chain maintenance question

geepeetee said:

Hi

I know this is open ended but how often should i clean the chain. I have a
chain cleaner that is satisfactory on my upright but messy on the recumbent.
I find the 'sheldon shake' and then hung overnight in the garage before re
oiling better but how many times will the powerlink stand removal and
refitting. From the mileaege and weather conditions i need to remove and
clean at leat once a fortnight, is this about right?

later

Gary

Hi Gary,
I don't have an answer for you, but find this an interesting topic. It
would likely help if you let people know what sort of conditions you
ride under. I've *never* needed to thoroughly clean a chain so often,
and for many years I was cycling about 120 miles per week, on average,
not infrequently in rain (Eugene, Oregon, gets a *lot* of the stuff).

I now live in a place where we have essentially no rain for 8 months
straight (Mountain View, CA). But, like you, rain won't stop me, and
during the other 4 months we average 15" of rain, total.

So to your question I would also ask the ether what kind of brand/model
chains have they found the "best" for your conditions, and mine. "Best"
would include relatively easy availability, and ease of one's suggested
protocol for maintenance. My vendor said that by the time my chain needs
a thorough cleaning, I should replace it (given our weather and my bike
usage, which is now about 80 miles per week, not counting occasional
long rides). This is totally at odds at what you are doing, so I would
really appreciate thoughts on this? Can someone help Gary and me a bit here?

TIA,
Dave Braden

David J. Braden said:

geepeetee said:

Hi

<snip>how many times will the powerlink stand removal and
refitting. From the mileaege and weather conditions i need to remove and
clean at leat once a fortnight, is this about right?

later

Gary

<snip>Can someone help Gary and me a bit here?

TIA,
Dave Braden

Well, I can give you my limited experience. I live in the Seattle
area, plenty of rain here. I started out using Finish Line teflon
"wet" lube. Needed cleaning often. Changed to Dumonde Tech - needed
cleaning often, and I later found out it should be applied immediately
*before* a ride, when the chain warms up some sort of polymerization
takes place. I tend to lube my chains in the PM - in the AM I get on
the bike and ride to work/bus and I don't want to get up early to lube
my chain! Switched to ProGold, cleaner and seems to last almost as
well in the rain. Doesn't have to be applied drop-at-a-time like
Dumonde. My LBS recommended White Lighting Epic for lubing cables,
chain and what-have-you. I've tried it on my fixie and it seems to
work about as well as the ProGold without the requirement to start with
a clean chain. In fact, it's recommended to use the Epic to clean the
chain, then lube. Since the Epic is easy to get I may switch when the
ProGold runs out. I have a tiny sample bottle of the purple stuff,
which I'll try on the fixie when I feel like doing the thorough
cleaning it requires.

Anyway, at the rate I ride my chains get cleaned every few hundred
miles and lubed quite a bit more often than that. In another couple
thousand miles I'll know how that's working out.

HTH,

John

Quoted message said:

David J. Braden said:

geepeetee said:

Hi

<snip>how many times will the powerlink stand removal and
refitting. From the mileaege and weather conditions i need to remove and
clean at leat once a fortnight, is this about right?

later

Gary

<snip>Can someone help Gary and me a bit here?

TIA,
Dave Braden

Well, I can give you my limited experience. I live in the Seattle
area, plenty of rain here. I started out using Finish Line teflon
"wet" lube. Needed cleaning often. Changed to Dumonde Tech - needed
cleaning often, and I later found out it should be applied immediately
*before* a ride, when the chain warms up some sort of polymerization
takes place. I tend to lube my chains in the PM - in the AM I get on
the bike and ride to work/bus and I don't want to get up early to lube
my chain! Switched to ProGold, cleaner and seems to last almost as
well in the rain. Doesn't have to be applied drop-at-a-time like
Dumonde. My LBS recommended White Lighting Epic for lubing cables,
chain and what-have-you. I've tried it on my fixie and it seems to
work about as well as the ProGold without the requirement to start with
a clean chain. In fact, it's recommended to use the Epic to clean the
chain, then lube. Since the Epic is easy to get I may switch when the
ProGold runs out. I have a tiny sample bottle of the purple stuff,
which I'll try on the fixie when I feel like doing the thorough
cleaning it requires.

Anyway, at the rate I ride my chains get cleaned every few hundred
miles and lubed quite a bit more often than that. In another couple
thousand miles I'll know how that's working out.

