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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2007 23:50:21 GMT
Hello, didn't want to hijack the other thread. Is there any "symptoms" as to when you need to clean and apply new oil to the bike chain?
The London Cycling Campaign has a stringent maintanance schedule which my family's ignored quite freely in the past and still, the bikes worked fine. Certainly, we didn't oil it once a week which is why I'm quite keen to know "how" to detect a lack of oil.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2007 23:55:20 GMT
if your gears seem to take longer or make unusual noises. Grit in the chain and grime are also awful for a bike. What you should do every so often is to take a rivet punch and split the chain and then put it in a liquid ( I can't remember, white spirit I think...) then it will take all the grime and grit off and then WD40 it and put it back on.
If you can be bothered. I inevitably can't ;D
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2007 1:45:59 GMT
Squeaking noises, and poor shifting or jumping. Personally I use wax on my chains since it doesn't pick up as much dirt, and the dirty stuff flakes away. I prefer a chain cleaner like the Park Tool Cyclone, which scrubs the chain with water-based degreaser on the bike. Breaking the chain creates a weak spot and costs money if you have a Hyperglide type and need to use a new pin each time.
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Post by edb on Jan 4, 2007 8:09:48 GMT
White Spirit leaves a nasty residue that stops other stuff (Oil) from sticking to the chain. And as slowjoecrow says above it weakens the chain if you don't do it properly. Bear in mind that if you put too much oil on the chain it'll mix with the dirt and make one of the best grinding pastes known to man. Another think to note is that bike chains and chainrings/cassettes (the toothy gear type things) really need replacing at the same time especially if you are using more expensive equipment. All these parts wear together. replace one without replacing the other and you have worse performance than when you started.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2007 10:30:49 GMT
When I was a keen cyclist, I used to clean my chain with a little petrol and an old toothbrush. I would then apply a light oil.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2007 13:40:06 GMT
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!
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Post by donnytom on Jan 4, 2007 21:37:24 GMT
There are also gadgets which clamp around the chain, and wash it as it's wound through. This avoids the need to remove it from the bike, but I haven't tried it so don't know whether it works.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2007 23:28:06 GMT
The 'chain bath' does indeed work... you fill up a little chamber with the supplied liquid, and simply slot this over the chain, allow 3/4 complete revolutions through the wash... then , take off the chamber, and add your chosen libricant - too much and the grit and gunk will just stick to the chain, reversing all that hard work just done!!!
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Post by ttran on Jan 8, 2007 10:30:01 GMT
Just to add my 2c, I recently had my bike serviced and now it feels easy to shift gears and is as quiet as a mouse, really.
However, before the service it was clanking like a bitch and sometimes it would get into 3rd gear and the pedals would jam up.
So my advice to y'all is that when things generally feel sluggish and even refuse to work, it's usually time to grease em up. I invested in some new chain oil when I got it serviced and now I'm gonna make sure I oil it every few trips. Because bloody hell I seem to give it a pounding on each trip!
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