Dry Lube vs Wet Lube For Winter Use.

[mjr]

Firstly, its winter, its mucky as heck and your bike is going to need cleaning . a lot! - when i was commuting 5 days a week, I would strip my drivechain weekly and some weeks that was not enough.

I lived in Somerset and didn't need to do that much that often. Was your commute directly across the flooded levels and some muddy fields? Maybe along the bizarre beach section of NCR 33 near Burnham-on-Sea too?

Then I saw this:

This gets all the water out

Ah. An advocate of water-washing the chain. 'nuff said. Many on this forum prefer the mickle method.

A new good chain is below a £10, new sprocket if you leave it too long maybe £3 and new chainring if you leave it really too long maybe £30. I'm all for keeping the chain lubricated, but there's no point licking it clean in an attempt to lengthen its life to the absolute maximum unless you've loads of free time - and even then, wouldn't you rather be cycling?

 

[ryanme]

I lived in Somerset and didn't need to do that much that often. Was your commute directly across the flooded levels and some muddy fields? Maybe along the bizarre beach section of NCR 33 near Burnham-on-Sea too?

Then I saw this:

Ah. An advocate of water-washing the chain. 'nuff said. Many on this forum prefer the mickle method.

A new good chain is below a £10, new sprocket if you leave it too long maybe £3 and new chainring if you leave it really too long maybe £30. I'm all for keeping the chain lubricated, but there's no point licking it clean in an attempt to lengthen its life to the absolute maximum unless you've loads of free time - and even then, wouldn't you rather be cycling?

I was cycling nailsea to bristol, 9 miles each way, plus trips onto exmoor, 100-150 miles a week. My bike had 3/4 guards on.

I now cycle 12 miles each way, it still needs such regular cleaning on somerset roads!

I am an advocate of using a parts washer or I use an ultra sonic cleaner at home ... i know in experience so so many use water + cleaner ...

whata drive chain are you using ... thats cheap ..

My Brompton is £12 a chain, £10 for sprockets, £28 for chainring.
My cx bike - main ride, £100 cassette, £35 chain, £45 chainring.

Cleaning it daily would be over the top, I try to do it weekly but life is quite busy so 3/4 weeks is normal, plus im cycling less.. it does make the chain/sprockets last much longer.

 

[mjr]

My bike had 3/4 guards on.

I've a ¾ chainguard, but full mudguards with flaps on most bikes, else you're just driving your chain into a cloud of crud flicking up off the front wheel. If you've ¾ mudguards and no chainguard, that might be much of the difference between us, maybe more so than the washing with water rather than oil.

whata drive chain are you using ... thats cheap ..

On the main bike, currently £5 at https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/chains/kmc-b1-18-inch-chain-112-links-silver/ between the chainring that came on the bike (an unremarkable 130 BCD I think, hence expecting it to cost about £30) and a £3 ⅛" rear sprocket https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/sprockets/sturmey-archer-23t-sprocket-18-for-8speed-chrome-hsl821/

 

[Maenchi]

......and for the extremist there is always the hair dryer to thoroughly dry the chain.

 

[bpsmith]

......and for the extremist there is always the hair dryer to thoroughly dry the chain.

Extremist? Amateur more like!

 

[Maenchi]

View attachment 392120
Extremist? Amateur more like![/Q

ok....so that's a hurricane strength hairdryer..

 

[bpsmith]

ok....so that's a hurricane strength hairdryer..

Indeed. It’s unbelievably effective at getting all of the water out of the massive amount of nooks and crannies on a bike. Rusty hex bolt heads, for example, don’t exist when you’ve effectively removed the water.

Ironically, the only place I don’t use it too much on is the chain. I prefer to give it a clean in the sink and then dry it off thoroughly with a cloth. Then refit and lube after a few hours.

When time doesn’t allow, I just wipe off any grit and dirt with a cloth. There is still lube inside the rollers, if you’ve done it right and used a decent lube. I don’t relube without a proper clean though. If you don’t properly clean before lubing, then you’re just adding to the problem.

 

[Maenchi]

Indeed. It’s unbelievably effective at getting all of the water out of the massive amount of nooks and crannies on a bike. Rusty hex bolt heads, for example, don’t exist when you’ve effectively removed the water.

Ironically, the only place I don’t use it too much on is the chain. I prefer to give it a clean in the sink and then dry it off thoroughly with a cloth. Then refit and lube after a few hours.

When time doesn’t allow, I just wipe off any grit and dirt with a cloth. There is still lube inside the rollers, if you’ve done it right and used a decent lube. I don’t relube without a proper clean though. If you don’t properly clean before lubing, then you’re just adding to the problem.

When I first saw your post I had not enlarged it enough to read it correctly, this time I did .....amazing ! new to me, though I think I will be sticking with my current chain cleaning habits, which are very similar to yours..

 

[Pat "5mph"]

the chain. I prefer to give it a clean in the sink