HTH,

John

Hi John

Thanks for the leads. I followed you up to "fixie", which is to me as
intelligible as "Pareto optimality" or even "Lebesgue integrable" and
"Banach space" is to my neighbors, all of whom live in Silicon valley,
within 2 miles of Google, Intel, HP, Yahoo, Adobe, Apple, etc. (vbg)

What brand/model of chain are you using, please? I assume your chain is
getting a lot of tension, given the hills in town and mountains nearby.

Regards,
Dave B

Hi, Dave, since you are not familiar with the word 'fixie' (a subject
which is dear to my heart) it refers to a type of bicycle which only
has one gear and will not 'coast' or 'freewheel'.

There are many of these exciting machines here:-

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/

Lewis.

*****

David J. Braden said:

Quoted message said:

David J. Braden said:

geepeetee wrote:
> Hi
>
> <snip>how many times will the powerlink stand removal and
> refitting. From the mileaege and weather conditions i need to remove and
> clean at leat once a fortnight, is this about right?
>
> later
>
> Gary
>
<snip>Can someone help Gary and me a bit here?

TIA,
Dave Braden

Well, I can give you my limited experience. I live in the Seattle
area, plenty of rain here. I started out using Finish Line teflon
"wet" lube. Needed cleaning often. Changed to Dumonde Tech - needed
cleaning often, and I later found out it should be applied immediately
*before* a ride, when the chain warms up some sort of polymerization
takes place. I tend to lube my chains in the PM - in the AM I get on
the bike and ride to work/bus and I don't want to get up early to lube
my chain! Switched to ProGold, cleaner and seems to last almost as
well in the rain. Doesn't have to be applied drop-at-a-time like
Dumonde. My LBS recommended White Lighting Epic for lubing cables,
chain and what-have-you. I've tried it on my fixie and it seems to
work about as well as the ProGold without the requirement to start with
a clean chain. In fact, it's recommended to use the Epic to clean the
chain, then lube. Since the Epic is easy to get I may switch when the
ProGold runs out. I have a tiny sample bottle of the purple stuff,
which I'll try on the fixie when I feel like doing the thorough
cleaning it requires.

Anyway, at the rate I ride my chains get cleaned every few hundred
miles and lubed quite a bit more often than that. In another couple
thousand miles I'll know how that's working out.

HTH,

John

Hi John

Thanks for the leads. I followed you up to "fixie", which is to me as
intelligible as "Pareto optimality" or even "Lebesgue integrable" and
"Banach space" is to my neighbors, all of whom live in Silicon valley,
within 2 miles of Google, Intel, HP, Yahoo, Adobe, Apple, etc. (vbg)

What brand/model of chain are you using, please? I assume your chain is
getting a lot of tension, given the hills in town and mountains nearby.

Regards,
Dave B

Quoted message said:

Hi, Dave, since you are not familiar with the word 'fixie' (a subject
which is dear to my heart) it refers to a type of bicycle which only
has one gear and will not 'coast' or 'freewheel'.

There are many of these exciting machines here:-

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/

Lewis.

*****

David J. Braden said:

Quoted message said:

David J. Braden wrote:
> geepeetee wrote:
>> Hi
>>
>> <snip>how many times will the powerlink stand removal and
>> refitting. From the mileaege and weather conditions i need to remove and
>> clean at leat once a fortnight, is this about right?
>>
>> later
>>
>> Gary
>>
> <snip>Can someone help Gary and me a bit here?
>
> TIA,
> Dave Braden
Well, I can give you my limited experience. I live in the Seattle
area, plenty of rain here. I started out using Finish Line teflon
"wet" lube. Needed cleaning often. Changed to Dumonde Tech - needed
cleaning often, and I later found out it should be applied immediately
*before* a ride, when the chain warms up some sort of polymerization
takes place. I tend to lube my chains in the PM - in the AM I get on
the bike and ride to work/bus and I don't want to get up early to lube
my chain! Switched to ProGold, cleaner and seems to last almost as
well in the rain. Doesn't have to be applied drop-at-a-time like
Dumonde. My LBS recommended White Lighting Epic for lubing cables,
chain and what-have-you. I've tried it on my fixie and it seems to
work about as well as the ProGold without the requirement to start with
a clean chain. In fact, it's recommended to use the Epic to clean the
chain, then lube. Since the Epic is easy to get I may switch when the
ProGold runs out. I have a tiny sample bottle of the purple stuff,
which I'll try on the fixie when I feel like doing the thorough
cleaning it requires.

Anyway, at the rate I ride my chains get cleaned every few hundred
miles and lubed quite a bit more often than that. In another couple
thousand miles I'll know how that's working out.

