Drivetrain cleaning

[Mikerb]

Most parts of a chain incur metal to metal friction so it is the ability of any form of lube to act as a very thin slip barrier between parts that mitigates wear. To my mind it is only a good quality oil that can do that. A thicker treatment like wax can help prevent ingress of dust and grit from the trail but is easily rubbed away by friction and diluted by water as a result.

Which is why I use wet lube first, then dry lube .

 

[RJUK]

Most parts of a chain incur metal to metal friction so it is the ability of any form of lube to act as a very thin slip barrier between parts that mitigates wear. To my mind it is only a good quality oil that can do that. A thicker treatment like wax can help prevent ingress of dust and grit from the trail but is easily rubbed away by friction and diluted by water as a result.

Which is why I use wet lube first, then dry lube .

I dunno - in independent testing the waxes tend to fair significantly better in the wear department, especially for off road use where dirt and grime can stick to oil and act as a grinding paste on the drivetrain. That's why I swapped. The wax has tungsten in it to mitigate against wear, and appears to work very well.

From my limited experience with it so far I have no reason not to believe these claims, though I haven't gone through a chain or anything yet to have any personal evidence of how much it helps. Other people's testing seems to suggest that it extends longevity of drivetrain components several times longer than an oil based lube, which is impressive and makes the slight faff of initial set up certainly worthwhile.

 

[Mikerb]

I dunno - in independent testing the waxes tend to fair significantly better in the wear department, especially for off road use where dirt and grime can stick to oil and act as a grinding paste on the drivetrain. That's why I swapped. The wax has tungsten in it to mitigate against wear, and appears to work very well.

From my limited experience with it so far I have no reason not to believe these claims, though I haven't gone through a chain or anything yet to have any personal evidence of how much it helps. Other people's testing seems to suggest that it extends longevity of drivetrain components several times longer than an oil based lube, which is impressive and makes the slight faff of initial set up certainly worthwhile.

Yep not arguing against wax treatments assuming they have slip components in them and I fully accept that a wax is better than an oil in dusty type trail conditions. My method uses a oil first...wet lube....then a dry lube which has a wax component so I am doing something similar by using the 2 steps.......and I do that winter or summer. I believe some of the race teams do the same.

 

[mkj1972]

Decided to go for this

Wash Degrease Lubricate Starter Pack

Peaty's Products Online Store

peatys.co.uk

Had a 15 % discount code as well

 

[mkj1972]

Product arrived with in a day & had a nice message with it

 

[Emteebee]

Good... good... but let me throw this out there to you all.

Don’t wipe off the “excess” lubricant from the chain. While the lubricant is meant to penetrate between the rollers, pins, and plates, it also provides benefits on the chain’s exterior.

For instance, on unsealed plain bearings, such as those found in our chains, grease, or in our case, a wax mixture, prevents contaminants like dirt, dust, or moisture from entering the bearing.

Excess wet lubricant is the perfect carrier to transport the collected dust and dirt to the places you don’t want it. That is why always to remove excess lubricant. The dryer the chain the less dirt will stick.

 

[EMTBSEAN]

Excess wet lubricant is the perfect carrier to transport the collected dust and dirt to the places you don’t want it. That is why always to remove excess lubricant. The dryer the chain the less dirt will stick.

That’s what I like about Smoove lube, it’s a wax based lube but it’s dry to the touch, even in the filthiest of rides my drivetrain is the cleanest part of my bike, don’t get me wrong it’s not spotless but there’s much less mud on there than the rest of my bike

 

[Money Pit]

I found myself watching this video recently and liked his process. I personally have always just sprayed a degreaser on occasionally and cleaned with a park tool cyclone before wiping it down and then applying a lube. Never really went overboard on it.

This video looks like one ill follow in future.

 

[irie]

What he does with jockey wheels is exactly what I do which is simply to scrape muck off them by moving the chain to rotate the wheel against old wood lollipop type sticks. Made a simple hooked lever to lift the (Shimano) derailleur a little to de-tension the chain.

