creaking and all sorts of other uses. Handy stuff.

You are right. I am wrong.

All bikes and stuff (including shed) going in the bin.

Keep it as clean as you can? 😯

I use GT85 as a water displacer, just give the cables etc a spray after washing and before lubing.

All bikes and stuff (including shed) going in the bin.

Can I have them then?

You wouldn’t want them as the transmissions are all worn. 😉

ok so the general consensus is clean it properly then apply some new lube (not wd40 or gt85 as aren’t they meant to clean/degrease stuff?).. so are the park tools chain-gang cleaners worth the £30? The cassette brush they provide seems handy as well, I can’t find any brushes thin or small enough to get into a cassette properly.