By blackmountaincycles,
Filed under: Things I like
These pictures are of my bike that doesn’t get cleaned very often. When I do clean it, I never take the chain off to clean it. Never spray down the cassette with degreaser. Never have to because I use ProLink only when it’s needed. Not every ride. Only when it’s needed. Maybe every 3 or 4 rides in the dry and every other when it’s wet or maybe every ride when it’s really wet.
By using ProLink chain lube and replacing the chain when it gets to about 80%-90% on the ProLink chain gauge, the cassette that’s on my bike has been in use since 1995 and has seen duty on 3 different bikes.
I see a lot of chains that are so covered with grimy oil. There’s no reason to have such a grimy mess motivating your bike. The information is out there to maintain your bike so you don’t end up with a nasty, grimy mess.
These jockey wheels are also 15 years old with very little wear.
(What’s playing: KWMR)
Not always a rant…
6 responses to “Chain care…”
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Thanks for doing such a stellar job on my bike! Did the sorry state of my chain inspire this post?
You're welcome Kathleen! Actually, I had been meaning to write that for several weeks after one particularly nasty bike came in for a new chain, followed by new cassette and then two new chainrings. Not keeping the chain clean and replacing it at an appropriate interval, the repair went from a simple $30 chain to a $200 repair, which I'm happy to do.
Thanks again for coming up to Pt. Reyes and enjoying the area.
I've been using ProLink chain lube since I first read about it in the Rivendell Reader interview with Charlie Cunningham. Charlie said that he had a hard time wearing out chains since he started using it.
Have you tried Dumonde Tech oils? They are supposed to be as good as ProLink, but drier and cleaner.
– Retro MB
Dumonde Tech is the only other lube I have and sell. It's also good stuff.
Well, I guess I have TriFlow too because people still like it, but it doesn't touch my chains.
Do you clean the gunk off of a new chain out of the box and then re-lube it, or do you run it as is and lube it when needed? I've always imagined that mixing products is not good.
Cosmoline is the gunk that is on new chains. It's a rust preventative. With a new chain, I'll apply a generous (but not overly) coating of ProLink on a new chain, wipe off the excess. This removes most of the cosmoline. Then I'll apply a second application of ProLink and the chain is good to go for several rides.