Tips for chain cleaning

[Bill Sornson]

Polly wrote:

> Thanks for the replies to the post, Im not too keen on ripping every
> single customers chain off thier bike and heating them.. although I
> could see where I could easily charge extra for something like that.

Ummm... You own or run or work for a bike shop?!?

Wow.

 

[Polly]

">
> Ummm... You own or run or work for a bike shop?!?
>
> Wow.
>
Um uh ummmmmmmm... what the hell is your point?
umm uh ummmmm gee are sure your not related to the student counsellor on
"South park"?
Heres a tip for you, keep your comments to yourself, ok?

 

[Polly]

Thanks Carl

I didnt realize you could access that information that way.

Most of the time when I start a thread I know the answer, Im hoping for some
new piece of advice or gadget. I'm curious about that doo-hicky from
nashbar.

I think the thing most of you out there fail to see is most "SHOP TOOLS" are
not made with certain mechanics in mind. You do hundreds of repairs you
always keep hoping for some wicked new SUPER tool. I was hoping there might
be some NEW shain cleaner I hadnt heard of as yet.
I used most of them, not crazy about the results. furthermore I dont like
the idea of sticking solvents down the drain. I gave up using my airbrush,
cause of my concern for all that paint going into the water system. Bikes
are pretty enviromentally friendly, so should cleaning them.
Hmm that gives me an idea for a new thread "How to dispose of used inner
tubes" Im sick of tossing these into the landfill.

polly

 

[Neil Brooks]

"Polly" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>">
>> Ummm... You own or run or work for a bike shop?!?
>>
>> Wow.
>>
>Um uh ummmmmmmm... what the hell is your point?
>umm uh ummmmm gee are sure your not related to the student counsellor on
>"South park"?
>Heres a tip for you, keep your comments to yourself, ok?
>

I'm reaching here, but it's possible that the point was: if you own,
or run, or work for a bike shop, it's presumed that you could write an
essay about chain cleaning and lubrication by your lonesome.

I didn't mean to attack by asking if you were trolling. When an
Original Poster posts, leaves, doesn't participate in the thread, then
posts the same question a few days later, well . . . .

But on this one, your comments look pretty suspicious. It's my take
that Bill was asking if you could reconcile the two items: asking how
we clean chains, and telling us that you own, or run, or work for a
bike shop. ("I never seem to get my chains clean enough")???

It does seem just a touch weird, no?

BTW: I liked the South Park reference ;-)

 

[Jeff Starr]

On Thu, 19 May 2005 07:45:03 -0400, "Polly" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>">
>> Ummm... You own or run or work for a bike shop?!?
>>
>> Wow.
>>
>Um uh ummmmmmmm... what the hell is your point?
>umm uh ummmmm gee are sure your not related to the student counsellor on
>"South park"?
>Heres a tip for you, keep your comments to yourself, ok?
>

Um uh ummmmmmmm ... maybe you could answer the question?

Umm, well ok then, ok? [South Park immitation, to the best of my
recollection]

Well, we know that Peter, Andrew, Sheldon, and Robin all are
affiliated with bike shops. You are giving us the impression that you
might be, seems to me, that it is a fair question.


Life is Good!
Jeff

 

[Cam]

Polly wrote:
> ">
> > Ummm... You own or run or work for a bike shop?!?
> >
> > Wow.
> >
> Um uh ummmmmmmm... what the hell is your point?
> umm uh ummmmm gee are sure your not related to the student counsellor
on
> "South park"?
> Heres a tip for you, keep your comments to yourself, ok?

Here's a comment for you, keep your tips to yourself, ok?

Cam
sorry but that one fell out of the obvious bag and wouldn't go back in.

 

[Bill Sornson]

Polly wrote (snipping and not quoting):
> ">
>> Ummm... You own or run or work for a bike shop?!?
>>
>> Wow.

> Um uh ummmmmmmm... what the hell is your point?
> umm uh ummmmm gee are sure your not related to the student counsellor
> on "South park"?
> Heres a tip for you, keep your comments to yourself, ok?

UMMMMMMM, why did you delete this, Polly?:

"> Thanks for the replies to the post, Im not too keen on ripping every
> single customers chain off thier bike and heating them.. although I
> could see where I could easily charge extra for something like that.
"

Does that not at least /imply/ that you are somehow involved in the bike
biz?

THAT was the hell my point.

Go munch a cracker.

Troll.

BS

 

[Dale Benjamin]

"JH" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Neil Brooks wrote:
> > Peter Cole <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >JH wrote:
> > >> Peter Cole wrote:
> > >>
> > >>>I thought the latest "science" was that cleaning a chain didn't
> > >> affect lifetime. I've stopped cleaning mine.

I think that the common use of oil for a lubricant rather than grease like the
factory uses is the cause of shorter chain life.

> > >> But even if this is true, the bike just runs so much more smoothly and
> > >> quietly with a clean chain.

It should, especially if there's a lot of sand in your vicinity.

> > >Really? I've never noticed. I do oil it and wipe off the big chunks.
> > I'm with you on this. If I've done some really nasty riding--either
> > rain riding on the road bike, or mud riding on the mtb--I use WD-40, a
> > rag, and a toothbrush, but have *never* removed a chain for cleaning.
> >
> > They run fine, whisper-quiet, get good life, and don't seem to be
> > cog-eaters.
> >
> > I'd rather be riding....

Good policy, at least better than cleaning and oiling only. I would suggest
10W-40 rather than WD-40, to minimize removal of factory lubricants.

