The heart and soul of your treasure bicycle is the chain. No
matter how many features or how many gears your bike has, without
the chain, it is a useless piece of fancy metal. That's why it
is so important to maintain your bikes chain. Here are 8 tips
to cleaning your bicycle chain.
1. Maintenance schedule
The perfect maintenance system would mean you clean your bicycle
chain once a week. However even those with the best intentions
tend to get lax. At the very least, you need to clean your chain
immediately after every ride that involves sand, water, or mud.
2. Quick Clean
The quickest way to clean your chain is while it is still on
your bike. Just spray the cleaning solution onto the chain then
scrub with an old toothbrush or similar style brush. Rinse and
lube while spinning the pedals.
3. Total Clean
Every four months, remove the chain from the bike to give it
a thorough clean. Take a rinsed out, large plastic pop bottle
and pour a couple of ounces of undiluted degreaser into the
bottle. Drop the chain into the bottle, place the cap on tightly
and shake. Shake for a couple of minutes and shake thoroughly.
Remove the chain, rinse with water and replace the chain on
the bike, then lubricate. Dispose of the bottle.
3. Chain Inspection
The chain is the part we often neglect the most. If your chain
decides to break, you can just about bet it will be at the most
inconvenient moment, not that any time is a good time. You can
prevent this from happening by thoroughly checking your chain
at least once a month preferably twice per month. If you do
lots of riding then you should check it after every 12 hours
of riding. Check for wear, rust, or any stiffness. Each link
of chain should equal 1" of chain. If any of these symptoms
are apparent, replace the chain.
4. Chain Replacement
Barring any problems you should replace your chain somewhere
between 800-1200 miles of riding. If you need to replace sprockets
or chainrings then you will need to replace the chain.
5. Squeaky Clean
Keep your chain squeaky clean with good old dish soap, or you
can use a commercial degreaser. Remove the grease and grime
as well as the lubricant by placing the cleaner in the center
of your rag, then take the rag and wrap it on the chain and
move the pedals back and forth. Rinse as often as needed and
repeat until there is no more dirt. Then you will need to lubricate
the chain.
6 Lube It
Keeping the chain lubricated will extend the life of the chain.
You should lubricate every single pin in the chain. Although
this method is time consuming, it is the best method of lubrication.
Let the lubricant soak on the chain for at least 15 minutes
then wipe it dry with a rag. This will not only keep the chain
lubricated it will help repel dirt.
7. Don't Get Kinky
Check your chain for tight links and kinks. Pedal backwards
and watch the chain and the rear derailleurs to see if it jumps
or jerks. If it jumps, you will need to find the tight link
and flex 5 links up to get it to loosen up. If it won't loosen,
you'll need a new chain.
8. Weary Bushings
Check for pins and bushings that are showing signs of wear.
Even with the best maintenance these parts will eventually wear
and the chain will need to be replaced. If your chain becomes
noisy and cleaning doesn't help, of if your bike is shifting
poorly then it's time to replace the chain.
Good maintenance will help your chain last longer and it will
keep you peddling rather than taking your bike for a walk. All
it takes is 8 simple steps.
