What's your chain cleaning routine?

[DJ_m]

Historically, when I commuted a bit, I used a general oil based chain lube, topped it up every month or so and cleaned the chain and casette (not very well) every few months. Good enough.

Having recently started MTB I started using a wax (Zefal Extra Dry). That works fine but does not last and I suspected was never as slick as lube. After a recent bike clean, I went back to regular oil based lube. The difference was noticeable, much smoother and quieter but after one dusty ride the chain is absolutely filthy and full of sand and other debris - now I have to completely strip down mine and my son's drivetrain after one ride.

So I started reading and now understand the advantages and limitations of various products (oil/wax/hot wax etc). I'm keen to find a year round solution even if I have to compromise somewhere.

Hot wax ain't for me and making my own recipe is not on the cards (found an interesting thread on this forum about that). Thinking about buying a bottle of Squirt as it seems to have good reviews almost everywhere. I'm not overly concerned about gaining every last kw from the bike or every last km out of the chain... if it wears in 3000km instead of 10000km then that is fine with me...so log as I have a reasonably smooth and gunk free chain and cassette without significant maintenance.

I'm hopeful something along the following lines would work;

1. Get everything super clean.
2. Liberally apply squirt
3. Ride bike
4. Re-apply some squirt
5. Clean chain and cassette every ......(hour/kms/days) ?
6. Go back to number 1 or 7.
7. Wait until something wears out.

I understand that something like Squirt (or any wax) is not ideal for wet weather unless cleaned and dried properly afterwards but I can probably deal with these extra steps given most of my riding is dry.

Interested to hear what people's chain cleaning routine is and whether you change it dependent on weather or summer/winter riding?

 

[The Reverend]

Mine's pretty rudimentary.
Take the chain off and put in a tub with petrol in it.
After about 10 mins it's usually minty clean.
Wipe down,
Ensure the chainring and cassette are clean (removing cassette if required)
Install on bike and apply dry / wet lube depending on prevailing conditions...
Remove excess.

Ride bike

 

[Ackland]

Squirt runs ok.
For a wax based drip lube, SMOOVE gets a good rap.

I use Ride Mechanic Bike Mix because it has its own chain cleaner in the carrier solvent and lasts a good amount of time.
There are cleaner lubes which have a shorter life span and gunkier lubes which have a longer life span (but attract grit into your expensive bits)

Invest in a little chain cleaner like one of these guys:
Park Chain Cleaner

Use a good bike degreaser and wash off afterwards

 

[DJ_m]

Mine's pretty rudimentary............

Ride bike

And then? Surely you don;t have the chain off etc after every ride?

 

[DJ_m]

Invest in a little chain cleaner like one of these guys:
Park Chain Cleaner

Use a good bike degreaser and wash off afterwards

Yes, was looking at a chain cleaner. I tend to wash the bikes and reapply lube every ride or three. Could easily fit the chain cleaner into that routine.

I've been removing the chain and cassette roughly every 6 months (maybe 40-50 rides) and deep cleaning with de-greaser and solvent.

 

[The Reverend]

And then? Surely you don;t have the chain off etc after every ride?

Nope, but it doesn't get that filthy either.

I'll give it an interim wipe down by using a light oil which draws a fair amount of dirt off it if it needs it.

I also rotate through bikes (I know, I'm fortunate) so the same chain / drivetrain isn't getting caned every ride.

 

[Alexxx]

Whenever it gets too dirty I use a park tool chain cleaner 2 times with cheap degreaser from Bunnings then another 2 times with warm water.

Then I use rock'n'roll gold, one drop on each link.

Between cleans I drop rock'n'roll on the chain while spinning the cranks by hand.

 

[ozzybmx]

I dont have one.
Apply squirt and ride, if the chain looks gunky, get out the measuring tool, if its 0.75mm stretch or very near, toss it and fit a new chain.
If its good, grab an alcohol wipe and wipe the shit off.
Apply more squirt and ride.

 

[Flow-Rider]

I use what ever quality squirt lube I can my hands on at the time and just throw the chains away when they're worn. The Only time I clean the drive line is when I need to do maintenance around it. 10sp chains are relatively cheap, so me constantly replacing the chains isn't much of a problem.

 

[rextheute]

Rock n Roll- cleaner wax lube when it looks a bit shitty . ( Blue one - buy when on special 1l bottle )
Wipe off excess , leave overnight - Ride / Repeat .

winter i use a more sticky lube and hose off the crap before putting bike away .
Like @ozzybmx when worn to ( over .75 ) i think about replacing chain

- Can advise 1.0 plus is a challenging time for a chain .....so replace prior !

