Rust ???? Already ??

[JohnRedcoRn]

funny thing is when i went to take my bike out last night, there was no 'rust' on the chain like there was the previous day?? by crikey, are there different kinds of rain every day or something ?? or is the existing lube reacting with rainwater and turning orange ??

anyway, i did indeed buy lube (on advice of LBS man / cyclist i got this 'syn lube', the one for wet mucky conditions).

also, i gave the bike a good spray down with water sprayer when i got home, only this time i wiped it all dry with a rag afterwards instead of just leaving it to drip. including the bits that house the gear cogs. sometime between this weekend and the penrith ride on 13th i am going to give the whole bike a good soapy water wash, then clean and lube my chain + gears.

still get this nagging doubt - those bits still look and feel lubed and in good health from new, and may be good for months, so would i be wiping off perfectly good lube? but sense tells me to listen to folk and do it anyway. Aaaaaaaaaarghhhh!

 

[dodgy]

Sorry to sound a nag, but clean your chain after every ride, it's definitely worth it and takes less than 2 minutes.

Dave.

 

[gavintc]

I do ... I just hold the tip of the lube against the chain and run the chain slowly past.

Also I started off with an brush to do the cogs but now use a torn up rag - which I find much easier to use to clean the cogs (saw them doing it in my LBS), using 2 hands to hold either end of the rag, and rubbing it between the cogs.

I am probably quite sad, but every month, I remove the cassette and give the thing a thorough clean.

 

[Ludwig]

Yes, very sad. We could do with a sticky with lists of therapist and counselling services for sad cyclists.

 

[Nick1979]

John, I'm sure you will find as many chain cleaning methods as there are cyclists, this is yet another quasi religious thing (not as much as Campy vs. Shimano but near!).
As far as I'm concerned, I use the Mickle Method (TM) (wipe, lube, wipe, wipe) once a week (about 100mi for me) or after any very wet ride. Lubing after every ride seems a bit excessive to me.

 

[Globalti]

You're worried about your bike rusting?

Try owning a fecking Land Rover - you can smell it rusting when you stick your head under the wheelarch.

 

[dodgy]

I should have mentioned that I don't commute, so my rides are 60 miles plus usually, which is why I wipe the chain after each ride. If I commuted I would clean the chain after each accumulated 70 miles or so.

 

[PaulB]

I use a rag, simply wipe it along the length of the chain a few times and relube.
No need for brushes, solvents, chain cleaning gadgets - just a rag.
Dave.

I do this as well but am now fast running out of rags. I've been using old cotton clothing like T-shirts with out-dated logos and stuff that I never wear anymore but does anyone know where I could get a good supply of rag-like material? Preferably the sort of cotton that T-shirts are made out of as I find that to be perfect.

 

[dodgy]

I use old towels, they're slightly rougher with the towelling like texture and do a better job of lifting the muck from the chain. I find T-Shirt material spreads the muck rather than lifting it.

 

[PaulB]

I use old towels, they're slightly rougher with the towelling like texture and do a better job of lifting the muck from the chain. I find T-Shirt material spreads the muck rather than lifting it.

Yes but the towelling material itself "snags" on the teeth and rings when you are cleaning these areas. The narrowness of a T-shirt means you can pull it tight and get down between the cogs of the cassette to give that a really good clean.

 

[mickle]

Charidee shops for old Ts.

 

[dodgy]

I use a T-Shirt for the cassette and rings, towel for the chain only.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

What do you use to clean the braking surfaces? I have Single pivot side-pull calliper brakes if it makes ANY difference :-)

I also give the braking surfaces a good weekly clean.