What is the best way to clean a MTB chain?

[splat]

What sort of bearings or inners do rear mech pullies have? Do I need to be concerned about parafin getting in there?

 

While lathering my chain in parafin, I am also nervous about it dribbling down into my BB.

 

Are these valid concerns?

[BrendonMyb]

thanks Johan, I thought as much. I spoke to a guy by the name of graham the other day from Commencal & he showed me a pretty nifty product i think. Its blue in color & has teflon coating propertys ( the name escapes me of the product ) as well as an oil based solution within. I felt the texture rubbing it between my thumb & forefinger & it seems oily enough yet not overkill and making everyhing a collosal mess, then added onto that the teflon coating propertys which in my opinion is always good for rubbing metal surfaces

 

Your analysis of flex/tension within a chain makes perfect sense to me ( capillary action that you mentioned ) & thats exactly where my thoughts lay.

 

think i might try that but i 1st need to get the wax off as any other lube will just run off like water when applied - perhaps some very hot soap water will melt the wax a bit & help in cleaning it ?

[Johan Bornman]

What sort of bearings or inners do rear mech pullies have? Do I need to be concerned about parafin getting in there?

 

While lathering my chain in parafin' date=' I am also nervous about it dribbling down into my BB.

 

Are these valid concerns?

[/quote']

 

These are valid concerns, but for the wrong reasons. Jockey pulleys have plain bearings (bushes) made from nylon and steel or steel and ceramic, depending on the quality. They are meant to run dry but won't mind paraffin. The BB won't mind a bit of paraffin either.

 

However, cleaning your bike in the way described above is a sin against the environment. Don't do it. Use soapy water instead.

[Brighter-Lights]

High Pressure Cleaner - 3 words....

 

I don't take the chain off, with the chain on big ring, I just aim the cleaner at an angle and the crank starts rotating. At the same time, my crank gets cleaned. 

 

Takes 3 minutes to clean my cassette, crank and chain. I relube with Castol chainsaw oil, or Wynns aerosol chain lube.

 

I've wasted far too many hours cleaning the chain in degreaser, taking it off, washing in parrafin, washing with soap. etc. etc.  I don't have time to waste washing my bike when I could've been riding it....

 

 

[Johan Bornman]

High Pressure Cleaner - 3 words....

  

 

Two words: water intrusion

[NickD]

My twocents worth:

The best lube a chain has on is when it comes out of the packet, ie it has been through a grease bath. So if you want to replicate that do the following:

Remove the chain, place in a can with thinners, shake leave for a while, remove and hang up to dry.

Place chain in a tin and cover with lithium grease. Now place tin on gas braai and heat up. The grease will melt completely, (sometimes it catches fire). Cool and wipe thoroughly. You now have a chain lubed with something that has the film strength to resist loading normal to the loaded surfaces, whereas any lube that can get into the roller is on the thin side. The same method can be used to re-lube sealed ball bearings. 

I dont do this. I just wipe the chain and lube it with Motorex, use it and keep wiping it until it is dryish.

Regards,

Nick

[Christopher Brunsdon]

 

Chain cleaning is a religion on its own and I don't want to get ex-communicated. However' date=' none of the above methods work if you've lubricated the chain with that wax rubbish.

 

Edit:    The word lubricated is not applicable when talking about wax, the word I was looking for was punished/harmed/disfavoured/wronged/abused/damaged

 

 

[/quote']

 

johan, im curious !!, what makes you say that wax lube is rubbish ? this is purely a question & ive often wondered how effective wax lube really is. Sure it keeps my drive train clean but ive also wondered how effective it really is in preventing wear as there isnt really a lubricating property, all that there is, is a wax layer & the minute your chain starts turning on the cogs the wax starts peeling off & then after about 30 or so KM's the chain starts squeeling like pig begging for some lubrication. I use white lightining dry lube ( Blue & White bottle ) at the moment but i tend to find it a mission & a half to clean the wax off my chain. I use prepsol degreaser & a nail brush & toothbrush & sheesh that wax is stubborn especially inbtween the links....It tends to clog up in the wrong places & this is just what ive experienced. Perhaps someone else has too im not sure ?

 

now i dont overdo the lubing but i also dont underdo the lubing leaving me wondering is this stuff really working.

 

could you perhaps tell me what type of lube you would recomend ? Ive been thinking of perhaps using the below instead, as its got a bit of a wet lube property in as well as a dry keeping your drive train fairly clean depending on the conditions.