Also in winter i just keep going on old components - the wet and mud will only ruin new - good stuff .

New chain and cassette on the way for me .......awaiting post .

 

[DJ_m]

I have digital calipers... anyone use thee for measuring chain wear or is a chain measuring thingy the way to go?

 

[Raulio]

I dont have one.
Apply squirt and ride, if the chain looks gunky, get out the measuring tool, if its 0.75mm stretch or very near, toss it and fit a new chain.
If its good, grab an alcohol wipe and wipe the shit off.
Apply more squirt and ride.

Don't they recommend changing the chain (12 speed) when it's 0.5 stretched? I'm still to change mine, but wondering if I leave it longer would damage cassette and chain ring?

 

[Mr Crudley]

I admire the care taken here.

I just ride them and replace the chain, cassette and usually the front ring once it starts to skip under load. Treat it as one big consumable item since swapping anything but the whole lot has always led to chain skips for me. I've always had pretty mileage out of drivetrains but I am self trained to avoid cross chaining and keeping the chain in the extremes of the smaller or bigger rear gears.

I use a waxy lube in summer and a few drops on Tri flow in cooler times. Dust off the chain when it gets too manky and that is about it.

 

[Calvin27]

I use rock and roll for most of my stuff. The nI tried hot was but it wasn't much better and a lot more thinking. Going back to the gooey black stuff now. Drivetrain gets dirty as hell but the just add more approach is much easier, especally for mtbs that get dirty in 5 minutes of riding. Chain life surprisingly is much longer on the wet lube.

 

[Haakon]

Supercheap degreaser and a good scrub of the chain, cassette and chainring with a toothbrush, hose off. Leave it in the sun to dry or blow it dry with compressor if its cold and wet...

Wash bike to get all the splashed crap off and it needs a wash anyway. Apply new lube. Replace chain before it gets too long, and get a nice long life from the exxy cassette.

 

[Mattyp]

I use Bunnings spec wax and grease remover and a hard bristle brush to Clean chain, cassette and sprockets when they look dirty. Rotating 3 chains at the moment, left on for about a month at a time.
Rock and Roll gold, blue or similar, bought a cheap bottle of UFO drip last time it seems to last a bit longer than rock and roll stuff.

 

[Scotty T]

I'm about to switch to "special" wax. First clean will be soak in metho, then apparently boiling water every few hundred k's.

With Rock n Roll which I've used for years, I just hosed off the chain, let it dry and re-applied, I liked not really having to clean the chain except for the rag method reccomended by Rock n Roll, but it was a pain doing it pretty much every ride to keep things smooth and quiet, and went through a fair bit of the lube.

Also got a chain checker on the way which I will now use regularly.

 

[The Duckmeister]

With a new chain I wipe the excess factory grease off with a clean, dry cloth just to take the stickiness off it. Then once it starts sounding dry (after a fair few weeks, the factory stuff is good lube) I supplement it with Ride Mechanic lube. I like this stuff because aside from staying clean you can mix & match wet & dry to suit conditions. Give the bike a general wash post ride, which flushes the crud off the chain. Soak up remaining water on the chain (won't be a lot, because good lubes repel water) with a dry cloth, air dry for a little while, then run a generous dribble of lube onto the chain. Run through the gears to work it into the links, then wipe off the excess. Chain only comes off the bike when it's dead and being replaced.

 

[ozzybmx]

Don't they recommend changing the chain (12 speed) when it's 0.5 stretched? I'm still to change mine, but wondering if I leave it longer would damage cassette and chain ring?

Hmmm... not sure. Looks like I didn't read the 12spd manual

Got a derailleur hanger from Canyon today for #2 sons bike, was fitting it and indexing the gears, stuck the chain tool on, nearly 0.75mm, off it came and into the bin.
I get years out of a drivetrain with this approach, cassettes and chainrings always last the life of the bike. My Cervelo roadie had nearly 15,000km on it when I sold it last year, still the original cassette and chainrings.

 

[Calvin27]

I had a clunking noise from one of my bikes and I even replaced the whole bb and lubed the crank. Took it to the mec to diagnose and he laughed and said new chain. My chain checker (park tools one) didn't register it as worn. I used his park tool CC-2 and it showed it was worn beyond 0.75. Basically the static checkers are rubbish and these days I use a vernier caliper to measure. The interesting thing is from new the chains tend to have different tolerances. Shimano tends to be on the more stretched side and then KMC stuff then YBN. YBN stuff takes a while to run in though if you have a worn drivetrain so keep that in mind.