Literally had the chain off, scrubbed clean – bit of WD40 to help, back wheel off – got right into the cassette rings..
Wiped the front chainrings off, again WD40 to help lift the crap off, cleaned up the pulley wheels on the derailleur…
THEN THIS…. LITERALLY 30 MINS INTO THE RIDE..??!
Does anyone have advice, where is this shit hiding?
by bradrly
8 Comments
Probably the chain. You’ll need to soak it and agitate it in degreaser. Scrubbing it off with wd40 likely wasn’t enough. I boil mine in degreaser in a shitty old pot, occasionally stirring it to help loosen the gunk. Another method is using a miso soup take out container which neatly fits a chain inside it, pour degreaser in and go shake-weight mode on it.
I’d also check deep down in between the cassette, there is so much gunk on your outer chainlink plates that I’m sure there’s more shit between the sprockets.
Don’t use WD-40 on your chain, clean it with degreaser and then use bike specific lubricant.
To get it really clean as others have described generally requires getting it off the bike and shaking it in a container with degreaser or mineral spirits.
It’s probably worth your while reading on here and elsewhere about drip wax lube, but the TL;DR version is -> when riding in the wet you’ll need to re-apply lube a bit more often. Otherwise, it’s a fucking godsend and everything stays 100x cleaner and lasts a lot longer as well. The bog standard “which one do I pick” answer is probably Squirt until you learn enough about it make a different choice. You do have to get everything very clean first though. Much cleaner than you probably realize based upon the above photo.
I’ve worked on a LOT of bikes and seen drivetrains in every condition. The way the gunk is piled up in the edges of the chain links says this hasn’t been cleaned in months. It looks like you flossed the cassette with a rag, but the chain looks untouched. Unless you’re riding through a mud pit, it should still be pretty clean
Looks fine to me
my advice is: hot wax and no oil.
no gunk ever again.
degrease it completely and use wax. you need to get a hang of it but it is way less messy, when done right.
My chain cleaning routine if I’m not waxing involves wd40 but only part of the process. I shove my chain in a jar full of degreaser. Shake it around and let it sit for an hour. Take the chain out, pull it through a rag at various angles until the rag no longer gets dirty. Then I rinse it all off with wd40.
Drag it through a rag again to get it all off. Then smother it in my favourite lube, then drag it through a rag again until it’s all but gone.
Nice clean, lubed in the right places ready to go! I do this every couple of months in winter.
Ditch the oil based lube and start using wax lube. It requires more regular application, but runs much cleaner, especially if you’re doing a lot of off road or gravel riding