Cleaning bike chain

[mauvais]

It's a link you can buy for a quid or two that lets you release the chain without a chain tool. You need a chain tool to fit one though, unless there's one already on it.

It's easier to clean when not on the bike but you can do it either way. To clean it, you want lots of thin lubricant like GT85 or even WD40, or possibly white spirit. A jcloth or something will help but it'll take a bit of work. It won't go back to being properly clean and shiny but it'll be better. When you're all done you need to use a thicker bike oil as lube.

 

[Biddlybee]

Ah ok, cheers mauvais. Will have to leave that until I can get down the bike shop and they can show me how it's done.

Will do the best I can with the chain on (I've got some WD40 to clean with and some lube) then tackle a better clean when I've got more time.

 

[Velouria]

Hi


For these gears you need a special tool called a chain riveter or chain tool. They should cost between £5-£10 at a guess and if you buy one from a nice independent bike shop they should explain how to use it.

I used to break chains using the following tools:

- Brick
- Appropriately sized nut (M6s work well)
- Nail of slightly smaller diameter than the pins in the chain.
- Hammer

Method: Take the nail, turn it upside down, and hit the point with the hammer to blunt it. Put brick down on ground. Put nut on brick. Put the link you want to break on top of the nut. Whack it hard with the hammer and it should sink in until it's flat. Now, holding base of nail against the now-flattened-in pin with thumb and forefinger, give it a few taps with the hammer to check it's straight i.e. doesn't skite off ... then progressively harder taps until the pin begins to move. Don't drive the pin all the way out..! Once only about 2-3 mm of the pin is left in the link (on the inside), you can flex the chain apart fairly easily.

Putting the chain back together is pretty much the reverse of this process

 

[Sunray]

Much easier to buy a chain tool. No hitting required.

 

[Biddlybee]

Buy a Powerlink:

then you can take it off by hand whenever.

Blimey it's a dirty job! But it's done, not sparkling, but looking a hell of a lot better. Pretty sure there's one of those links in my chain already, definitely one link that looks a little different and says SRAM on it - so just need to learn how it works now.

Now I need to remember how to tighten my levers so I don't have to pull so far to brake...

 

[Velouria]

Much easier to buy a chain tool. No hitting required.

Nah that would have cost me a fiver or so at the time. I was a skint teenager. That was a third of a week's money!

 

[Hocus Eye.]

WD 40 won't do any more harm than washing the chain with white spirit. White spirit which is basically petrol will clean off the oil and grease in the same way as WD 40 which is also basically petrol but with added silicone. You could clean the chain with paraffin for that matter - it won't burst into flames if there is fire nearby.

However having cleaned off the oil and grease you need to replace it with more oil or grease or the chain will wear out and/or go rusty in the rain. Bring back cycle clips I say.

 

[Biddlybee]

How often should you oil chains?

 

[gentlegreen]

I give mine a little drop at least every few days - extra when I've cycled through rain.

I keep meaning to set up an automatic oiler.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I give mine a little drop at least every few days - extra when I've cycled through rain.

I keep meaning to set up an automatic oiler.

That's not very green. Each new drop of oil will be splattered on to the road after it hits the chain.

 

[gentlegreen]

How do you avoid that ?

 

[Biddlybee]

That's not very green. Each new drop of oil will be splattered on to the road after it hits the chain.

It shouldn't splatter on the road if it's thick enough.

 

[gentlegreen]

It shouldn't splatter on the road if it's thick enough.

I use the foul weather version all year round and it ends up congealing on the frame tube.

 

[mauvais]

Blimey it's a dirty job! But it's done, not sparkling, but looking a hell of a lot better. Pretty sure there's one of those links in my chain already, definitely one link that looks a little different and says SRAM on it - so just need to learn how it works now.

How to describe it... You press it together across the chain as if you wanted to crush those two grey pins. Then you slide the two ends towards each other along the chain, to move those pins into the gap next to them. The holes are bigger and will let you pull them out. Be careful not to lose the links as they can come off easily now.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Careful now, an SRAM is a Short Range Attack Missile. Probably quite useful to a cyclist in a busy city though.

 

[mauvais]

I'm a short range attack missile when I'm on my bike.

 

[Biddlybee]

How to describe it... You press it together across the chain as if you wanted to crush those two grey pins. Then you slide the two ends towards each other along the chain, to move those pins into the gap next to them. The holes are bigger and will let you pull them out. Be careful not to lose the links as they can come off easily now.

I've looked at the link again properly and that doesn't sound too hard at all... should've looked before I started with the toothbrush. Least I know for next time. Ta again

 

[Psychonaut]

That's not very green. Each new drop of oil will be splattered on to the road after it hits the chain.

use http://www.green-oil.net/ and splatter away Boycey commented on another thread that it actually works better than the fancy synthetic brands.

 

[Miss-Shelf]

thanks for the advice and the link for the green oil - I bought some of that and didn't know how to clean my chain in order to apply it

 

[Psychonaut]

I have one of those chain-bath things but i dont bother cleaning it - just a bit of mud, rinse off quickly then oil over the top. Im not going racing or anything mind..

Some people advice against using chems esp. degreasers on chains as they loosen the stuff between the links, and hasten the stretching of the chain. When a chain has eventually stretched past a certain point, this means greatly accelerated wear on your (more expensive/fiddly to replace) cogs. You can buy a chain-wear tool for about £6 that shows when its time to put a fresh one on.

 

[fredfelt]

Don't know it it makes much difference but a friend told me to oil the chain on the inside edge, not on the edge facing the road. This way it attracts less dirt.

 

[Cid]

Don't know it it makes much difference but a friend told me to oil the chain on the inside edge, not on the edge facing the road. This way it attracts less dirt.

Nah, it's important to get lube into any moving parts of the chain; specifically in the linkages... I usually do it with the chain on the bike after a ride, run along the top of any area of exposed chain, leave for a while, reveal any bits of the chain that were on the cogs and do them. The inside edge would pick up more dirt anyway when you think about it.

Oh, I use degreaser to degrease the chain, not exactly cheap (although not that bad when you buy a load), but you know its been designed for use on bikes. The devices that fit to the chain are great too, take a lot of the hassle out of it. Also buy specific chain lube (I use Pedro's ice wax in the winter... and usually in the summer too because I never get round to buying a different one) as they're designed for the fairly odd conditions that bike chains are exposed to.