Squeak squeak



D

D.M. Procida

Guest
My fairly new (late July) Dawes Horizon has developed a squeaky chain.
No doubt this is the result of my daily 14 mile commute along grubby and
often wet roads.

So, what now? Remove it, and leave it in hot candle wax for 15 minutes?
Use some proprietary compound?

I've done the melted candle wax thing with what seems like good results
before, but it's far from obvious to me that paraffin is in fact the
best kind of lubricant for a chain, even if the idea of heating it to
boil the moisture (and with it the dirt) out of the chain makes sense.

Daniele
 
D.M. Procida wrote:

> So, what now? Remove it, and leave it in hot candle wax for 15 minutes?
> Use some proprietary compound?


For a very thorough cleaning, remove it and soak it in white spirit for
as long as you can be bothered and give it a good work-over with a rag
when it comes out. That's the cleaning bit, now replace and then lube
with the potion of your choice. Apparently chainsaw oil is good though
I'm using some expensive concoction from the LBS at the mo, "Synlube" IIRC.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
 
Why not buy a cleaning machine thingy from your bike shop or decathlon?
Costs about ten quid. All you do is fill it up with a cleaning solution
that is supplied and run the chain through it for five minues whilst you
turn the cranks by hand. You do not have to take the chain off the bike and
it comes up lovely.
RS

"D.M. Procida" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:1h4bsxn.c74azaucn53lN%[email protected]...
> My fairly new (late July) Dawes Horizon has developed a squeaky chain.
> No doubt this is the result of my daily 14 mile commute along grubby and
> often wet roads.
>
> So, what now? Remove it, and leave it in hot candle wax for 15 minutes?
> Use some proprietary compound?
>
> I've done the melted candle wax thing with what seems like good results
> before, but it's far from obvious to me that paraffin is in fact the
> best kind of lubricant for a chain, even if the idea of heating it to
> boil the moisture (and with it the dirt) out of the chain makes sense.
>
> Daniele
 
in message <[email protected]>, Rudyard Shackleton
('[email protected]') wrote:

> Why not buy a cleaning machine thingy from your bike shop or decathlon?
> Costs about ten quid. All you do is fill it up with a cleaning
> solution that is supplied and run the chain through it for five minues
> whilst you
> turn the cranks by hand. You do not have to take the chain off the
> bike and it comes up lovely.


In my experience these don't work very well, and it's also quite hard to
thoroughly rinse detergent out of the chain. Take the chain off and do
the Sheldon Shake[R][TM] - much quicker and easier.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; killing [afghan|iraqi] civilians is not 'justice'
 
..
>
> So, what now? Remove it, and leave it in hot candle wax for 15 minutes?
> Use some proprietary compound?
>
> I've done the melted candle wax thing with what seems like good results
> before, but it's far from obvious to me that paraffin is in fact the
> best kind of lubricant for a chain, even if the idea of heating it to
> boil the moisture (and with it the dirt) out of the chain makes sense.
>


Chains are cheap. I dribble chain saw oil onto my road bike chain every ride
or two (depends on the weather) and ignore it besides.

On my mountain bike I clean the whole bike with Mucoff, the chain with Gunk
(every third ride) and drizzle chain saw oil on the chain. If the chain is
dirty and I can't be bothered I just lube it with chain saw oil. I bought a
chain cleaning device but I don't think it's worth the bother. Just lube it
in C S oil and buy a new chain every 6 months or so - 3 years if it's a road
bike. (I made up the bit about 3 years because I've only had my road bike 2
years - I do expect to put a new chainon it next year whether I need one or
not).

John
 
Simon Brooke wrote:
> in message <[email protected]>, Rudyard
> Shackleton ('[email protected]') wrote:
>
>> Why not buy a cleaning machine thingy from your bike shop or
>> decathlon? Costs about ten quid. All you do is fill it up
>> with a cleaning solution that is supplied and run the chain
>> through it for five minues whilst you
>> turn the cranks by hand. You do not have to take the chain
>> off the bike and it comes up lovely.

>
> In my experience these don't work very well, and it's also
> quite hard to thoroughly rinse detergent out of the chain.
> Take the chain off and do the Sheldon Shake[R][TM] - much
> quicker and easier.


I agree with that. I got one a few years back, I used it half a dozen
times before it broke.
--
the.Mark
 
Go to Asda's buy engine oil apply to chain. Give it loads. Leave the
Cardiff Post under the chain and block in the hallway where you keep
the bike. Ride through winter. Take block and chain off in the Spring,
soak in white spirit and re-assemble and apply oil. Do that every year
until its totally shagged. Throw away and buy new chain and block.
 
nobody760 <[email protected]> wrote:
> Go to Asda's buy engine oil apply to chain. Give it loads. Leave the
> Cardiff Post under the chain and block in the hallway where you keep
> the bike. Ride through winter. Take block and chain off in the Spring,
> soak in white spirit and re-assemble and apply oil. Do that every year
> until its totally shagged. Throw away and buy new chain and block.


I've just spent 5 minutes wondering what a Cardiff Post was, thinking
it was something like a Sheefield Stand ;-P

--
Nobby
 
I never bother cleaning chain beyond just wiping or brushing off gunge.
Theory is that clean chain picks up new grit which wears faster than
the oily black paste which was on the chain before cleaning.
Just oil whenever it looks a bit un-oily.