Solvents and MTB Chain

[flymango]

I recently read in one of our local cycle magazines that "chains come from the manufacturer pre-greased to preserve factory-lubricated points" ... and that ... "submerging it in solvent will remove that lube, and there's no way to restore it to its original standard."

 

Am I committing chain murder by submerging it in Prepsol for an hour or two after a MTB race?

[Christopher Brunsdon]

A topic that gets revisted all the time on The Hub. I'm not going to tell you to Google it or search The Hub as its a learning topic where we all seem to learn something new from our discussions.

 

Now the grease originally used on your new chain is primarily to prevent rust, the lubrication is a side effect and a very good one.

 

Now cleaning your chain with Prepsol, the only debate is if its better than Diesel to clean your chain - many Hubbers use Prepsol and nothing else.

 

Most important thing here is how do you lube your chain afterwards once you cleaned it with Prepsol?

 

Obviously you need to make sure its dry before you do say. Now this is where the religious debate begins as the old Hub saying goes: Lube is like religion, we each have our own

[flymango]

Speaking of religion, maybe its confession time and I need to come clean on how I clean my chain.

 

After the Prepsol bath, I rinse the chain with hot water (what?), dry it (phew!), and then apply a very liberal amount (too much maybe?) of lube (Squirt) to each link, and leave it to dry for about another hour. Only then do I take a rag and remove any excess lube (almost seems to get absorbed into the chain before then, but of course this is not possible).

 

Chain murder?

[Christopher Brunsdon]

@flymango: I absolve you and you need to do 10 laps of single track this weekend.

[flymango]

@flymango: I absolve you and you need to do 10 laps of single track this weekend.

Oh how I wish!! Still recovering from a knee op in July. Three more weeks to go then we start with baby steps again. (and yes, I saw your thread yesterday - pain killers and (b)all).

[Christopher Brunsdon]

I got 7-10 days to go before its baby steps for me. The wait is killing me

[Mojoman]

I soak my chain in kleen green and hot water (after every 2-3 rides) rinse well, hang up to dry and then use plenty of squirt on it. Chain has done around 1800km so far (cassette the same and the crank around 3000km) and so far so good, no slipping or anything.

But ja, each to their own!

[flymango]

I soak my chain in kleen green and hot water (after every 2-3 rides) rinse well, hang up to dry and then use plenty of squirt on it. Chain has done around 1800km so far (cassette the same and the crank around 3000km) and so far so good, no slipping or anything.

But ja, each to their own!

Thanks, Mojoman. At least I'm not alone in what I do, and seems to dispel the assertion made in the article I read.