Cleaning drivetrain...

"Tim Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello all,

Just thought I'd share something that makes it pretty easy to clean the drivetrain and relube.

I bought a can of engine degreaser and motorcycle chain oil from the local shell (about $8 each).

Need to take care that the engine degreaser doesn't get into wheel hubs, bottom brackets and
pedals, but it does a great job.

Nor the chain guard. I got citrus degreaser on the plastic chain guard once. End of the day... had
to replace it. It warped around in circles.

Pete

Is it better to use as wet lube or a dry lube?
My friend uses a dry lube on his MTB, and guesses it will be great for the road.

Totally depends on the type of riding.

I ride MTB in dusty conditions and still use wet lube (Finish Line) and whipe and reaply and whipe every ride.

onegeargimp

bfra1 said:

Is it better to use as wet lube or a dry lube? My friend uses a dry lube on his MTB, and guesses
it will be great for the road.

Not really, because dry lube needs frequent reapplication. Its good in dirty environments, like MTB,
because it doesnt make dirt stick to the chain so much.

Sounds like I should stick with the wet lube for the road then.

I ride my MTB in a dusty/sandy area and often find that I'm hosing out tons of rubbish. I'll go dry on the MTB.

Thanks 🙂

I find kerosene works very well too. at $2 a litre from coles, it does the job easily and
cheaply i guess.

"Tim Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello all,

Just thought I'd share something that makes it pretty easy to clean the drivetrain and relube.

I bought a can of engine degreaser and motorcycle chain oil from the local shell (about $8 each).

Need to take care that the engine degreaser doesn't get into wheel hubs, bottom brackets and
pedals, but it does a great job.

I take off the wheels for cleaning, spray on some degreaser, run the drivetrain through with an
old washing up brush, clean the bike down, reattach the wheels and the rotate the drivetrain while
spraying with a

high

Quoted message said:

presure hose.

Gets it clean as a whistle. Then I apply the motorcycle chain oil (this stuff sticks to the
chain), and everything works very smoothly!

All the best,

Tim

Interesting. I just bought a can of bike chain lube from Shell yesterday for $15!

I haven't applied it yet, so cannot comment. But I'm expecting some improvement. I'd say it'd be a wet type of lube based on what I see on bikes. I tried to find a dry lube with teflon, no luck yet.

Anyway, I use a mix of dry lube (White Lightning) and WD40, and it works fine. I get a lot of dust during road riding, so dry lube is good. However, it's a lot of work. Firstly, after 100 km at most, the chain start to make noise, needing more applications. With frequent applications, the parafin builds up and needs cleaning. 🙁

Besides, dry lubes do not get into chain links easily. What I do for both MTB and road bikes is to apply the WD40 on individual chain links and joints. Then give it a good wipe. If still dirty, I'd do it a second time. Then I let it sit for a while. After that I apply White Lightning and let it sit overnight. I have used this method over the past few thousand kms, and have been relatively happy. It's definitely better than using WD40 alone or dry lube alone. I'll try the bike chain lube this week.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Tim Jones
Hello all,

Just thought I'd share something that makes it pretty easy to clean the drivetrain and relube.

I bought a can of engine degreaser and motorcycle chain oil from the local shell (about $8 each).

Need to take care that the engine degreaser doesn't get into wheel hubs, bottom brackets and pedals,
but it does a great job.

I take off the wheels for cleaning, spray on some degreaser, run the drivetrain through with an old
washing up brush, clean the bike down, reattach the wheels and the rotate the drivetrain while
spraying with a high presure hose.

Gets it clean as a whistle. Then I apply the motorcycle chain oil (this stuff sticks to the chain),
and everything works very smoothly!

All the best,

Tim