HTH,

John

Hi John

Thanks for the leads. I followed you up to "fixie", which is to me as
intelligible as "Pareto optimality" or even "Lebesgue integrable" and
"Banach space" is to my neighbors, all of whom live in Silicon valley,
within 2 miles of Google, Intel, HP, Yahoo, Adobe, Apple, etc. (vbg)

What brand/model of chain are you using, please? I assume your chain is
getting a lot of tension, given the hills in town and mountains nearby.

Regards,
Dave B

Whoa, Lewis, Thanks for the clarification! What sorta blows me away is
that I saw my first "fixie" just yesterday, on a "bike car" CalTrans
runs between San Jose and San Francisco (California). Its owner was so
condescending of observing a 'bent rider (me), purely for having the
'bent, that I didn't pursue my curiosity about /his/ bike. While I can
think of loads of reasons for condescending me, I truly was innocent and
well-mannered in boarding, and hadn't said a word, nor recall ever
having seen this guy before; he had a genuine disgust towards 'bents.
Perhaps because they are polar opposite of fixies? Dunno, but I *do*
appreciate your help, and envy the folks who can handle the entire gamut
of human-powered bikes and their ilk.

Ideas on chains?

Regards,
Dave Braden

Hi, Dave, I usually use a Sram PC48 chain on my multispeed bikes and a
KMC 'K 710' chain on my single speed and fixed gear bikes.

Since I have several bikes (I'm a 'car-free' person) I don't put a lot
of miles on any of the bikes and I try to clean up the drive train
every year or so. What I'm shooting for is about 2K miles between
clean ups but it varies a bit. Living in the Ft Worth area of TX, I
don't ride in a lot of rain or snow but it does happen sometimes.

Over many years I have tried several types of chain lube before finding
my favorite, synthetic motor oil. With this my chain _never_ gets
squeeky, unlike some of the other, fancy, products that I tried.

Hope this helps.

Lewis.

*****

David J. Braden said:

Quoted message said:

Hi, Dave, since you are not familiar with the word 'fixie' (a subject
which is dear to my heart) it refers to a type of bicycle which only
has one gear and will not 'coast' or 'freewheel'.

There are many of these exciting machines here:-

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/

Lewis.

*****

David J. Braden said:

[email hidden] wrote:
> David J. Braden wrote:
>> geepeetee wrote:
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> <snip>how many times will the powerlink stand removal and
>>> refitting. From the mileaege and weather conditions i need to remove and
>>> clean at leat once a fortnight, is this about right?
>>>
>>> later
>>>
>>> Gary
>>>
>> <snip>Can someone help Gary and me a bit here?
>>
>> TIA,
>> Dave Braden
> Well, I can give you my limited experience. I live in the Seattle
> area, plenty of rain here. I started out using Finish Line teflon
> "wet" lube. Needed cleaning often. Changed to Dumonde Tech - needed
> cleaning often, and I later found out it should be applied immediately
> *before* a ride, when the chain warms up some sort of polymerization
> takes place. I tend to lube my chains in the PM - in the AM I get on
> the bike and ride to work/bus and I don't want to get up early to lube
> my chain! Switched to ProGold, cleaner and seems to last almost as
> well in the rain. Doesn't have to be applied drop-at-a-time like
> Dumonde. My LBS recommended White Lighting Epic for lubing cables,
> chain and what-have-you. I've tried it on my fixie and it seems to
> work about as well as the ProGold without the requirement to start with
> a clean chain. In fact, it's recommended to use the Epic to clean the
> chain, then lube. Since the Epic is easy to get I may switch when the
> ProGold runs out. I have a tiny sample bottle of the purple stuff,
> which I'll try on the fixie when I feel like doing the thorough
> cleaning it requires.
>
> Anyway, at the rate I ride my chains get cleaned every few hundred
> miles and lubed quite a bit more often than that. In another couple
> thousand miles I'll know how that's working out.
>
> HTH,
>
> John
>
Hi John

Thanks for the leads. I followed you up to "fixie", which is to me as
intelligible as "Pareto optimality" or even "Lebesgue integrable" and
"Banach space" is to my neighbors, all of whom live in Silicon valley,
within 2 miles of Google, Intel, HP, Yahoo, Adobe, Apple, etc. (vbg)

What brand/model of chain are you using, please? I assume your chain is
getting a lot of tension, given the hills in town and mountains nearby.