> I suppose I'm probably imagining most of the "improvement" from the
> clean chain. In any case I certainly agree that I'd rather be riding.
> I save the chain cleaning for rainy nights.

Not at all. A dirty chain wears faster than a clean one, and wears the gears
too. Oil is an excellent lubricant, if you're going to repeat the clean and oil
cycle every few hundred miles. To extend the time interval between cleanings,
apply grease after the oil. It gets dirty just as quick as oil, but the dirt
and grit doesn't get into the bushings like it does when only oil is used.

 

[Peter Cole]

Dale Benjamin wrote:

> Not at all. A dirty chain wears faster than a clean one, and wears the gears
> too. Oil is an excellent lubricant, if you're going to repeat the clean and oil
> cycle every few hundred miles. To extend the time interval between cleanings,
> apply grease after the oil. It gets dirty just as quick as oil, but the dirt
> and grit doesn't get into the bushings like it does when only oil is used.

A poster on this NG conducted an experiment not too long ago where he
split a chain into 2 sections with quick links and cleaned only one
section. He found that the cleaning didn't improve chain life. Perhaps
you'd repeat the experiment with grease?

 

[Neil Brooks]

"Dale Benjamin" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Neil Brooks wrote:
>> > >Really? I've never noticed. I do oil it and wipe off the big chunks.
>> > I'm with you on this. If I've done some really nasty riding--either
>> > rain riding on the road bike, or mud riding on the mtb--I use WD-40, a
>> > rag, and a toothbrush, but have *never* removed a chain for cleaning.
>> >
>> > They run fine, whisper-quiet, get good life, and don't seem to be
>> > cog-eaters.
>> >
>> > I'd rather be riding....
>
>Good policy, at least better than cleaning and oiling only. I would suggest
>10W-40 rather than WD-40, to minimize removal of factory lubricants.

WD is just the crud-cleaning agent. I lube 'em up after that (sort of
thought I should have added that....).

Are you thinking of motor oil as a cleaning product, or were you
pointing to my post's absence of a lubrication regimen following
cleaning?

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per JH:
>I suppose I'm probably imagining most of the "improvement" from the
>clean chain.

I don't think so.

On reflection, chain noise is the other thing - besides looks - that moves me to
oil (but not clean) my chain.
--
PeteCresswell

 

[Polly]

>
> THAT was the hell my point.
>
> Go munch a cracker.
>
> Troll.
>
> BS

Aww Bill I didnt mean to make you cry. I can just see the tears streaming
down your face.. shucks heres a tissue.
I just finished cleaning my chain with it...

polly

 

[Bill Sornson]

Polly wrote:
>> THAT was the hell my point.
>>
>> Go munch a cracker.
>>
>> Troll.
>>
>> BS
>
> Aww Bill I didnt mean to make you cry. I can just see the tears
> streaming down your face.. shucks heres a tissue.
> I just finished cleaning my chain with it...

Once again you delete the one direct question posed to you. Credibility
Rating: ZERO.

Whatever...

 

[Dale Benjamin]

"Peter Cole" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dale Benjamin wrote:
>
> > Not at all. A dirty chain wears faster than a clean one, and wears the
gears
> > too. Oil is an excellent lubricant, if you're going to repeat the clean and
oil
> > cycle every few hundred miles. To extend the time interval between
cleanings,
> > apply grease after the oil. It gets dirty just as quick as oil, but the
dirt
> > and grit doesn't get into the bushings like it does when only oil is used.
>
> A poster on this NG conducted an experiment not too long ago where he
> split a chain into 2 sections with quick links and cleaned only one
> section. He found that the cleaning didn't improve chain life. Perhaps
> you'd repeat the experiment with grease?

Not very likely. I don't have the resources to conduct meaningful experiments
( a few hundred entire chains ), much less fairly conclusive ( thousands of
chains ), for thousands of miles in various conditions.

 

[Dale Benjamin]

"Neil Brooks" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Dale Benjamin" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >> Neil Brooks wrote:
> >> > >Really? I've never noticed. I do oil it and wipe off the big chunks.
> >> > I'm with you on this. If I've done some really nasty riding--either
> >> > rain riding on the road bike, or mud riding on the mtb--I use WD-40, a
> >> > rag, and a toothbrush, but have *never* removed a chain for cleaning.
> >> >
> >> > They run fine, whisper-quiet, get good life, and don't seem to be
> >> > cog-eaters.
> >> >
> >> > I'd rather be riding....
> >
> >Good policy, at least better than cleaning and oiling only. I would suggest
> >10W-40 rather than WD-40, to minimize removal of factory lubricants.
>
> WD is just the crud-cleaning agent. I lube 'em up after that (sort of
> thought I should have added that....).
>
> Are you thinking of motor oil as a cleaning product, or were you
> pointing to my post's absence of a lubrication regimen following
> cleaning?

Actually I was thinking of the possibility that the WD-40 might wash grit into
the chain bushings. Motor oil is fairly effective for cleaning off grit. But
unless you're ready to remove the chain and clean it well, any oil or solvent
application may wash grit into the bushings. Of course if you clean the chain,
then there are the chain rings, cluster gears, and derailleurs to do also.

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Wed, 18 May 2005 19:08:45 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>"wle" wrote: (clip)--0.3 is a visual estimate - pretty easy to make. (clip)
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>Language like, "half a thou," or even "a third of sixteenth," would never be
>misunderstood. But .3/16 is strange, and so, easily questioned.

If you visually see that something is about a third of something marked as
a 16th, then the proper way to express that would be as 1/48th.

Jasper