And will NOT use thick lubes of any sort on chains because that only picks up grit etc which gets turned into grinding paste which damages the transmission. Learned this a very long time ago from riding motorcycles.

 

[tennisbiki]

TIME for the capillary action to work.

The idea that the lube really need to get between the side plate and the roller, and then under.. made my head spin. But I have observed that if you put a drop of lube at that spot and wait, the lube would seep in. Yes, it takes time for the lube to travel into the inside, this is called capillary action. So if you just spray, spin the chain and wipe off quickly, the lube may not get the chance to get into the spot that is most needed. Not it is not speedy, but ..

 

[irie]

TIME for the capillary action to work.

The idea that the lube really need to get between the side plate and the roller, and then under.. made my head spin. But I have observed that if you put a drop of lube at that spot and wait, the lube would seep in. Yes, it takes time for the lube to travel into the inside, this is called capillary action. So if you just spray, spin the chain and wipe off quickly, the lube may not get the chance to get into the spot that is most needed. Not it is not speedy, but ..

Depends on the viscosity of the lube.

 

[Hiltix]

Depends on the viscosity of the lube.

Yes, it certainly depends on the viscosity. That's why I use liquid spray. Nevertheless, I leave the oil on for a couple of minutes and crank a few times in between. Only then do I wipe off the excess oil.

 

[irie]

Yes, it certainly depends on the viscosity. That's why I use liquid spray. Nevertheless, I leave the oil on for a couple of minutes and crank a few times in between. Only then do I wipe off the excess oil.

I use a very low viscosity spray* while turning the (clean) chain though its entire length while holding clean workshop paper underneath (wearing disposable workshop nitrile gloves obviously). Then leave it to dry off.

* MucOff All weather Motorcycle Chain Lube. Buy a few cans when on offer, cheaper than eBike specific chain lube.

 

[Pyr0]

Never thought about using GT85 as a cleaner, but I think i will next time.

 

[lar1337]

Remove chain, degrease, rinse, dry with cloth, spin, hang while you get a beer or cuppa tea........replace and drip lube on each link wet lube for wet weather and dry for dry riding
Fun reading everyone's method

 

[RustyMTB]

I'd stay off the beers if I were you. We all saw what happened last time you had a drink.

 

[irie]

Remove chain, degrease, rinse, dry with cloth, spin, hang while you get a beer or cuppa tea........replace and drip lube on each link wet lube for wet weather and dry for dry riding
Fun reading everyone's method

Drip lube on each link? Individually? On each of ~120 links? Sherly not?

 

[Mikerb]

The most annoying thing if you lube the chain in situ is that the jockey wheels, chainwheel and at least one cog on the cassette gets a coating of oil as well! To clean and lube the chain I remove the rear wheel , and remove the chain from the chainwheel. The chain is left hanging off the rear of the chainstay with a container below it. Degreaser agitated with a toothbrush, then warm water..both using squirt bottles. Wiped and left to dry then lubed. Left for 10 minutes and wiped . Chainwheel and jockey wheels cleaned and dried. Reassembled.

 

[irie]

The most annoying thing if you lube the chain in situ is that the jockey wheels, chainwheel and at least one cog on the cassette gets a coating of oil as well! To clean and lube the chain I remove the rear wheel , and remove the chain from the chainwheel. The chain is left hanging off the rear of the chainstay with a container below it. Degreaser agitated with a toothbrush, then warm water..both using squirt bottles. Wiped and left to dry then lubed. Left for 10 minutes and wiped . Chainwheel and jockey wheels cleaned and dried. Reassembled.

What is wrong with having lubricant on jockey wheels, chainring, and cassette?

 

[Mikerb]

What's wrong with having lubricant on jockey wheels?

it attracts dirt and dust!!

 

[irie]

it attracts dirt and dust!!

Only if you use thick, sticky lube, which as I explained earlier I do not.

I use a very low viscosity spray* while turning the (clean) chain though its entire length while holding clean workshop paper underneath (wearing disposable workshop nitrile gloves obviously). Then leave it to dry off.

* MucOff All weather Motorcycle Chain Lube. Buy a few cans when on offer, cheaper than eBike specific chain lube.