 

Johan please give me your thoughts

 

 

 

 

Got some of the Epice Ride (above bottle) on Saturday and happy with it. Tried it at Oak Valley and no problems. My chain, cassette and d?railleur are still clean (OK, bike did get a scrub - Thanks Irag - but that was just water and a brush). Put some more lube on Monday morning and all is well in the Land of Nod

 

Lube is a religion and I'm not here to preach

 

[paarlmtb]

Have a look at these

 

 

 

http://www.squirtlube.com/pros/index.php

 

 

 

http://www.londoncyclesport.com/Features/Features_All/Squirt_Lube.html

 

 

 

http://www.bicycling.com/article/1,6610,s1-1-323-16558-1,00.html?cm_mmc=RSS-_-bicrsshome-_-NA-_-NA

 

 

 

http://www.frameforum.org/newportal/squirt-lube-1st-impressions-gear-135

 

 

 

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/tools/cycling-tools/product/squirt-lube-32098

 

 

 

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=473370

 

 

 

http://mtbikeaz.com/2008/11/17/review-squirt-dry-chain-lube/

 

 

 

Tried the motor oil route and what is being said by Johan certainly makes a lot of sense, but I personally found that too much dirt was picked up and the noisy drivetrain, drove me to distraction. (Perhaps I wasn't doing it right!)

 

 

 

I followed the directions from the MTBr forum and am much happier, despite the science!!

 

 

[Brighter-Lights]

What sort of bearings or inners do rear mech pullies have? Do I need to be concerned about parafin getting in there?

 

While lathering my chain in parafin' date=' I am also nervous about it dribbling down into my BB.

 

Are these valid concerns?

[/quote']

 

Yes you need to. Most high end der pulleys use sealed bearings these days. The seals are not very effective. Water does get in. Parrafin gets in and dilute the grease. (just listen to the grrrrrr sound when spinning it...)

 

Take a thin blade and pry out the seals on both sides of the bearing. Start at the inside rim of th bearing, be careful not to damage the seal.

 

Spin the bearing in parrafin and wash it, making sure corrosion and fine grit gets out... rinse it a couple of times.

 

Pop one seal back in.

 

Use Castrol WB grease and repack the bearing by sqeezing the grease into the ball cavity.

 

Pop the other seal back in.

 

Wipe outside. You're pulley's teeth will wear out long before the bearing... I do this every 2 months.

[AndreZA]

As much as I'm a Squirt fan, for me it does not work on a MTB. My new favourite is Motorex dry lube which is not dry at all and flows nicely into every roller. But it does make a mess on a road chain for some reason.

[Brad@TheRiot]

 

I believe in a chain cleaner device.

 

YES!

 

I use the Barbieri chain cleaner, with Ecotech degreaser. Works a charm! Quick, easy, does the job well and rinses off with water. Drive train clean in less than 5 mins!

 

[Brighter-Lights]

High Pressure Cleaner - 3 words....

  

 

Two words: water intrusion

 

No more water intrusion than riding in the rain, or than cleaning with soapy water!

 

After cleaning I leave the bike in the sun for a few mins and when the chain is dry I relube...

 

I don't worry about water intrusion because there's none. I've taken the crank off after cleaning with a WAP and there's not a drop of water inside the BB....

 

Once every month I relube derailleur pivots. 

 

If you're stupid enough to sit and scrub your chain for 30 minutes that your problem. I've also done that in the past.

 

Use oil for lube... Use WAP to clean. Chains does get wet when riding anyway. WAP removes crud in seconds... If you're aiming the WAP at the seal then you need help...

 

I stand by the WAP... and real OIL... my experience has tought me the most effective and quickest way. Nobody's opinion will change my mind.     

[Tieffels]

Another question: <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

To start with, why do you lube?

 

Do you lube the chain to extend the life of the chain or the drive train? The reason I ask is from the post regarding measuring chain wear, the wear that the rollers experience does not contribute to chain wear, only wear on the inner pins/inner plate at the interface between the said pin and the inner plate. So the question, from the chain wear and lubrication perspective, should be what is the best way to get lube in that interface and keep it there.

 

But then from the drive train wear side you want to lube the external roller - chainring/sprocket interface to prolong the life of the gear profile. But in doing so you pick up dirt and what not and form a grinding paste, and does this not mitigate the benefit of lube in the first place?

 

At least this is my thinking around the topic.

 

So in essence what are the mechanisms for wear that lubricating needs to curb?

[kjind]

I use Mr. Min and it really work well for me, just spray it on thick, wait a minute and wipe it off.

 

I use Squirt on both MTB and road bike and average about 6000km on a road bike chain.

[Christopher Brunsdon]

 

As much as I'm a Squirt fan' date=' for me it does not work on a MTB. My new favourite is Motorex dry lube which is not dry at all and flows nicely into every roller. But it does make a mess on a road chain for some reason.[/quote']

 

I like the Epic Lube for this reason. The only thing to remember is you need to "shake 2 wake" the bottle everytime as the wax settle rather quickly to the bottom of the bottle.

 

[BrendonMyb]

Please can someone help me with that name i mentioned earlier - i cant for the life of me remember what its called

 

color of lube is dark, transparent blue has teflon coating propertys aswell as a oily base. Comes in a round seethrough bottle