Regards,
Dave B

Whoa, Lewis, Thanks for the clarification! What sorta blows me away is
that I saw my first "fixie" just yesterday, on a "bike car" CalTrans
runs between San Jose and San Francisco (California). Its owner was so
condescending of observing a 'bent rider (me), purely for having the
'bent, that I didn't pursue my curiosity about /his/ bike. While I can
think of loads of reasons for condescending me, I truly was innocent and
well-mannered in boarding, and hadn't said a word, nor recall ever
having seen this guy before; he had a genuine disgust towards 'bents.
Perhaps because they are polar opposite of fixies? Dunno, but I *do*
appreciate your help, and envy the folks who can handle the entire gamut
of human-powered bikes and their ilk.

Ideas on chains?

Regards,
Dave Braden

I use a simple wax. My favorite product is White Lightning. I started
using it on my mountain bike twenty-five years ago and kept using it on
my roadie and recumbent. The wax is dry and clean, it doesn't get black
and greasy. The wax tends to be self-cleaning; grit drops off. I use it
every 50-100 miles. Takes about three minutes to dribble it on and wipe
it off while running the chain backwards.
My last two chains lasted 8000 miles each. Your mileage will, of
course, vary.

geepeetee said:

Hi
I know this is open ended but how often should i clean the chain. > Gary
Visit my websites at
www.justjents.co.uk
www.recumbent.50megs.com

david boise ID

David J. Braden said:

Whoa, Lewis, Thanks for the clarification! What sorta blows me away is
that I saw my first "fixie" just yesterday, on a "bike car" CalTrans
runs between San Jose and San Francisco (California). Its owner was so
condescending of observing a 'bent rider (me), purely for having the
'bent, that I didn't pursue my curiosity about /his/ bike. While I can
think of loads of reasons for condescending me, I truly was innocent and
well-mannered in boarding, and hadn't said a word, nor recall ever
having seen this guy before; he had a genuine disgust towards 'bents.
Perhaps because they are polar opposite of fixies?

I wonder how he'd react to a fixie recumbent. My friend Laura rides one
(a converted Bikee) on her very flat commute, primarily for training.

Quoted message said:

Ideas on chains?

Regards,
Dave Braden

There's a parallel thread going on on rec.bicycles.tech . What I do is
wipe the chain down with a kerosene-soaked rag and then relube. That's
every couple hundred miles. I also remove the chain, soak it in
kerosene, air-dry it, and relube. I also filter the used kerosene to
keep from reintroducing grit into the chain. I use Finish Line Cross
Country lube- it seems to last a couple months between reapplications.
I generally remove & clean thoroughly twice a year.

BTW: I live in the Portland area, where it rains a bit.

Jeff

Jeff Wills wrote:
<<snip>>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Ideas on chains?

Regards,
Dave Braden

There's a parallel thread going on on rec.bicycles.tech . What I do is
wipe the chain down with a kerosene-soaked rag and then relube. That's
every couple hundred miles. I also remove the chain, soak it in
kerosene, air-dry it, and relube. I also filter the used kerosene to
keep from reintroducing grit into the chain. I use Finish Line Cross
Country lube- it seems to last a couple months between reapplications.
I generally remove & clean thoroughly twice a year.

BTW: I live in the Portland area, where it rains a bit.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,
Thank you /very/ much for the ideas, as well as the alert to a site I
didn't know about.

Regards,
Dave

ps - "in the Portland area, where it rains a bit"? Ha!!! ;-) Assuming
you mean Portland, Oregon, then /mensch/, your drive train must go
through a serious beating. I've heard Portland's a bike-friendly place,
but my only experience cycling in Oregon was when I went to the U. of O.
in Eugene---the rain drove me absolutely insane. When it rains there
(and that's for, what, about 9 months of the year?), it's a nettling
drizzle that lasts days on end, briefly punctuated by heavy gray skies.
Great for the foliage, and for filtering out people like me who don't do
well without sunshine at least every two or three months. Again, all the
best---DB

On Fri, 23 Jun 2006 23:54:27 +0100, "geepeetee" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Hi

I know this is open ended but how often should i clean the chain. I have a
chain cleaner that is satisfactory on my upright but messy on the recumbent.
I find the 'sheldon shake' and then hung overnight in the garage before re
oiling better but how many times will the powerlink stand removal and
refitting. From the mileaege and weather conditions i need to remove and
clean at leat once a fortnight, is this about right?

later

Gary

I immerse my chain in melted pariffine, which is heated on a small
charcoal grill. Then I remove it, hang it up to drip, wipe in down,
and then re-install. Be careful not to set the pariffine on fire.
I do this once or twice a year, the chain stays nice and clean,
doesn't sling stuff on the bike, and my last chain lasted 7,500 miles.