chain cleaning

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by shming123
how often does the chain need to be cleaned on a mtn. bike? road bike? and how often does it need to be replaced? what other bike maintenance should be done regularly?

<http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html>

+

<http://draco.acs.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/8d.2.html>

Should give you the basics

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by shming123
how often does the chain need to be cleaned on a mtn. bike? road bike? and how often does it need to be replaced? what other bike maintenance should be done regularly?

These are all maintenence concerns that are sort of circumstance-specific, if you know what I mean. Depending on a mixture of your mileage, riding conditions, and plain luck, a given rider can squeeze any number of days, weeks, rides, or whatever out of a chain without a cleaning, a lubing, or a replacement, as the case may be.

Cleaning and lubing? I generally eyeball it. If it's black and little bits of junk are hanging off of it, it's time. Depending on conditions, this can take anywhere from 20 to 100 miles; generally, plan on doing it a few times a month, maybe. Use your intuition, and remember that a clean, lubed chain is a happy, longer-lasting and better running chain.

True chain wear can be difficult, if not impossible, to predict. There may be tip-offs -- you've put a few thousand miles on it, and despite fine-tuning your derailleurs and cables, something still ain't right, for instance -- but generally speaking, the best way to go is periodically measure for wear using a checker like a Park Tool CC-2 or CC-3. These babies interpret wear in terms of percentage points (measuring play, which behaves like chain stretch but is actually wear in the rollers and pins which link it all up). As you approach 1%, you're heading towards problems and should consider a replacement. Depending on a variety of factors, this could take any length of time to occur, so it's best not to guess it. Expect at least 1000 miles out of a good chain, but don't quote me.

Good luck, and have fun.